Motorexpo
James Evans reports back on the Docklands Motorsport
The MotorExpo is held each summer at Canary Wharf in London Docklands. This year’s event ran from Monday 14th to Sunday 20th of June. The event is free to enter with the cars being exhibited on the ground floor of office buildings and the landscaped external spaces. It's a good recipe that sees a nice mix of supercars, sports cars, luxury cars and everyday cars. One of the best features of the MotorExpo is the ability to get up close to all the cars without the formal stands and huge crowds frequently associated with the Motorshow at the NEC.
Supercars
The Porsche Carrera GT was situated outside next to a bright red 911GT2 and dark blue Cayenne. My first impression of the Carrera GT was how compact it is. Perhaps size is deceptive, but it certainly appears to be significantly smaller than the Ferrari Enzo and McLaren Mercedes SLR. The styling very clean and uncluttered with the odd supercar flurry, for example the perforated engine cover, LED rear lights and Bat Mobile style exhausts.
The McLaren Mercedes SLR had prime position in the window of the Canary Wharf Mercedes dealer. In contrast with the compact Carrera GT, the SLR appears huge. However it includes numerous neat design details including the LED rear lights, rear diffuser and some of the best looking wheels on any road car. The long bonnet with the pointed F1 inspired nose works very well, and looks much more convincing than on the new SLK which was also on display outside along with the rest of the Mercedes range.
Sports Cars
TVR were exhibiting the new Sagaris and Tuscan convertible. The Sagaris must be the most aggressive car currently on sale, and the combination of the grey paint and aerodynamic vents is reminiscent of Jaws, the killer shark. The TVR representative on the stand commented that dealers should have their Sagaris demonstrators by September and that the car was currently selling very strongly.
P1 International had a striking white and red Porsche 911GT3RS and a purposeful dark blue Ferrari 360CS on display. With the exception of the Carrera GT, the 911GT3RS is the best looking Porsche. I especially like the huge carbon-fibre rear wing and minimalist interior with roll cage and race seats. Similarly the 360CS, which in my opinion is much better looking than any other model in the Ferrari range. For the money I would have one over an Enzo, but it would have to be in red with the racing stripe. Other Ferraris on display included the new 612 (which doesn’t look any better in the metal than in photographs) and the 575.
Aston Martin had one of the largest displays which included a Vanquish together with both a DB9 coupe and convertible. When parked next to each other there is very little visual difference between the two models other than the Vanquish being a bit wider, having a less steeply raked windscreen and larger front fog lights. The DB9 is a beautiful car and the interior combination of wood, aluminium and leather must one of the best currently available. I look forward to seeing the production AMV8 next year.
Lotus were displaying the Elise 1-11R and new Exige. The Exige looked stunning with the bright yellow paintwork contracting with the black wheels, vents and wings. Out in the open the Exige looks much more aggressive and purposeful than it does in photographs, however it still needs a bigger rear wing to really complete the race car look.
Smart had a Brabus tuned roadster on display. Even if this production lacked the Bi-Turbo engine of the Brabus concept car, the body kit and chunky chrome wheels gave the roadster a much more muscular appearance. Judging by the sound of the roadster being used for test drives, the Brabus package also includes a loud sports exhaust and the revised car looks like a lot of fun to drive. Then again I may have been seduced by the free Krispy Kreme doughnuts which were being handed out by the Smart team.
Other sports cars on display included the Nissan 350Z, Mazda RX8 and MX5, Honda S2000 and Civic Type-R, Mitsubishi EVO VIII MR, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, Renault Clio V6 and Rover SV.
Other Manufacturers
Bentley were exhibiting the Continental GT in a rather fetching pastel blue, but this car was somewhat over shadowed by the Maybach and Rolls-Royce in terms of sheer size and presence.
The car that probably received the most attention, with the exception of the Carrera GT and TVRs was the Hummer H2. The Hummer was vast and towered over everything else on display include the Range Rover. Although that might not make it all that practical for driving in central London. Volvo exhibited the new V50 T5 which looked quite handsome for an estate, and the floating centre console was certainly innovative. The highlight of the Ford stand was the new Fiesta ST, which will be available later in the year. Unfortunately the Fiesta RS Concept and Ford GT were not on display. Other vehicles of interest included a Mini Cooper-S painted in TVR style colour changing paint and a Ducati 999C motorbike.
Concept Cars
New for this year’s MotorExpo was the “Concept Zone” located in the East Winter Garden. This hall was not well signed and visitors who didn’t purchase one of the official show brochures could easily have missed these exhibits.
Land Rover were displaying the Range Stormer. This is a Range Rover sport coupe with huge wheels, trick doors, wooden seats and headlights filled with ice. According to the representative Range Rover are currently working on a production version of this car, however it will be much less radical than the Range Stormer concept.
Jaguar were exhibiting the R-D6 sports car, the “D” standing for diesel. This four seat coupe has a very purposeful and muscular stance helped in no small part by the imposing polished chrome alloy wheels. In recent years Jaguar have shown numerous gorgeous concept cars including the XK180, F-Type and R Coupe. However as with these previous concept cars, it appears unlikely that the R-D6 will ever make production.
Other concept cars on display included the Renault Wind and Saab 9-3. Last year’s Renault F1 car and a TVR T400R race car which competed at LeMans the previous weekend was also on display, however the TVR was only there until Tuesday.
Experiences
The Land Rover Experience enabled visitors to experience the incredible off-road capabilities of the current Range Rover within an urban obstacle course. The space was rather limited and the experience quite short. However it did provide 5 minutes of entertainment for visitors and demonstrate the capabilities of the vehicle which will almost certainly never be used on the school run. Mazda and Smart were also offering test drives around the Canary Wharf complex in the RX-8 and Brabus Roadster.
This years MotorExpo was bigger and better than ever, with more space, more manufacturers, more cars and the addition of concept cars for the first time. I look forward to returning next year.
Links
Gassing Station | Events & Meetings | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff