British International Motor Show

The Lotus Esprit was launched at the British International Motor Show, Earl's Court in 1974

The British International Motor Show was held regularly between 1903 and 2008, initially in London at Crystal Palace, Olympia and then Earl's Court before moving to the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham in 1976 where it stayed until 2004. It then returned to London for 2006 and 2008 at the new location of ExCeL. The 2010 and 2012 shows were subsequently cancelled. The event is recognised by the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles.

The London Motor Show will return at Battersea Park from 5 to 8 May 2016.

History

Britain's first motor show^[1]—for horseless carriages—was held in South Kensington in 1896 at the Imperial Institute under the auspices of Lawson's Motor Car Club.^[2] The first British Motor Show organised by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) was held at 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 Automobile Association. After the 1903 event it moved to Olympia in London, where it was held for the next 32 years before moving to Earl's Court, London from 1937 until 1976, except for the period of World War II during which time where were no shows.

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.^[3]

The July 2006, and July 2008 shows returned in ExCeL, London, prior to the cancellation of the 2010^[4] and 2012^[5] shows, due to the recession. Motorexpo, the World's largest free to visit motor show started in 1996 and is held annually at Canary Wharf in London, Brookfield Place in New York and Brookfield Place/First Canadian Place in Toronto. London Motorfair, an alternative London show was held at Earls Court biannually from 1977 to 1999.

In December 2014, it was announced by Prince Michael of Kent, the cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, that the London Motor Show will return in May 2016, to Battersea Park.

Show details

Detailed information for shows in later years.

Date	Description	Introduction	Photo
1948	27 October – 6 November 1948 Earls Court, London.	Austin A70 Hampshire Austin A90 Atlantic Hillman Minx Lagonda 2.6 Jaguar Mark V Jaguar XK120 Morris Oxford MO Morris Six MS Singer SM1500 Sunbeam-Talbot 80/Sunbeam-Talbot 90 Vauxhall Velox Vauxhall Wyvern Wolseley 4/50 Wolseley 6/80	Morris Six MS
1949	28 September to 8 October 1949 34th International Motor Show, Earls Court[6]	Austin A40 Sports[7] Allard[8] Armstrong Siddeley Austin Daimler Healey Humber Jensen Jowett Lea-Francis Rolls-Royce Rover Triumph	Austin A40 Sports
1951	17 October 1951 – 27 October 1951 Earls Court, London.	Austin A30	Austin A30
1956	17 October 1956 – 27 October 1956 Earls Court, London.	Volvo Amazon Berkeley Cars	Volvo Amazon
1957	16 October 1956 – 26 October 1957 Earls Court, London.	Lotus Elite
1959	21 October 1959 – 31 October 1959 Earls Court, London.	1959 Cadillac range Daimler Majestic Major Ford Anglia 105E Jaguar Mark 2 Jaguar Mark IX Mini Riley 4	Jaguar Mark 2
1960	October 1960 Earls Court, London.	Humber Super Snipe Series III – Britain's first car with twin headlights Lea-Francis Lynx[9]	Lea-Francis Lynx
1962	17 October 1962 – 27 October 1962 Earls Court, London.	Ford Cortina Mark I Triumph Spitfire	Ford Contina Mark 1
1965	20 October 1965 – 30 October 1965 Earls Court, London.	AC Cobra Mark III[10] AC convertible by Frua Aston Martin DB6 Aston Martin Volante Bentley T-series Bristol 409 Jensen F. F. Mark III Lotus Elan coupé MGB GT Riley Kestrel Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow Triumph 1300 Triumph 2000 estate Wolseley 1100[10]	MGB GT Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow
1966	19 October 1966 – 29 October 1966 Earls Court, London.	Aston Martin DBS[11] Aston Martin DB6 Volante Ford Zephyr Mark IV Ford Zodiac Mark IV Ford Cortina Mark II[12] Ford estate cars by Abbott Ford convertibles by Crayford Hillman Hunter[12] Jaguar 420 Jensen FF[13] Singer Vogue Triumph Vitesse 2-litre Vauxhall Viva HB[12] Alfa Romeo GTV Alfa Romeo Duetto Audi 80 Audi Super 90 BMW 1600 BMW 1800 BMW 2000 Ti Lux BMW 2000 CS Fiat 124 Ford Taunus 12 Ford Taunus 15M Lancia Fulvia Zagato Maserati Quattroporte Mercedes-Benz 300SEL Mercedes-Benz 250SE Volvo 144	Ford Zodiac Mark IV Hillman Hunter Vauxhall Viva HB
1967	18 October 1967 – 28 October 1967 Earls Court, London.	Austin/Morris Mini Mk2[14] Triumph Herald 13/60[11] NSU Ro 80[11] Simca 1100[11] Vauxhall Victor (FD)[15]	Triumph Herald 13/60
1968	16 October 1968 – 26 October 1968 Earls Court, London. The opening ceremony was performed by Princess Alexandra at 10 am on Wednesday 16 October.[16]	Jaguar XJ6[16] Austin 3-litre[16] (relaunch) Marcos 3 litre[17]	Jaguar XJ6
1972	18 October 1972 – 28 October 1972 Earls Court, London. Bertone's Citroën GS Camargue was shown here.	Marina Estate[18] Ford Consul 2500[18] Ford Granada 3-litre[18] Audi 80[18] Alfasud[18] BMW 3.0CSL[18] Citroën GS Camargue[18] Mercedes-Benz S-Class[18] Peugeot 104[18] Renault 5[18]	The Aston Martin V8 at the 1972 Motor Show
1974	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.[19] The model nevertheless went on to win first place with motoring journalists voting for the European Car of the Year a few months later.	Aston Martin Lagonda (long wheel-base, four-door version of the Aston Martin V8)[20] Lotus Esprit (Worldwide launch)[21] Lotus Eclat (2+2) (Worldwide launch)[21] Porsche 930 Turbo Panther De Ville (Worldwide launch, for the basic model it was one of the most expensive cars being displayed at the time) Toyota 1100 (UK launch of the Toyota Publica)	Lotus Esprit

