News

A day out at Autosport

Mookistar

20 January 2012

by Tarmac Terror

Well, I attended on the Sunday. Its been an annual pilgrimage for the last 3 years for myself and a friend. For the first time, we managed to arrive before the show opened which felt slightly odd. This was helped by the fact that I actually got up on time and picked up my mate when I said I would! (NOT exactly a common ocurrence!) Getting into the show felt similar to the start of a marathon with everyone vying for the front of the queue. As it turned out, a steward decided to change the direction of entry which saw us right at the front...bonus!
We started, as always, by taking in the Pistonheads side of things which last year was excellent, especially the Porsche Club GB stand which had a good few classic cars there.
From the outset it was impressive with a few 458 Italia's on show



and a nice GTR looking rather purposeful.

It seemed then, and backed up later in the main halls, that the entire UK fleet of MKII Escorts were in attendance!!

The more Escorts I noticed, the more the feeling of wanting another one swept over me. The condition of these cars is fantastic given their age. They were filled with some very trick items too, which would have been unheard of when I was competing in them.

Further into the PH hall was a lovely RS200..

and a good showing of kit cars. The Hawk HF3000 was my particular favourite...I would have one in a flash. Was of a high standard and clearly used in anger..

PCGB stand was once agin impressive with a few choice offerings....


And around the corner, yet more 458's..

A quick stop for food and a drink saw us start the first of the main Autosport halls. We were expecting big things this year and turned out not to be disappointed. There were LOTS of trade stands this year which is always a bonus. Last year I managed to get a good few bargains for the GTR and was hoping to do the same this time around. Its always nice to see prepared cars, even if they are not the same marque, in order to get some fresh ideas and perhaps be inspired into fabricating something new etc. The standard of the cars on display was truly magnificent and I have taken away some ideas to explore further in the GTR.
Moving around the vast NEC, we stumbled upon the Official Porsche stand and were amazed by the 918 RSR...

There was clearly more of an effort by the traders to get in on the GTR scene and there were significantly more offerings on the stands than there has ever been IMO.

During our travels, we happened upon the JRM stand which had 2 GTR's on display....one of which was this.

SVM had their 1200HP car on display...

which, if I'm honest, is only one of a very select few R35's which I actually find nice to look at!

Eventually we got to the Motul stand and saw RK's R32 track car in the flesh...


Clearly a great deal of effort has gone into this and the standard of work was evident throughout the car. Well done to all who participated in the build.

There are very few stands which specifically cater for those of us with Skylines however, mentions must go to CNC Heads who had their RB26 head on display...truly a work of art and on my list of 'things' to buy ;); Nitron with their stunning range of coilovers and Skyline fitments. I'm sure I have missed of a few others who had items specific to our cars and my apologies go to them. There is just soooo much to see at Autosport that if you have not been, then you dont know what you are missing. There IS so much that we elected to miss the Live Action Arena in favour of continued browsing. Just as well we did too as we were there right up to the last gasp.

Once again, a truly memorable day out which never gets boring. I'll be there next year!!!

TT

  1. herman

    21 January 2012

    great read and nice pics.i must try and make it next time,cheers.

    #1565606

  2. Mookistar

    21 January 2012

    Huge thanks to TT for writing this up for us

    #1565612

  3. nismoboy

    21 January 2012

    Good wee read some awesome pictures. Thanks for sharing this & think ill need to add this to the list of things to do for next year. Looks really good.

    #1565619

  4. tarmac terror

    21 January 2012

    As I said to Mook, was more of a quick forum-stlye write up as opposed to a more arty-farty EVO stlye of writing. I could have gone on for another few paragraphs but though folks might get a bit yawny after a bit

    I would add though that the show is an absolute MUST for anyone remotely interested in cars. An interest in motorsport whether as a spectator or for those a bit more involved would make things even more relevant. Some absolutely fantastic displays and trade stands on the day..the Radical stand a particular favourite. I always think that had I not been so cast iron in my choice of R32GTR as my track car I would, without question, have gone down the Radical road instead.

    We elected to miss out the live-action arena this year but I'm glad we did as the sheer volume of stands/displays would have meant we missed a substantial amount of them... Theres always a very eclectic mix of vehicles at Autosport from kit cars, dedicated track vehicles and classic rally cars to F1 and DTM cars. You could quite easily walk away on the day with an order for a vehicle and all the necessary bits and bobs i.e trailer, race suit, helmet, fire systems etc all from under one roof. LAst year I bought myself a 3 layer nomex race suit from AWS for an absolute steal, courtesy of my mate's haggling skills . While there were few Skyline-specific offerings there were a few companies which provided parts such as Quaife, whose Sequential box was particularly appealing. I might also give Tran-X a call to discuss GTR rear LSD maufacture.

    All-in-all, a fantastic day out for £32. I cant stress enough that those who have not been before need to start making arangements to visit in 2013. You wont be disappointed, although you WILL be surprised how quickly you need to get around the halls to see everything before closing time.

    TT

    #1565692

  5. TAZZMAXX

    21 January 2012

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tarmac terror View Post

    We elected to miss out the live-action arena this year but I'm glad we did as the sheer volume of stands/displays would have meant we missed a substantial amount of them...

    ....although you WILL be surprised how quickly you need to get around the halls to see everything before closing time.
    Couldn't agree more, we missed the live action bit last year and I said to my mate that I wasn't bothere with it this year. Unfortunately he gets the tickets and again we had to pretend to be impressed with Terry Grant! Where did they find him?

    Next year we will definitely miss it out as there really is too much to see on the stands, especially with the engineering section open on Trade Days. Having said that, some of the live action is good, and if it was your first visit I'd recommend it.

    #1565841

  6. RadoGTST

    01 February 2012

    I know I will miss next year's live action arena, waste of time really, unless you're absolutely clueless about motorsport in general. They just overdone it in my opinion, really short presentations of teams/drivers, 1 minute on the arena and onto the next one. Less teams, more time for them and a small track instead of a silly donut would be definitelly more interesting. 10 minutes (or more) to Terry Grant who managed to do 1 trick...


    I don't think I've seen everything there, it's huge! Spent too much time on Motul stand I guess...

    Some really amazing displays and cars, a must on my list to do next year.
    I just leave my visa card at home this time...

    #1570585