London motorshow

SilentDeath · 28-07-2008, 07:30 AM

Ill be going tomorrow

Anyone know whats going to be there this year?

dave87 · 28-07-2008, 08:10 AM

Same here, going up there tomorrow, should be good

**directhex** · 28-07-2008, 08:58 AM

three zondas, and an atom.

**directhex** · 28-07-2008, 09:01 AM

oh, and a model t

Zadock · 28-07-2008, 09:03 AM

One of my mates has managed to get some free tickets (4), so 4 of us are heading up to Londong next weekend. Taking the camera out for that.

Anyone heading up next weekend?

burble · 28-07-2008, 11:20 AM

I was supposed to be there on Friday but ended up getting stuck in Paris an extra night so didn't make it back in time.

RICK... · 30-07-2008, 09:43 PM

I was meant to be going, can't now though

It's a fantastic show, definatley worth attending

dave87 · 30-07-2008, 09:50 PM

I ended up going with r_j_k_p, and I believe he has quite a few photos he shot with his Eos 400d, I'll see if I can get him to put up a selection

SilentDeath · 30-07-2008, 11:38 PM

It was good

Ill upload some video of the boat race, westfields and mazda challenge soon.. winff doesnt like my DV files for some reson

Rave · 30-07-2008, 11:59 PM

I went a week ago, it cost me £25 because I left it to the last minute to book my tickets (for the so called 'Preview Day' which seemed to be anything but). I saw a lot of cool stuff, admired a great many stand babes, and did much better than last time on the Mazda Zoom Zoom Challenge so I feel I got my money's worth. The absence of the massive BMW Pavillion (with the exception of Mini, they weren't there at all this year) made it a bit crapper than last time from a 'looking at new cars' perspective, but the supercar paddock pretty much made up for it

. I saw an F40 and a '73 Carrera RS being given their head and both sound amazing on the overrun

.

The coolest thing I saw though was the Hyundai i10 ice cream van they had made up. I chatted to the geezer who built it, and was utterly in awe of his work. There were any number of 3-400k supercars at the show but if I had the choice of any car there I'd have left with the ice cream van.

Things I discovered:

The Vauxhall Insignia is pretty ugly (IMO) on the outside but the interior is great, especially in SRI trim with the seats that have those extendable thigh support bits (I've always loved those on sporting BMWs).

If, like me, you can't afford a new car and wouldn't buy on if you could, you'll get hassled a bit less if you look like a scruffbag in shorts and knackered trainers. I still got signed up to receive a brochure for the Mercedes CLS though?!

The Peugeot stand has a replica of the 908 racer, and has no private areas, so walk where you want with impunity. It also has a free jukebox, from which I chose "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton just for laughs- couldnt be bothered to hang around to hear it played though.

The current Subaru range seems great especially with the wondrous new boxer diesel engine (of which there's a cutaway model which I recommend)- but they seem to be deliberately shooting themselves in the foot with the quality of their interiors, particularly the hard plastics.

Finally, when I failed to avoid being given the spiel by a young PR girl on the Suzuki stand, I discovered that a) if you are polite but essentially disinterested you can steer the conversation away from them trying to get you to get a brochure or a testdrive; b) that they don't necessarily even know how to drive and aren't given that long to learn about the cars they're supposedly representing and c) they're stood about on heels for 8 or 9 hours a day and appreciate some sympathy and a friendly chat.

So bear that in mind, all you young free and single chaps. If you're just a married old perv like me going purely for the window shopping, I'd rate the stands as follows:

Peugeot: Lots of very good looking, tall, slim women.
Hyundai: Totty central, surprisingly. Well worth a visit even if through snobbery you'd never consider a Hyundai.
Alfa Romeo: Very glamourous stand girls, many of whom seem to be employed purely to pose in the Mito and 8C, all in velvet Little Black Dresses. All a bit too skinny for me, in fact I was tempted to tell one to "shift your arse love, I want a look at the interior of the car"

.
Mini: the more curvecious end of the PR girl spectrum represented here (which I like), but I couldn't really be bothered to stay because Minis are a load of overpriced crap.
Seat: Some curvy girls here too, and a party atmosphere on the stand when I visited at about 8pm. Not interested in Seats unfortunately (tho having just come back from Spain, I have to admit that the latest hot Leon looks very cool).
Citroen: Like Peugeot, only slightly less so.
Suzuki: The PR girls' grey trousers are fairly figure hugging. And there's a GSXR1000 out the back. Take your pick

.
Lotus: one PR girl with big knockers, and one who has a truly gorgeous face. Both better to look at than the new Evora. I recommend you have a sit in the revised Europa, I found it very impressive.