Canary Wharf Motorexpo 2012

[Silver]

Anyone else been yet? I see from searching that a couple of people have done test drives but couldn't find anything else.

I hate to say it, but I thought it was quite disappointing. Yes, there are still some lovely cars but noticeably less than previous years.

Here's my pics. Would like to see other people's too.

[petemurphy]

went today was worth a look although havent been before so cant comment - sat in a mclaren so i was happy!

edited to say dino was my favourite!

[SportingBearsMax]

I was in London on business Monday, in the rain, passed through this free to walk around event and saw some very rare metal indeed, the spread of cars including the Reventon, rare auction classics and F1 car, plus including the manufacturers cars, great to see the BAC Mono in the mix and my favourite the Bentley V8 GT and GTC.

I did not go last year so I am unable to compare the numbers of cars against last year, but knowing this is a full week on display for anyone to pop along and see is amazing and I feel that regardless of how many cars may have been last year, seeing a Reventon in the flesh must make up for it!

[DCS01]

I went yesterday, having never been to docklands before. My only complaint was a lack of information on where the cars were. Us country folk, don't nessaserly know, that you can walk into an office block un challenged and see that it is a car park.
Having said that I liked what I saw, best bit was being asked if I wanted to test drive the Rolls Ghost. Must have been the fact that I was using a belt to hold up the jeans and not a bit of string.

[Sharky86]

I went to last year's motorexpo, walked around in the rain and saw quite a few cars ranging from Jaguar, Range Rover, Volkswagen, Ferrari, Merc-Benz, Lexus LFA (I was able to TOUCH the engine!...yes a bit sad in retrospect, but I'd do it again )

The interactive element is the interesting facet of the exhibition...

I had a free passenger ride in a Tesla Roadster which was nice, quickest car I've ever been a passenger in!

Booking on the day whilst there, I test drove: a VW Scirroco Blue Motion (eurgh, not a nice system imo), a Nissan Leaf (relatively good and normal driving experience), Range Rover Sport over the short 'off-road' course a.k.a. steel ramps...Canary Wharf is an interesting place to be going at weird angles

For a free event, I think it's quite good, especially if you're up for asking to have a go on things!...I even got a chance to sit in a Race Spec Lotus Elise...however, after a few moments a Lotus Rep politely advised me that I wasn't actually allowed to sit IN the car which I sincerely didn't realise, but he was kind enough to let me get a photo of me in it before I tried to expertly eject myself from the bucket seat and over the roll bars

Hoping to go this Saturday and chance my luck on whatever I can! 'He who dares Rodney, he who dares!'

And yes I found the 'smilies' section today!

[Sharky86]

DCS01 said:

I went yesterday, having never been to docklands before. My only complaint was a lack of information on where the cars were. Us country folk, don't nessaserly know, that you can walk into an office block un challenged and see that it is a car park.
Having said that I liked what I saw, best bit was being asked if I wanted to test drive the Rolls Ghost. Must have been the fact that I was using a belt to hold up the jeans and not a bit of string.

I was thinking the same about trying to find out where exactly you can find the different exhibits, so with that in mind I had a look at the motorexpo website and found a map in the online brochure found here:

http://www.motorexpo.com/directory/london.html

Must remember...'belt: yes...string: no'

[delta037]

The map is not showing on my computer. So where were the H&H cars Ford GT/Reventon/XJ220 lurking? I went into the Italian centre and found one Rally Mini and a pair of Ferraris F40 and TR but obviously missed the Ford etc stashed away elsewhere.

[Angelis]

Didn't think it was as good as last year.

Spent ages trying to find the BAC Mono and couldn't see it anywhere. No maps showing where the cars are so I wandered around aimlessly.

Got a test drive in a Gallardo though.

[tigerkoi]

Angelis said:

Didn't think it was as good as last year.

Spent ages trying to find the BAC Mono and couldn't see it anywhere. No maps showing where the cars are so I wandered around aimlessly.

Got a test drive in a Gallardo though.

I can't remember the year, but seeing the Bentley Speed 8, Ferrari BB LM etc was great. Also there was a 956 or 962 if I remember rightly. They were in the walkthrough foyer next to the old Lehmans/current JPM building.

This year I don't think is shaping up as well - so far. The statics in One Canada Place are ok - two MP4-12cs, and an Aventador, amongst others.

I wandered through and was pretty dismayed at seeing a really fat woman in high heels clamber on top of an old Continental and wait for her picture to be taken. I told her to get off and that it specifically said not to touch the cars, but she swore back and basically walked along the steel bumper to get in another shot.

Some people are ignorant and that's life. But what's worse was the attitude of the Expo guys and HR Owen staff round the corner. Mock indignation and carried on slumping in their seats. I ain't fussed if a Rapide constantly has it's doors opened by Joe Public, but the owner of the 50's Bentley would be pretty underwhelmed to know his p&j was not being looked after.

