The British International Motor Show is an automobile show held biennially in the United Kingdom. It is recognised as an international show by the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles. The 2008 was the last event with no news of a return of the British International Motor Show. The 2010 show was cancelled due to an economic downturn,[1] and the 2012 show subsequently cancelled.
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The first British Motor Show organised by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) was held at Crystal Palace, London in 1903. It subsequently moved to Olympia in London, where it was held each year for 32 years. From 1937 until 1976, it was held at Earl's Court in London, before moving to the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham in 1978. The NEC hosted the show every other year until the last show there in May 2004.
The 2004 show was moved from the traditional October date to May to avoid conflicting with the other two major autumn motor shows in Frankfurt and Paris.[2] In 2006 the motor show was returned to London, taking place at ExCeL in London Docklands. The 2008 motor show was to be the second and last at ExCeL, with the 2010 cancelled in 2009 due to the economic climate,[3] and then the 2012 show cancelled in 2010.[4]
Once the International Motor Show became a biannual event with the move to the Birmingham NEC for the 1978 show, a new London motor show, called Motorfair, was created and alternated with the international show, and ran from 1977 to 1999 at Earls Court. A smaller, non-international show called the London Motorexpo was established in 1996 at Canary Wharf and is an annual event that still runs.
The British International Motor Show was held annually at Olympia from 1905 to 1936.[5][6]
27 October – 6 November 1948 Earls Court, London.
Being the first motor show since the end of World War II there were a large number of significant car launches, and received 562,954 visitors. Vehicle introductions:[7]
Vehicle introduction:
19 October 1951–29 October 1952 Earls Court, London.
Vehicle introduction:
17 October 1962–27 October 1962 Earls Court, London.
Vehicle introduction:
19 October 1966–29 October 1966 Earls Court, London.
Vehicle introductions:
18 October 1967–28 October 1967 Earls Court, London.
For the first time since 1948, 1967 saw an increase in the normal daily admission charge which was raised from 5 shillings (GBP 0.25) to 7 shillings and 6 (old) pence (GBP 0.375).[11]
Vehicle introductions:
16 October 1968–26 October 1968 Earls Court, London.
The opening ceremony was performed by Princess Alexandra at 10 am on Wednesday 16 October.[12]
Vehicle introductions:
16 October 1974–26 October 1974 Earls Court, London.
The Citroën CX had been launched a few weeks earlier at the Paris Motor Show and was scheduled for inclusion in the 1974 London show. It was withdrawn at the eleventh hour, possibly because the manufacturers found themselves unable to schedule rhd production of the car till well into 1975.[13] The model nevertheless went on to win first place with motoring journalists voting for the European Car of the Year a few months later.
Vehicle introductions:
The International Motor Show made its first appearance at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, and attracted record crowds of 908,194.[16]
20 October 1984–28 October 1984 NEC, Birmingham.
Vehicle introductions:
18 October –26 October 1986 NEC, Birmingham.
Vehicle introductions:
22 October 1988–30 October 1988 NEC, Birmingham.
Vehicle introductions:
22 October to 1 November 1998 at the NEC, Birmingham. Saw the launch of two critical saloons from British car manufacturers:
Vehicle introductions:
1998 was also the year that the then BMW boss Bernd Pischetsrieder made an impromptu speech about the future of the Rover Longbridge plant which would then lead to the sell of the brand in 2000 and its collapse in 2005.
The International Motor Show remained in the Birmingham NEC during October. Honda made the news in claiming that it would have fuel cell cars on sale by 2003.[18]
The 2002 show at the NEC, Birmingham featured the international launch of the Bentley Continental GT, MG SV and TVR T350.[19]
In 2004 the show, branded The Sunday Times Motorshow Live, was held from 27 May - 6 June, instead of the usual October.
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.
Vehicle introductions:
Dock rock performers:
The 2008 British International Motor Show was held at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in London's Docklands from 23 July-3 August and was the last regular British International Motorshow. 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 UK, with a display of more than 20 vehicles which are propelled solely by battery power.[20] The motor show displayed a number of high-priced, high-performance electric cars such as the Lightning GT and Tesla Roadster.
Car Introductions:
Concept Cars:
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