London Classic Car Show
Discussion
I'm a serial visitor to the autumn NEC shows but never been to the London one, how does it compare for size and variety?
Id really like to see the Italain Job cars reunited, and unless there are other similar events doing the same (Goodwood for example) may be my only chance to see the DB4 and E Type.
Id really like to see the Italain Job cars reunited, and unless there are other similar events doing the same (Goodwood for example) may be my only chance to see the DB4 and E Type.
I gave up going to the Excel show, despite it being about three hours quicker for me to get there than NEC. It's pretty poor, to be fair... as well as stupidly expensive for everything. Small, cramped and full of stands from companies who will take the one rusty wingnut you own from an E-Type aircleaner and build around it a completely bespoke E-Type that will be totally authentic. Despite the only genuine part being an aircleaner wingnut. And costing three times the price of just buying an E-Type, of course 
The "Grand Avenue" is a total gimmick and in fact the only thing that's maybe worth paying for are the stand seats.... if you want to see cars pottering along a couple of hundred yards, turning around and driving back again. In the case of some of them (F1 cars spring to mind) this rarely involves even getting out of first gear. Hardly a drenching moment of passion for the senses.
Every time I've been the Excel show I've left feeling like my wallet's been raped, my intelligence has been insulted and I've seen fewer amazing cars than any average weekend show in a muddy field. With the added bonus of the utter PITA that is getting into docklands. NEC is a different world, and about twenty times the size for similar if not less money
TL:DR it's s
t. Don't bother 
The "Grand Avenue" is a total gimmick and in fact the only thing that's maybe worth paying for are the stand seats.... if you want to see cars pottering along a couple of hundred yards, turning around and driving back again. In the case of some of them (F1 cars spring to mind) this rarely involves even getting out of first gear. Hardly a drenching moment of passion for the senses.
Every time I've been the Excel show I've left feeling like my wallet's been raped, my intelligence has been insulted and I've seen fewer amazing cars than any average weekend show in a muddy field. With the added bonus of the utter PITA that is getting into docklands. NEC is a different world, and about twenty times the size for similar if not less money
TL:DR it's s
t. Don't bother I went on Saturday
Enjoyed it as at the end of the day , its a car show in the off season.
Went drinking in London afterwards.
I agree that the grand avenue is a bit of a gimmick.
Older chap in his Ferrari F40 , drives up and down the avenue. Smug look on his face.
Doesn't go any faster than about 15mph. Doesn't even give some revs....
No Noise , no thrills.
I don't understand some of the owners , they own sports cars and supercars that are famous for having amazing engines, but won't push them a tiny little bit.
If you owned an F40 after lusting after them for years, wouldn't you make a little bit of noise for the crowd to share the experience with everyone a little?
My biggest gripe about the show is that it seems to be catering for the "Investment guys" rather than the actual "Car guys"
E.g , Quentin Wilson talks on which cars to buy to make the most cash....
Apparently buying cars to actually drive them isn't the priority these days.
Highlight of the show for me was the 2000GT
Don't get to see these very often in the UK
Also got a good look at the New Alpine A110.
Seriously cool car and i will be keeping an eye on the prices in the future!
Enjoyed it as at the end of the day , its a car show in the off season.
Went drinking in London afterwards.
I agree that the grand avenue is a bit of a gimmick.
Older chap in his Ferrari F40 , drives up and down the avenue. Smug look on his face.
Doesn't go any faster than about 15mph. Doesn't even give some revs....
No Noise , no thrills.
I don't understand some of the owners , they own sports cars and supercars that are famous for having amazing engines, but won't push them a tiny little bit.
If you owned an F40 after lusting after them for years, wouldn't you make a little bit of noise for the crowd to share the experience with everyone a little?
My biggest gripe about the show is that it seems to be catering for the "Investment guys" rather than the actual "Car guys"
E.g , Quentin Wilson talks on which cars to buy to make the most cash....
Apparently buying cars to actually drive them isn't the priority these days.