Birmingham years

Date	Description	Introduction	Photo
1978	The International Motor Show made its first appearance at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, and attracted record crowds of 908,194.[22]
1982	The International Motor Show again appeared at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham during October of this year.[23]	The two most notable new launches were the Audi 100 and Ford Sierra. Other new cars included the Austin Ambassador, and MG Metro.[24][25]
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.[26]	Austin Montego Estate – the Design Council award winning family estate from Austin Rover[27] Reliant Scimitar SS1 Dutton Rico[28]	Austin Montego Estate
1986	18 October −26 October 1986 NEC, Birmingham.	Jaguar XJ (XJ40) Renault GTA in RHD, British debut[29]	Jaguar XJ
1988	22 October 1988 – 30 October 1988 NEC, Birmingham.	Jaguar XJ220 – debut of Jaguar's 220 mph (350 km/h) all wheel drive (AWD) super car concept vehicle MG Maestro Turbo[30] Middlebridge Scimitar[31]	Jaguar XJ220
1998	22 October to 1 November 1998 at the NEC, Birmingham. Saw the launch of two critical saloons from British car manufacturers. 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.	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.	Rover 75
2000	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.[32]
2002	The 2002 show at the NEC, Birmingham featured the international	Bentley Continental GT MG SV TVR T350[33]	MG SV
2004	In 2004 the show, branded The Sunday Times Motorshow Live, was held from 27 May – 6 June, instead of the usual October.
2006	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.	Alfa Romeo Spider (UK introduction)Aston Martin Rapide (UK introduction) Bentley Continental Flying Spur Mulliner Driving Specification BMW M6 Convertible Chevrolet Captiva (UK introduction) Chrysler Sebring sedan (Europe introduction) Dodge Nitro (Europe introduction) Ford Focus coupe-convertible (UK introduction) Honda Civic 3-door hatchback Jaguar XJR Portfolio Jaguar XKR Kia C-segment model (codename ED) Land Rover Freelander2/LR2 (World Introduction) Lexus GS 300 Limited Edition Lotus Europa S (UK introduction) Lotus Exige S (UK introduction) Mazda BT-50 (Europe introduction) Mazda3 MPS (UK introduction) Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe MINI GP (UK introduction) Mitsubishi i (Europe introduction) Rolls-Royce 101EX (UK introduction) Saab 9-3 Convertible BioPower SEAT León Cupra SEAT León FR SEAT Altea FR Smart Fortwo EV Toyota RAV4 (UK introduction) Toyota Yaris (UK introduction) Vauxhall Corsa 3-door and 5-door (World introduction) Volvo S60 Volvo S80 (UK introduction) Volvo XC90 (UK introduction)	Rolls-Royce 101EX
2008	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.[34] The motor show displayed a number of high-priced, high-performance electric cars such as the Lightning GT and Tesla Roadster.	Alfa Romeo Mito (international and UK introduction) Ford Focus RS Lotus Evora Mastretta MXT[35] (first Mexican sports car) Nissan Qashqai+2 Ford Fiesta ECOnetic Vauxhall Insignia SsangYong Rexton R-Line Concept Cars: Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept Chevrolet Camaro Convertible Citroen C-Cactus Honda OSM Kia Excee'd Convertible Kia Kee Land Rover LRX Lexus LFA Concept Lotus Elise Eco Saab 9-X Biohybrid BioHybrid Smart fortwo ed	Land Rover LRX

The 2006 show also had concerts by:

• 19 July, A-Ha
• 20 July, Van Morrison
• 21 July, UB40
• 22 July, Roxy Music
• 24 July, Simple Minds
• 26 July, Katherine Jenkins with the National Symphony Orchestra of London
• 27 July, Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to British International Motor Show.

• British motor industry

References and notes

External links

• The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders – Official website of the organisers

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