Friday 11th November 2005
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MPH 05
Show kicked off in Birmingham last night
The NEC played host to 'Motoring Theatre' last night with the opening of MPH 05. Previously just run in London, this year's MPH opened in Birmingam and runs until Sunday before heading to Earls Court on Thursday 17th.
The 75 minute opening show had a few teething troubles, running 40 minutes late and with some slickness obviously lacking - more rehearsals were certainly needed.
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That said, the show was still entertaining on the whole with lots of cars hurtling around at great speed and with some great new cars on show including the lovely new Jaguar XK Coupe. Some cars listed as being in the live show were conspicuous by their absence including the Saleen S7, the Gumpert Apollo and the Mercedes SLR McLaren.
Accompanying the live show was a good display of exotica and exhibitors ranging from driving experience providers, sat-nav equipment sellers through to various magazines and the manufacturers.
 JCB Display Team |
 Car Sumo |
 Ascari KZ1 |
 Jaguar XK |
 Jaguar XK |
 Weissman Roadster |
 Car Football |
 Car Football |
 Drifting |
 Ooops! |
 Hamann F430 |
 Hamann F430 |
Thursday's show was reasonably attended with around 3,000 of the 4,500 seat capacity filled. £20 a ticket represents reasonable value but 'souvenir' programmes at £10 a pop was pushing it.
It's a format that deserves to do well as they're trying hard to make the traditional - and increasingly boring - motor show more interesting. Hopefully after a couple more shows the whole experience will be a little more slick. Tickets are available on the door for some shows so if you're at a loose end it's worth a look.
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Discussion
I went last night and found it a Jekyll and Hide affair......
My feeling was that the static show was a bit poor, with only three manufacturers represented. Some of the trade stands were dubious too......showers, belectric beds etc.
The theatre show rescued the evening IMHO, albeit with a few mishaps on the way.
The paddock tour was a bit of a joke TBH.....and bearing in mind the 40 minute delay, none of the "stars" were to be seen.....if Jezzzers, Hamster et al had shown their faces, I think it would have gone a long way to "right" the situation they had with some ppes slow hand-clapping.....
Even saw an old work mate.....Gavan Kershaw from Lotus.....
Would I go next year....hmmmm...maybe, but just for the theatre show.
My feeling was that the static show was a bit poor, with only three manufacturers represented. Some of the trade stands were dubious too......showers, belectric beds etc.
The theatre show rescued the evening IMHO, albeit with a few mishaps on the way.
The paddock tour was a bit of a joke TBH.....and bearing in mind the 40 minute delay, none of the "stars" were to be seen.....if Jezzzers, Hamster et al had shown their faces, I think it would have gone a long way to "right" the situation they had with some ppes slow hand-clapping.....
Even saw an old work mate.....Gavan Kershaw from Lotus.....
Would I go next year....hmmmm...maybe, but just for the theatre show.
I worked on a stand there last year and found that all the stands apart form a handful were all arty-farty ones which had nothing to do with motoring atall. The only redeeming features were all the cars on display and the show. This years show (from the pics) looks better than last years as there are more exotic cars being driven. My company refused to have a stand this year so i'am not going with them this year but am contemplating on going on the saturday at Earls Court but i don't know if it will be worth it cos it looks the same apart from a different show routine and cars on display.
johnjr
ps what are the engine mods on the Hamann ferrari? cos it hasn't changed that much on the outside!
>> Edited by johnjr on Friday 11th November 15:53
johnjr
ps what are the engine mods on the Hamann ferrari? cos it hasn't changed that much on the outside!
>> Edited by johnjr on Friday 11th November 15:53
I went to MPH at midday today and they've obviously ironed out any of last nights teething problems. The theatre performance was amazing and really entertaining.
I went to MPH in London last year - the exhibition in Birmingham is a bit smaller, but the theatre has definitely taken a step up!
Although the Saleen S7 wasn't in the theatre but I did manage to see it on the Saleen stand within the exhibition.
I managed to get my ticket through a Birmingham Mail promotion for only £15 and the souvenier programme was included in the ticket.
The theatre alone made every penny of my ticket price worthwhile.. and I would have happily paid more!
I went to MPH in London last year - the exhibition in Birmingham is a bit smaller, but the theatre has definitely taken a step up!
Although the Saleen S7 wasn't in the theatre but I did manage to see it on the Saleen stand within the exhibition.
I managed to get my ticket through a Birmingham Mail promotion for only £15 and the souvenier programme was included in the ticket.
The theatre alone made every penny of my ticket price worthwhile.. and I would have happily paid more!
We went to the 12pm show today (Sat). Quite good, a bit too much insulting each other maybe. Oh, and two of the Astras collided, one then hit the barrier hard enough to set the airbags off (my kid Brother thought it was intentional 
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Only complaint - crap toilets/food. The show is in one hall and wasn't too packed, but we could only find one set of toilets, a bunch of very overworked roach coaches in a corral 'food hall' and the smokey bar/restaurant with bangers & mash. I'm no food conisseur (can't even spell it), but the NEC is way below Earls Court in terms of quality.
Judging by how busy it was I suspect they'll be back at the NEC next year though.
