British_International_Motor_Show

British International Motor Show

British International Motor Show

Annual motor show held between 1903 and 2008

The British International Motor Show was an annual (bi-annual after 1976) motor show held by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) between 1903 and 2008 in England.

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Initially held in London at The Crystal Palace, Olympia and then the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, it moved to the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham in 1978, where it stayed until 2004. The International motorshow alternated with the London Motorfair which continued in Earl's Court from 1977 to 1999

The motorshow was held at ExCeL London in 2006 and 2008. The 2010 and 2012 events were cancelled due to the global financial crisis, 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.

With the absence of an international show in England, between 2016[1] 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 Covid-19.

The show was relaunched in 2021 with a new location at Farnborough under the banner of The British Motor Show and was the first motor show event to take place after the lifting of coronavirus measures.

History

Britain's first motor show[2]—for horseless carriages—was held in South Kensington in 1896 at the Imperial Institute under the auspices of Lawson's Motor Car Club.[3]

The first British Motor Show organised by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) was held at The Crystal Palace, London in 1903, the same year that the speed limit was raised from 14 miles per hour (23 km/h) to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) by the Motor Car Act 1903 and two years before the formation of The AA.

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[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] The 2010 and 2012 shows were cancelled due to the global financial crisis.[7][8]

Locations

Earls Court

The cars listed are those announced in the late summer lead up to the show or during it.

More information Year, Show ...
More information Year, Show ...

Birmingham

More information Year, Show ...

ExCeL

More information Year, Show ...

See also

References and notes

  • SMMT history including that of the motor show
  • "British International Motor Show". Pietro Frua. – Source of show locations and dates
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    "London motor show back for 2016". Car. 5 December 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  2. [2]
    The Times 14 November 1905 page 7
  3. [3]
    Horseless Carriages The Times 17 February 1896 page 7
  4. [4]
    "1977-no show". Autocar. 143 (4119): 23. 18 October 1975.
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    Jorn Madslien (24 May 2004). "Struggling motorshow in spring debut". BBC News.
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    Julian Rendell (27 January 2009). "British motor show in crisis". Autocar.
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    Tim Pollard (14 October 2010). "British motor show axed for good?". Car.
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    Display advertisement Gloucestershire Echo 24 September 1949 page 5
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    Display advertisement: Motor Show. The Times 3 October 1950 page 4
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    The Triumph Roadster The Times 14 October 1950 page 3
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    New Models at Motor Show The Times 18 October 1950 page 6
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    New Austin Seven The Times 8 October 1951 page 4
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    Cars of Today The Times 19 October 1965 page 4
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    Basil Cardew (ed.). Daily Express Review of the 1966 Motor Show. Beaverbrook Newspapers Ltd, London.
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    Keith Anderson (1989). Jensen. Haynes Publishing Group. ISBN 0-85429-682-4.
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    "New From Abroad". Autocar. 135 (3941): 12–13. 14 October 1971. |Volkswagen K70
  25. [25]
    The Times 12 October 1972 page 29
  26. [26]
    Autocar Motor Show Supplement 19 October 1974
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    "Show Stoppers". Autocar. 145 (4173): 27–36. 30 October 1976.
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    "Show Report: Undamped enthusiasm". Autocar. 153 (4376): 12–19. 25 October 1980.
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    1982 in motoring#United Kingdom
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    "1982 - John Topley's Weblog".
  33. [33]
    "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.
  34. [34]
    "Story of the Montego". Maestro & Montego Owners Club. 11 January 2017.
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    Mastrostefano, Raffaele, ed. (1985). Quattroruote: Tutte le Auto del Mondo 1985 (in Italian). Milano: Editoriale Domus S.p.A. p. 264. ISBN 88-7212-012-8.
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    Liszewski, Nicolas. "Alpine V6 Turbo Mille Miles". Le site des amateurs et passionnés des Alpine Renault GTA (in French). Retrieved 8 September 2014.
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    Büschi, Hans-Ulrich, ed. (9 March 1989). Automobil Revue 1989 (in German and French). Vol. 84. Berne, Switzerland: Hallwag AG. p. 400. ISBN 3-444-00482-6.
  38. [38]
    Automobil Revue 1989, p. 401
  39. [39]
    Automobil Revue 1989, p. 168
  40. [40]
    "Dismay at show attendance". Auto Express (813): 20. 30 June 2004.
  41. [41]
    "Petrol - who needs it?". The Guardian. 12 November 2000. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022.
  42. [42]
    Yarrow, Richard (28 May 2003). "Stop Press: NEC goes live". Auto Express (757): 14.
  43. [43]
    "British Motor Show 2002". www.whatcar.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011.
  44. [44]
    "The NEC stars you can't afford to miss". Auto Express (808): 45. 25 May 2004.
  45. [45]
    "Peugeot At The Sunday Times Motor Show Live 2004". 12 May 2004. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  46. [46]
    British Motor Show "Plugs In" To Demand For Electric Vehicles Archived 7 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  47. [47]
    Automóvil Panamericano, No. 163 (15 July 2008), p.20
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