Lost Britain: An A-Z of Forgotten Landmarks and Lost Traditions by David Long

Author:David Long [Long, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Travel, Europe, Great Britain, History, General
ISBN: 9781782434412
Google: 5vK4CgAAQBAJ
Publisher: MikeO'Mara
Published: 2015-10-22T20:38:37+00:00

The Motor Show

Warwickshire

BRITAIN DIDN’T INVENT THE CAR; IT NO

longer owns a marque of any significance but, as a nation of petrolheads, the UK builds more cars than ever before, making it even more remarkable that it can no longer host a proper motor show.

The world’s first ever motor show was organized by the scientist and author Sir David Lionel Salomons Bt.,15 who undertook to exhibit his personal ‘petroleum carriage’ – an early Peugeot – at 3 p. m. on 15 October 1895 at the Agricultural Show Ground in Tunbridge Wells in Kent. More than 5,000 spectators turned up to see it (for most of them it was the first time they had ever seen such a machine), together with the Count de Dion’s steam tractor, a ‘one mouse-power’ tricycle and a small petrol-driven fire engine.

It was, as it sounds, a modest affair, but the start of something big. Sir David is now credited with introducing the motor car to this country, and at his country house, Broomhill, he built the first motor house or garage. The idea of a motor show also took off, and for the next hundred years and more, tens of thousands of enthusiasts began packing into venues in London and Birmingham.

Keen to see the latest models, to sit in them if at all possible and, latterly, to amass private hoards of new car brochures, for enthusiasts young and old, the event soon became the highlight of the motoring year. As the show moved from Crystal Palace to the National Exhibition Centre near Birmingham, via Olympia and Earls Court, the number of exhibits soared. So too did the razzmatazz surrounding them. Celebrities, VIPs and even minor royals were regularly photographed on some of the more upmarket stands; on others, girls draped themselves over bonnets until the organizers called a halt when their habit of skimping on clothes eventually reached its natural conclusion.

Unveiling female models in this way certainly pulled in the crowds, but it contributed to the sense that the show was losing its original, serious purpose. By 2008, and a final move to Excel in the London Docklands, it was obvious that most manufacturers clearly preferred Tokyo, Geneva and Frankfurt, and with more tyre-kickers and brochure collectors in attendance than customers, several big names had already pulled out.

The next two shows were cancelled, and that seemed to be that. Although at the time of writing Prince Michael of Kent is among those talking up a relaunch for 2016, few in the industry are expecting a return to the glory days.

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