The British International Motor Show was an annual (bi-biennial after 1976) motor show held by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) between 1903 and 2008 in England. The show was relaunched in 2021 with a new location at Farnborough under the name of British Motor Show and was the first motor show event to take place after the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 1905, it moved to Olympia, London, where it was held for the next 32 years before moving to the Earls Court Exhibition Centre from 1937 until 1976, except for the period of World War II during which time there were no shows.
The SMMT announced in 1975 that in future that the show would alternate locations with Birmingham[3] and from 1978 until 2004, it was held every second year at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham, with the 2004 event being held in May, rather than the traditional October, to avoid a clash with the Paris Motor Show.[4] The 1980 event was attended by both the actor Lewis Collins and the stand-up comedian Stewart Lee.
The July 2006 and July 2008 shows were held at ExCeL London.[5]
The motorshow was held at ExCeL London in 2006 and 2008. The 2010 and 2012 events were cancelled due to the Great Recession, and there was no 2014 show. The last British International Motor Show in the UK was 2008, and after the 2012 cancellation, ended the involvement of the SMMT. The 2010 and 2012 shows were cancelled due to the Great Recession.[6][7]
With the absence of an international show in England, between 2016 and 2019, there were annual motor shows held under the London Motor Show banner held in Battersea Park for the first two years and moved to Excel for 2019. The 2020 show was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8]
Locations
Earls Court
The cars listed are those announced in the late summer lead up to the show or during it.
The world's largest display of Cars, Boats, Caravans; carriage work, marine engines, components and accessories, tyres, transport service equipment and car trailers.
Jaguar Mark VII – October 1950Austin A70 Hereford – October 1950Ford Zephyr Six – October 1950
1951
17 October 1951 – 27 October Earls Court, London. attendance was down sharply (375,000 from 480,000) because there were few new models and polling day for the General Election fell in the middle of the Show period. The choice models were export-only.
In September, Earls Court Exhibition workers threatened to strike. The day the show opened, two UK major manufacturers had assembly lines at a standstill.
The International Motor Show made its first appearance at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, and attracted record crowds of 908,194.[29]
1980
The International Motor Show returned to the National Exhibition Centre in 1980 with an additional exhibition hall.[30] The Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was driven to the show in the new Austin Metro.
The International Motor Show again appeared at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham during October of this year.[31]
The two most notable new launches were the Audi 100 and Ford Sierra. Other new cars included the Austin Ambassador and MG Metro.[32][33]
1984
20 October 1984 – 28 October 1984 NEC, Birmingham. 17–19 October were reserved for professional visitors. The show saw a total of 696,183 visitors this year.[34]
22 September – 30 September 1990 NEC, Birmingham (trade days 19-21 September). The show was advertised with the slogan "Fuel your imagination"
1996
The 1996 show was held at the NEC, Birmingham. The show had 623,000 visitors.[41]
1998
22 October to 1 November 1998 at the NEC, Birmingham. Saw the launch of two critical saloons from British car manufacturers. Bernd Pischetsrieder, then in charge at BMW, made an impromptu speech about the future of Rover's Longbridge plant. The show had a large attendance of 709,000 visitors.[41]
Rover 75 – debut of the first (and last) Rover with the help of BMW Jaguar S-Type – all new executive car from Jaguar, retro in design like the Rover.
The International Motor Show remained in the Birmingham NEC during October. Honda made news in claiming it would have fuel cell cars on sale by 2003.[42] Attendance dropped from 1998 to 543,000.[41]
2002
The 2002 show at the NEC, Birmingham had over 450,000 visitors, a further drop over the two previous shows.[43]
In 2004, the show, branded The Sunday Times Motorshow Live, was held from 27 May – 6 June, instead of the usual October. Attendance increased slightly from the previous year to 461,000, but the organisers had hoped for 600,000.[41]
The 2006 British Motor Show was held in July at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in London's Docklands. It featured a nightly post-show rock music festival called Dock Rock with concerts by:
The 2008 British International Motor Show was held at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in the Docklands from 23 July – 3 August, and was the last regular British International Motor Show.
The SMMT promoted an all new showcase of the latest electric vehicle models. "The Electric Vehicle Village" brought together one of the largest collections of zero emissions vehicles ever seen in the United Kingdom, with a display of more than twenty battery powered vehicles.[47]
The motor show displayed a number of high priced, high performance electric cars, such as the Lightning GT and Tesla Roadster (2008).
^ abCars of Today The Times 19 October 1965 page 4
^ abcd"Visitors' Guide: Hours and Charges; Opening Day; How to Get There (i.e. concerning the London Motor Show)". Autocar. Vol. 127 (nbr 3739). 12 October 1967. p. 59.
^ abBasil Cardew (ed.). Daily Express Review of the 1966 Motor Show. Beaverbrook Newspapers Ltd, London.
^Keith Anderson (1989). Jensen. Haynes Publishing Group. ISBN0-85429-682-4.
^ abc"Earls Court '68: Hours and Charges". Autocar. Vol. 129 (nbr 3791). 10 October 1968. p. 52.
^Braunschweig, Robert; et al., eds. (12 March 1970). Automobil Revue '70 (in German and French). 65. Berne, Switzerland: Hallwag AG: 370. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^"Show in Pictures". Autocar. 135 (3943): 4–11. 28 October 1971.
^"New From Abroad". Autocar. 135 (3941): 12–13. 14 October 1971.
|Volkswagen K70
^"Près de 700.000 visiteurs à Birmingham" [Nearly 700,000 visitors to Birmingham]. Transporama (in French). 4 (31). Edegem, Belgium: 11. December 1984 – January 1985.
^Mastrostefano, Raffaele, ed. (1985). Quattroruote: Tutte le Auto del Mondo 1985 (in Italian). Milano: Editoriale Domus S.p.A. p. 264. ISBN88-7212-012-8.
^Liszewski, Nicolas. "Alpine V6 Turbo Mille Miles". Le site des amateurs et passionnés des Alpine Renault GTA (in French). Retrieved 8 September 2014.
^Büschi, Hans-Ulrich, ed. (9 March 1989). Automobil Revue 1989 (in German and French). Vol. 84. Berne, Switzerland: Hallwag AG. p. 400. ISBN3-444-00482-6.
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