[Sharky86]

delta037 said:

The map is not showing on my computer. So where were the H&H cars Ford GT/Reventon/XJ220 lurking? I went into the Italian centre and found one Rally Mini and a pair of Ferraris F40 and TR but obviously missed the Ford etc stashed away elsewhere.

The map is a weird sized flash document, you have to re-size it and then 'flick through'...looking at it again however, it only generally states the locations around Canary Wharf of all the exhibitors as opposed to a proper run-down of who's where, this obscurity that shrouds the motorexpo is a similar feel to last year's, I think they REALLY need to improve this, I recall no-one knowing where the race-room was either! But H and H are definitely there (just don't know where) as proven by http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Edited by Sharky86 on Friday 15th June 22:18

[Daisy Duke]

delta037 said:

The map is not showing on my computer. So where were the H&H cars Ford GT/Reventon/XJ220 lurking? I went into the Italian centre and found one Rally Mini and a pair of Ferraris F40 and TR but obviously missed the Ford etc stashed away elsewhere.

They were on display in the East Wintergarden. http://www.canarywharf.com/workwithus/theeastwinte... although I'm not sure if it's open to the public or not as I was at the private H&H event on Thursday. There were some interesting cars on display and they were selling well so I presume it was a worthwhile event for the auction houses and dealers.

Unfortunately I didn't take many photos as I was too busy catching up with people and sampling the canapés , but I'll have a look later to see if I have anything decent to put up. Here's a list of what is there anyway. http://www.classic-auctions.com/Auctions/11-06-201...

[eltawater]

Just got back, a couple of quick and dirty snaps from the card:









A bit of hardcore porn just here:

Edited by eltawater on Saturday 16th June 20:36

[Sharky86]

As I haven't seen any pics of the F40 from the H.H exhibit on this thread, here's mine from yesterday

[Silver]

Did any of you guys taking pictures find that people were hugely inconsiderate about getting in the way? Obviously, I accept that as CW is a public place and the Motorexpo is a car show, people will be milling around and it's unreasonable to expect everyone to get out of your way, but on more than one occasion I had someone deliberately walk in front of me as I was taking a picture.

Mind you, I did go during the week so there was probably a different crowd there.

On a more positive note, I took a couple of pics of the Chrysler 300C as I was doing a sponsored blog post about the Motorexpo in conjunction with them and they have asked to use my pics in their promotional stuff for Canary Wharf. Which is nice.

[eltawater]

It was much worse on Saturday, I don't think I got one shot without some gurning moron in the background, or a foot in front of the lens.

One pillock decided to plant his arse all over the bonnet of the white aventador in a lewis hamilton pose. You could have turned a wind turbine with the sucking of air through teeth that followed, as the guy was dragged off the bonnet by a security guard and given a stern talking to.

Face-ache album here

Edited by eltawater on Sunday 17th June 22:18

[Nimburs]

Was very busy up there but some lovely cars on display, a real shame it isn't better marked out where thing's are and some parents can't keep there kids under control, saw alot of damage done to some very nice cars.

Here's my set.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/80146624@N02/sets/721...

[Silver]

eltawater said:

It was much worse on Saturday, I don't think I got one shot without some gurning moron in the background, or a foot in front of the lens.

One pillock decided to plant his arse all over the bonnet of the white aventador in a lewis hamilton pose. You could have turned a wind turbine with the sucking of air through teeth that followed, as the guy was dragged off the bonnet by a security guard and given a stern talking to.

That was a lovely pic!

Oh good, I'm glad it wasn't just me.

[ls3steve]

Went along to this on Monday 11th.. Although it was pissing down the lovely HR Owen team let me take a few cars out for a test drive

2012 Maserati GTS.
A fantastic GT car with that great V8 rumble. Had acres of room (Im 6ft6") and a great feel. Very easy to drive both as Auto and using padles






LP570 Superleggera
Wee bit too small for me but still took it out for a spin. Gorgeous car, very raw and the gear changes were something else. OK i didnt get to crack into 3figures but it was still a blast, even if it gave me neck ache after an hours drive








2012 Ferrari California
Again, a fantastic GT car with loads of room (none in the back after i adjusted the seat back) and probably one of the best V8 sounds. Really nice. It had the carbon ceramic brakes with that pretty awesome dual clutch. A joy to drive around town for an hour.








Excuse all the stupid faces.. Didnt realise i looked like that when excited lol. (dread to think what my sex face looks like, i'll have to ask the Mrs lol )

The rest of the photos can be found here..
http://s832.photobucket.com/albums/zz243/LS3-steve...