I have just been reading Steve Cropley's column concerning the Paris Motorshow and his compring it with the U.K effort at Excel. I thought this years show was a terrible disappointment and this was mainly due to the fact that many manufacturers stayed away. i don't know what it is about London but from what I have read elsewhere, BMW, VW etc stated that the event was just a day out for people and that the expense is not justified.
I think this is due to the wow factor being lost. I remember the old Earls Court show as a kid. It had everything from Classics to exotica, was publicised with an hour long special on the t.v. The attiude of the manufacturers to kids was different then too. I used to come away with carrier bags full of brochures and it was this that nurtured the passion for cars that I have today. At the last show I saw many kids get brusque treatment from show staff and no literature was available at all even for serious buyers. The only good thing in my opinion was Peugeot and Citroen offering instant test drives although the course meant i couldn't get out of second gear. I think the Paris show is successful (and Geneva too) because it has kept the pizzazz that our show has lost. It has also become very much the case that it is not socially acceptable to be a car enthusiast in Britain anymore thanks to a lot of left wing hysteria, maybe this political climate has also got something to do with Excel's lack of sparkle?
