Motor show

General Meets + Track Day Reports
1

Following the general vein of who�s going where posts of late, it�s one week �til the motorshow !!!

I�m going to try and get over there a couple of times over the week or so, anyway, looks like it should be good fun .

David

2

This also came as a bit of a surprise, not only have BMW actually bothered to turn up this year, but they�re even launching a car .

3

I’m going to be there on the first public day, Thursday 20th.

4

First day�s always a bit pricey, the Van Morrison concert in the evening should be cool though

David

5

Yes, the first day’s more expensive. Nothing compared to the price of the bloody train tickets though

I didn’t know Van Morisson was playing that night. I’ll be going home too early to see him. I no fan, but it would have been cool.

6

I’m going on the last Friday…got a free family pass from my friendly Lotus dealer.

It is good that BMW has decided to turn up but what about…Ferrari , Porsche , Fiat and VW. All of these are staying away

7

Well, the Super Car Club are bringing a 575 HGTC, a 612 Scaglietti, an Enzo, two F40�s, an F430 and an F50, and shell are bringing a Ferrari F1 car, so it�s not going to be a Ferrari-less Motorshow, the lack of Porsche is a bit of a shame, though I think the Super Car club are also bringing a Carrera GT. Luckily I saw the 997 turbo (very nice), Cayenne turbo S, Cayman S and the AeroKit 987 at the Motorexpo .

David

8

I agree with you on the Porsche, was looking forward to seeing the GT3 RS. Also agree on the turbo, went and had alook at my dealer and thought it was much better than I expected…still looking forward to the show if only to see if the Europa looks better or worse in the flesh.

9

see if the Europa looks better…

Oh look…
[image]http://campbellbaker.homeip.net/stuff/photos/pig fly.jpg[/image]

10

Oi!!

The Europa looks as though the styling has been tweeked of late (the front is much better) ie it now has the ‘family look’

Or have i been drinking

Tim.

11

Ok, but what�s the point in having a car with the �family look� if it�s only got two seats…

Whichever way you look at it, the design of the Europa is fundamentally flawed, and in my opinion Lotus have missed out on a hell of an opportunity. That said, I really hope Lotus do well with it, and the Motorshow should provide an excellent showcase and a chance to show of a bit presentation wise, I mean, how long has it been since they�ve had so many different cars in so many different guises to play with .

David

12

IIRC planned production for the Europa is around 600 cars - makes you wonder why they’re even bothering. Reason is, I reckon, cos they’ve got a bin full of bits for the aborted “Proton”, plus a supply of GM engines as used in the VX220.

13

As I’ve said all along the Europa should have been a 2+2. Missed opurtunity me thinks.

14

I went to the Motorshow yesterday, as I had managed to swing a press pass. I hate to put a damper on things guys, but to be honest I wasn�t that impressed. The show is only two halls (and bmw outside) and like has been mentioned a lot of the big names and especially the manufacturers folks like us are interested in weren�t there.

However, the super car display was awesome, some lovely cars there. Honda stand was the best IMO, Aston stand was nice, Seat had the best girls, Jag had the best shampoo, Nissan had the best food.

A few random pics taken with my phone.

Still can�t get over how good these look!!

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/f1lm.jpg[/image]

4 door Aston looked great. Has to be the ultimate family hack!

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/4drAston.jpg[/image]

A Ford Focus made out of ice which looked quite impressive, although it was melting at a huge rate of knots!!

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/icefocus.jpg[/image]

A Honda had sneaked onto the Mini stand. Lol!!

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/hondamini.jpg[/image]

The Lotus Stand

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/lotusstand3.jpg[/image]

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/lotusstand4.jpg[/image]

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/lotusstand5.jpg[/image]

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/lotusstand1.jpg[/image]

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/lotusstand2.jpg[/image]

Cool new Stratus

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/stratus.jpg[/image]

Mansell swanning about

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/mansell.jpg[/image]

The best part of the whole show for me was on the Honda stand, they had a glass room that contained an exploded F1 car with all of the bits hanging on thin wire from the roof, you could get in the room and have a good mooch around it, it really was awesome.

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/hondaf1inbits7.jpg[/image]

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/hondaf1inbits6.jpg[/image]

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/hondaf1inbits5.jpg[/image]

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/hondaf1inbits4.jpg[/image]

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/hondaf1inbits3.jpg[/image]

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/hondaf1inbits2.jpg[/image]

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/hondaf1inbits1.jpg[/image]

15

nice one sean, although you kept that a bit quiet

16

Nice pics there. The Honda stand looks mighty…obviously their sales are going well.

The Loti girlies looked fine to me, & the Europa looks better too, shame about the ABSO. How does it look in the flesh?

Tim.

17

IIRC planned production for the Europa is around 600 cars - makes you wonder why they’re even bothering.

Isn’t that alot of cars to a company like Lotus?

We’d never have had the Exige if there was a larger number?

18

Sean, don’t suppose you looked under the bonnet of the Civic Type-R?

19

Why do I feel an uncontrollable urge to go to the Honda stand with some of THESE

20

Sean, don’t suppose you looked under the bonnet of the Civic Type-R?

No, the new Civic type R was actually only a concept, but me and a few of the guys I was with said if they actually sell it how it looks they will sell trillions of them. It looked AWESOME!!!