Highlight of the show for me was the 2000GT
Don't get to see these very often in the UK
Also got a good look at the New Alpine A110.
Seriously cool car and i will be keeping an eye on the prices in the future!
Edited by FIREBIRDC9 on Monday 18th February 10:00
Loose_Cannon said:
I'm a serial visitor to the autumn NEC shows but never been to the London one, how does it compare for size and variety?
I took the plunge and drove 255 miles to get there so will answer my own question for posterity and anyone doing a retrospective search.Floor area? About 20% of the space devoted at the NEC, which is forgiveable, but only 50% of what they could occupy in their own building which is not. I dashed around thinking I needed to get into the other half of the building by 1pm only to find that was taken up by the Bike show and I hate bikes. Do they think it appeals to the same people?
Costs? The usual pisstake by those who build event venues miles from civilisation then penalise you trying to get there. £20 parking plus £25 each in. Luckily I got my tickets half price on Ebay the night before, don't ever pay full.
Attractions? Actually some really interesting high end cars but felt like a trawl through every classic car dealer's showroom. Loads of wasted space from those idiotic grandstands which just took up floor area that could have been given to cars, plus s
te like Vision Express with a massive caravan doing free eyetests WTF?? Grand Avenue? bit of a gimmick, but some seemed to enjoy it. I just found it noisy, slow and smelly.
Food? Quite nice actually and plenty of variety, even if it was often flung at you by rude petulant immigrants who needed a class in people skills. Expensive enough that you wouldnt want to eat there exclusively every day but par for the course and a lot better than some open air venues with the old pork dip vans etc.
Verdict? If you live nearby its not the end of the world, but definitely not worht travelling more than an hour or two to visit. I'll never moan about the NEC again.
We went along to the show on Sunday, some interesting cars on display but probably not worth the full entrance price and definitely smaller than previous years when they used halls both sides of the Excel pedestrian precinct area.
Here's a link to my photos from the event :
https://www.lancerregister.com/showthread.php?t=57...
Here's a link to my photos from the event :
https://www.lancerregister.com/showthread.php?t=57...
Went last year as I was given some complimentary tickets. Last year I was very pleased I hadn't paid. As mentioned above it was more an investor's show rather than an enthusiasts show.
90%+ of stands were not for tyre kickers and were businesses rather than enthusiasts or owners (The Dodge Viper race replica owners a notable exception, but they said the cost of exhibiting meant they wouldn't do it again). Unless you were likely to invest (or look like you had money to spend) you didn't feel welcome on the stands. Most stand managers were more used to investors rather than enthusiasts as they clearly couldn't recognise the rather odd breed that is the classic car enthusiast. They (we?) are more worried about their car than themselves and will often turn up to a show in the gear they wear to look after their car. Their car has probably also taken all their money so they're not dressed in the finest designer gear.
From the comments above it seems not a lot has changed and I'm glad I didn't stump up for tickets, train fair food etc. etc. I know exhibition space in London is very expensive so they have to get as much as they can for as little outlay as possible, but I personally think it needs a rethink and a re branding if it is to survive as anything other than a trade show.
90%+ of stands were not for tyre kickers and were businesses rather than enthusiasts or owners (The Dodge Viper race replica owners a notable exception, but they said the cost of exhibiting meant they wouldn't do it again). Unless you were likely to invest (or look like you had money to spend) you didn't feel welcome on the stands. Most stand managers were more used to investors rather than enthusiasts as they clearly couldn't recognise the rather odd breed that is the classic car enthusiast. They (we?) are more worried about their car than themselves and will often turn up to a show in the gear they wear to look after their car. Their car has probably also taken all their money so they're not dressed in the finest designer gear.
From the comments above it seems not a lot has changed and I'm glad I didn't stump up for tickets, train fair food etc. etc. I know exhibition space in London is very expensive so they have to get as much as they can for as little outlay as possible, but I personally think it needs a rethink and a re branding if it is to survive as anything other than a trade show.
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