Sofia and I went to the British Motor Show 2006 this afternoon.
As a child, my father would take Phil (my bro) and myself to the London Motor Show which was at Earls Court. As soon as we arrived at today’s event, it brought back fond memories of childhood…
The actual Motor Show was pretty good. Practically all of the main car manufacturers were there, combined with a sprinkling of lesser known ones.
Unlike when I was a child, I’m actually in the market to buy a car (or at least a very strong possibility) as we’ll probably need one in America. Despite being mad about cars, and having a license, I’ve never actually owned a car as there is little need in Central London.
However what made the event for both myself and Sofia were to amazing Formula 1 exhibits (as you may know, we’re both F1 nuts – travelling as far as China to see the races).
The first significant exhibit was a practical demonstration of pit-stops by Shell, using Ferrari F1 cars. We were picked out of the crowd to have a go at changing a real F1 tyre and also use a simulated refuelling nozzle (it was the same weight but obviously didn’t have fuel in it!).
It’s not something you usually get to do, so I we were both pretty thrilled.
The other fascinating exhibit was a HondaF1 car on the Honda stand. In Honda’s fine tradition to detail, they had suspended every component of a F1 car in effectively a massive glass box. You could queue up to go inside and take photos, etc.
I’m a Jenson Button/HondaF1 fan so for me, this was simply amazing. I’m sure for most of you you’re wondering what the big deal is.
I took loads of photos and also this video:
Overall, we enjoyed the British Motor Show very much and despite the slightly hefty £28 price for two adults to get in (weekend rate, cheaper on weekdays) it was still a great day out.