I wish more manufacturers would support the show too - no Porsche, BMW, TVR (David Gerald TVR were there with a Tuscan Conv and a Sagaris - good show guys.
). Only complaint - crap toilets/food. The show is in one hall and wasn't too packed, but we could only find one set of toilets, a bunch of very overworked roach coaches in a corral 'food hall' and the smokey bar/restaurant with bangers & mash. I'm no food conisseur (can't even spell it), but the NEC is way below Earls Court in terms of quality.
Judging by how busy it was I suspect they'll be back at the NEC next year though.
I wish more manufacturers would support the show too - no Porsche, BMW, TVR (David Gerald TVR were there with a Tuscan Conv and a Sagaris - good show guys.
targarama said:
We went to the 12pm show today (Sat). Quite good, a bit too much insulting each other maybe. Oh, and two of the Astras collided, one then hit the barrier hard enough to set the airbags off (my kid Brother thought it was intentional
Hey I was at that one too. They got the VXR display out of sync a little and in an attempt to get things back on track they cocked it up a little. Two ended up colliding side on and then send the damaged one into the barrier - as you mentioned. Not sure what happened, but I think there were having a few problems with that particular car - it didnt seem to be working correctly like the others.
But, interesting to see the safety features. With the side punch the side airbags went off, this probably distracted the driver (and filled the cabin with gas) and then it smacked the barrier pretty damn hard - triggering the two front bags. Poor bloke was stuck inside with at leat 3 bags deployed and a cabin full of gas.... and judging by the clean-up they pretty much stuffed it too - was that oil on the floor?
Agree about the polish though - wasnt quite there, but still fun and that 3-d thing with the helicopter was impressive. Never seen one of those before but heard they were bloody good - and it was rather impressive!
Static display was a little lacking and obviously the organisers didnt quite give enough space for everyone - one hall isnt much and they could have easily filled out at least another 1/2 hall with a bit more space for everyone. Shame that bloody monitor lost part of the display though - big black square was annoying.
Overall impressed and took the wife - she loved it and wants to go next year. So cant be that bad.
I went to the 3 o'clock show. We arrived at the NEC at about 10.30, took about an hour to look around the exhibits and trade stands then sat around bored waiting for 3 o'clock to come. I feel that £25 a go (£27 for booking online) is a tad steep for this event, I think £10-15 would be more realistic. I did enjoy the theatre though, Tiff Needle nearly crashing the Ultima was a bit scary!! The helicopter bit was ace with the missile that comes right at you. Great stuff, just a bit cheaper next year please!!
After visiting last weeks Classic Car Show at the NEC & filing out one of those Ok i'll have a go forms to win tickets to MPH05. I got a nice text on Tuesday confirming i won a Pair of Tickets to Birmingham.
As Friday is a day off I chose the easiest time for getting in & out, Midday Show. I have to admit i wouldn't have paid almost £70 including parking for the pair, the trade stands & displays were not Fantastic with very little eye candy. But the Show saved the day, Next to only a quarter full for the show made it a lot quicker in & out. I admit the paddock tour was a little waste of time, but still made some nice photies.
How many of us now have a bag full of small Gumball Stickers to plaster on some really dull cars oil burners?
As Friday is a day off I chose the easiest time for getting in & out, Midday Show. I have to admit i wouldn't have paid almost £70 including parking for the pair, the trade stands & displays were not Fantastic with very little eye candy. But the Show saved the day, Next to only a quarter full for the show made it a lot quicker in & out. I admit the paddock tour was a little waste of time, but still made some nice photies.
How many of us now have a bag full of small Gumball Stickers to plaster on some really dull cars oil burners?
I went up for Sat for the 12pm show, thought the exhibition was naf the show was a laugh and the £7 car park was a complete rip-off! I can understand making me pay £7 to visit a corporate exhibition but for a public show it is just not on! I know it has nothing to do with MPH but I feel sure they can maybe barter a better deal next year?
Thought the theatre part was excellent ... Clarkson was on form throughout. Tiff nearly stuffing the Ultima was funny as was the car football. Russ Swifts antics were also up to their usual standard especially the Corsa and the JCB routine. The 3D helicopter part was good as well ... the number of people that ducked proved that.
As for the show ... some very nice stuff on show but there was too much dross such as the 1007 and the like. Good day out though ... well worth it.
As for the show ... some very nice stuff on show but there was too much dross such as the 1007 and the like. Good day out though ... well worth it.
Went to the 3:00 show on sat, it was really piss poor to have to pay £7 to park but otherwise it was a good day out, the show was very unPC and the exhibits pretty good. The Tuscan looked great, well finished and fitted like a glove, a worthy successor to the Griff when I can afford it. Met JC, Tiff and Hamster in the paddock twas very enjoyable and most amusing to see the wee feller fighting off all the totty
Decent show overall, I was dissapointed to find (or not find) the new Aston Martin V8 Vantage, everything I had read about the show said it would be there. I was impressed you could get into most cars. So while family members lamented the lack of the new Aston I compared the interior of Focus ST, Astra VXR and Golf GTI. I think the hot hatch segment is fantastic and offers real value, especially the new ST! BTW, the Citroen C4 VTS had some great seats...
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