Classic Motor Show 2008
AS SOON as we pulled off the M42, we thought something was up. Ahead, snaking out of the NEC entrance was an immense line of traffic, which we had no choice but to begrudgingly join.
The 2008 Classic Motor Show was sharing the NEC with some sort of cult event based around a sect which actually believes the sun shines out of Jeremy Clarkson’s bottom. Called MPH, and designed for people who like their cars spinning around in circles, we were just surprised it had not been banned by the EU stasi for sounding too imperial and too British.
Anyway, given the pull of Top Gear, we naturally presumed this is why we thought we’d got our dates wrong, because Friday is usually quite quiet and is therefore ideal for compiling a show report – but not this time. In fact, it was heaving with so many people that we actually thought we’d experienced a diary/memory interface cock-up and turned up on Saturday by mistake.
Undoubtedly, the show’s organisers and exhibitors must have been a bit nervous about attendance levels given the headlines and the Government’s inability to manage anything other than a cock-up – but they needn’t have worried. We learnt that the 2008 Classic Motor Show was the first time that not one single club pulled out of their stand booking – meaning it was a record 100% attendance.
The good news didn’t stop there, because according to a couple of the clubs we spoke to, they were experiencing a high level of visitors asking about running a classic on a daily basis. So it looks like the secret is out, run a classic and you save money on tax, insurance and servicing costs – all of which is hardly news to us, but thankfully the retro gospel is successfully spreading…
Excluding MPH with its Tupperware cars rammed full of microchips and its crowd of he-he-he-ing Peter Griffins and wo-hoo-ing Homer Simpsons, the CMS occupied four halls and the Pavilion for the well-attended, inaugural Classic Bike Show. The whole bash was HUGE, thoroughly impressive and despite being there for at least eight hours, we failed miserably to see everything because of all the well wishers we kept bumping into. (Thank you one and all!)
Despite the title of the show, there was a generous helping of retro, modified and hot rods wowing the crowds, which meant that there was plenty of sweet metal to dribble over. So without further ado, here are the ‘Dep-O’ Classic Motor Show highlights…
Classic Motor Show 2008
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