![FBHVC_master_logo[1].png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d58553_99b4113caa1b4fb5bd7da88d34c624d5~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_127,h_83,al_c,q_85,enc_avif,quality_auto/FBHVC_master_logo%5B1%5D.png)
The Classic Motor Show @ The NEC, Birmingham
November 2015
Attended by: Roger Gillett, Charlie Rowland, Graham Wills, Chris & Heidi Speck, Mike Wells, Rob & Mary King, Richard Brooks, Tom Mason, Michael & Jo Ensor, Graham Dickinson, Dave Champion, Dave Dickens-Smith and Steve Parker.
Alpine (Project) 1964: O.F.G.
Trojan Bubble Car 1964: Mike Wells
Bullnose Morris 1925: Michael & Jo Ensor
Austin A30 1954: Steve Parker
MG TF 1954: Rob King
Brenchley Wedding Car 1994: Dave Champion
Austin 7 1933: Richard Brooks
Mike Wells review of the 2015 show
Like many members of the Bexhill 100, I had always been somewhat cynical as to what possible benefit could be gained by displaying cars at the NEC, but it is pointless to criticise unless you have actually done it, so I agreed to take the Trojan bubble car for display on the club stand.
Driving it there would have caused chaos on Britain's motorway network, so it had to go by trailer along with other cars that would have never made the distance. The trailers were provided by their owners and we all contributed towards fuel costs.
I can assure you this is no club jolly, more like a three day test of human endurance.
We started at 5am on the Thursday with the cars preloaded onto the trailers and formed a convoy with those who drove up to Birmingham to arrive by 11 am to set up the stand. We allowed plenty of time to get there, and to stop for breakfast and have breaks for those that are nearly incontinent, like myself.
Each day, we would get up between 6 - 6.30 am for breakfast and we had to be on the stand at the show before 9 am when press and the public were allowed in. We then left at 6.30pm for a meal back at the hotel an hour later. Sunday was the most gruelling day, being a 19-hour day by the time the show had closed, stands dismantled, cars loaded and we had driven home.
So why would anyone in their right mind put themselves through all this? Because the Show was awesome! Some 70,000 people passed through over the three days, many preferring our 'real' cars to the Ferrari stand! The Sunbeam Alpine 'barn find', created loads of interest, although I still can't work out why people were peering deep into the engine bay when there was nothing in it!
The NEC kept inviting the club back for free where most have to pay - mind you, we didn’t get anything posh like carpets to put the cars on. Despite having 250 members at the time, we may have been the smallest club there, but more than matched the interest of all the other stands.
Walking around the halls is equivalent to the distance from Little Common to Bexhill and I was informed that I would never see everything in the whole show. That was correct as I never did find a lovely Volvo 265 Torslander that was in front of us on arrival. The sheer magnitude of the venue had to be seen to believed.
The hotel, found by chance on a previous visit, was a gem and charged £130 for three night's bed, breakfast and evening meal. Breakfast was provided buffet style and a three course carvery in the evening on a help-yourself basis. This was duly taken advantage of by everybody to fully load plates and eat as much as was humanly possible on both sessions with the bonus that food and service was very good too.
The car was photographed thousands of times and you got worn out talking about it. However, when recuperating on Monday you had a warm glow thinking about what you saw and did.
The benefit to the club was that every leaflet and bit of information about the club was taken, new members from our area joined - yes, they were viewing at the Show, but most of all, the respect shown by the other clubs and public alike that we were there.
The Bexhill 100 Motoring Club was now definitely on the map as we were, over three days, able to inform 70,000 people where Bexhill actually is!
Mike Wells
