Autosport International Show 2016 – event report.
The Autosport International show has evolved over the years into the meeting place for the great and the good from the motorsport industry. From specialist car makers and engineering firms to race teams and superstars – the Autosport International offers it all over three days in January.
Hamilton Classic and Motorsport were there as well, of course, with a stand in the trade area giving us the opportunity to meet with teams, competitors, car owners and the public alike. We were able to show off our 2016 range of personalised branded event shelters, pit equipment, crowd barriers and car covers.
Autosport is ideal for us as its an ideal opportunity for smaller, quality focused companies like ourselves to share our innovations with the motorsport industry, under one roof. It is a view shared by the many specialist car makers present as well and it was heartening for the patriotic brits that out of the six new road and track cars on show, five of them were from British companies. Proving once again that the UK is the hub of international motorsport.
It was also a massive opportunity to show off our Triumph TR7V8 rally car ahead of its first event of 2016 in the Motorsports News Circuits Rally round at Brands Hatch on January 31st.
New cars launched
Noble had some beautiful machinery to show off which included their roofless M600 supercar which they are calling the Speedster.
Ariel have surprised a few with their new all – terrain “Nomad” that was to be seen on their suspension partners stand, Bilstein. Another UK company Zenos were showing off their eagerly awaited E10S which is constructed from recycled carbon fibre and aluminium framing.
Radical had a hugely impressive display of track cars on offer throughout the weekend and used the Autosport Show as an opportunity to reveal its latest work of engineering art, the RXC Spyder. Based in Peterborough, Radical are another example of a relatively small scale car manufacturer doing great things for the UK on the world stage. They reckon the RXC Spyder is their most advanced, aerodynamic and powerful race car yet and can be yours for just under £132k. For that you essentially get a car with the breeding of an LMP2 prototype fitted with a 3 litre, 440BHP V8 that will whizz up to a maximum 10,500 RPM… most impressive!
Another car that caught our eye was a new Aston Martin Vulcan designed by the man responsible for the last Dodge Viper. Its a track only supercar and presumably named after the legendary bomber that flew its last flights in 2015. It comes with a 7 litre V12, 800 BHP and performance figures to embarrass a jet fighter: 0-60MPH in 2.9 seconds and a top speed in excess of 200MPH. We are not surprised if nobody has dared take it that fast yet though because it also comes with a cool £1.6 million price tag!!
Other attractions
Elsewhere, visitors were treated to the Jaguar CX-75 concept car, this years Le Mans 24 hours Ford GT40 (entering to celebrate 50 years since the 1966 victory) and a display of next seasons British Touring Car championship cars.
It wasn’t all about the hot new machinery though. The display of historic Williams Renault cars including those of Pablo Montoya and Nigel Mansell were stunning, as were the Classic Team Lotus displays.
The Porsche Club GB put on an impressive line of display cars and the Coys Auction included some very tasty cars for sale including a Jaguar C Type, 974 Ferrari Dino 246 GT, MG Metro 6R4 and a 1960 Mercedes-Benz 190SL amongst others.
We barely had time to check out the live action arena with all the excitement but the public were also treated to racing simulators and the excellent Henry Hope Frost interviews on the Autosport stage with many star drivers and team managers. The stand out interviews of the weekend included a frank discussion with FIA President Jean Todt, Petter Holberg enthusing about the growth of Rallycross internationally and rally legend Ari Vatanen reminiscing about the golden era of British rallying.
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