NEC Classic Car Show

[Keith]

Yes that's my series 2 van. We were on the stand Saturday afternoon and Sunday. Had a great time, spoken to loads of nice people.

Sorry I missed you Russ..

Keith

[pao7psb]

I was so inspired by the show I took Snowdrop out for run this afternoon, while I was out I saw a nice black saloon (amazing how much seeing another Moggie cheers me up) and what I believe to be Alan Sugar's Roller (Rolls Phantom, new style, AMS 1!).

[new_adventures_of_arthur]

I wish more of the club stands would think carefully about why they were there. I'm afraid too many of them seemed like excuses for the club's inner circle to get together for a natter,and to hell with the paying punter. I'm afraid there was an element of that with the MMOC, even.

Unfortunately, I agree. I was a little disappointed by the approach taken by the club as this didnt really seem inviting to new members or the public - even the leaflets for joining different registers were behind the barrier! Put in comparison to a lot of the other stands, there were countless E-types, and other Jags that punters could walk up to, and take a good look at, whereas the lowly old Minor stand had ropes surrounding it - even the Rolls Royce stand had a Phantom (was it a Phantom?? a modern thing anyway!!) that visitors could walk right up to for a good look - no chains!

Having said that, I think it was a good idea of the club to show a wide range of the cars across many of the different registers, as this shows a diversity that most of the cars at the show couldn't match. I do think however, that there should have been more made of the Minor Million (I think to the casual passer by it would have looked nothing more than a pink car) as this is an incredible achievement that most wont be aware of.

Anyway, I really enjoyed the show itself and think the entry price was pretty cheap considering the size of the exhibition, though I feel a little let down by the club's unapproachable and "clique" presence.

If I wasnt already member, it wouldn't encourage me to join.

[carlosramalho]

More Pics Plse.
Lou I know that you was there . And I presume in cooffe brake who had time to take pics. or you only have time to receipt the letter to our friend Cristhmas man???

[Kevin]

More Pics Plse.
Lou I know that you was there . And I presume in cooffe brake who had time to take pics. or you only have time to receipt the letter to our friend Cristhmas man???

Carlo if you had ever seen Lou at an event she and Jon barely have time to breathe let alone have a coffee break, if she managed to find time to take some pictures I would be a little surprised as its hard to hold a camera when all you would like to do is sit down.

[carlosramalho]

[mon1]

I wish more of the club stands would think carefully about why they were there. I'm afraid too many of them seemed like excuses for the club's inner circle to get together for a natter,and to hell with the paying punter. I'm afraid there was an element of that with the MMOC, even.

I could not agree more,I have noticed this with the MMOC stand over the last few years.I remember going to the nec about 7 years ago when you could walk round the cars,meet the owners and they seemed to be so much down to earth,so maybe next year we could see the barriers come down and welcome visitors like many other clubs do at an event like this.

regards michael.

[ssnjimb]

I had my photo taken with Ray Newell and i got his autograph.

I also had a cup of tea and a biscuit

[Oddball67]

From the reponses posted, it does seem the Guys from the Morris LCV Register got the balance right!

[Cam]

Here are some of the pictures I took at the NEC:

http://potteries.mmoc.org.uk/RallyPics/ ... EC2009.htm

I have only put around 489 on the web out of the 1250 that I took over the 4 days!

I walked round and saw every stand in the show and feel that I have to respond to some of the comments made above.

Firstly, bear in mind that we are all unpaid volunteers and are exhibiting our cars for the enjoyment of the public who pay the NEC and NOT us!

Also, the MMOC provided FREE cups of tea/coffee & biscuits & fruit for members of the public who came onto the stand for a chat of which there were plenty.

Just to give a couple of examples, a chap wanted a look under Gillian's van at the location of the fuel line so we let him crawl underneath. A family asked if their kids could have a demo of trafficators, so we kindly obliged and the family were delighted. There were plenty of instances of this sort of thing all weekend.

We were also on hand to offer help and advice to anyone who wanted it and I personally got collared many times to talk to people about a variety of Minor issues.

Anyone who wanted a closer look at the vehicles asked, and came onto the stand and were happy to do so.

The main reasons for the chains were simply to protect the vehicles from the public's bags, zips, etc which could damage the vehicles and scratch the paint. This happened to an Austin not far from us which ended up with a rather long deep scratch and I bet the owner was mortified.
Also, a rather careless individual with shopping bags resting on the bonnet of a police MGB while he was looking inside the car until the owner asked him to remove them.

Also, there was the issue of space. Because the MMOC had 10 cars on the stand, they had to be positioned to get them all on and there was not a huge amount of space in between them for the public to 'squeeze' past!

In contrast, the LCV stand had much more space as there were 5 vehicles on their stand.

All in all, it was a very pleasant event and I can't recommend it enough, both as an exhibitor and a member of the paying public.

[carlosramalho]

Hi Cam,
Thanks for the pics. and also,
Thanks for your unpaid work, all of us we must say to all off you who was in the NEC as voluntarie without payment, THANKS A LOT for your work .
Cheers
Carlos

[pjh56]

Many Thanks Cam
For the pictures of the NEC, it must have taken you ages to do this, and as somebody who didn't get to the NEC it is great to see some of the cars and stands.
Cheers
Peter

[stuart_k]

Great pictures. The advantage of being an exhibitor is that you get to wander around and snap those shots before Joe Public gets there. I found the NEC to be too busy this year and I thought the cars in general were packed in too tight to allow a good nosey around.

The MMOC compound was very welcoming when I was there and we were invited in for tea and biscuits if we had wanted.

Any chance of putting names to the faces on the group photo? The chap in the centre of the back row in the white t-shirt was very helpful and spent some time chatting with me.

[Oddball67]

Thank you Cam for your pics and comments.

However, it should be noted the MMOC had a stand that was nearly twice the size of the Morris LCV Register hence the more space for vehicles. The people on the LCV stand also gave their time FOC. They also let people look at the vehicles, open the bonnets etc and loosely speaking have a poke about and answer questions. They didn't offer free tea mind you but, we don't attend the show or stands for free drink or hand-outs. It's not the main Motor Show.

Perhaps the MMOC can take some lessons learned and, not have Soooo many vehicles on the stand in order they don't have to get them chained off?

[new_adventures_of_arthur]

I got a reponse from Regaliaqueen regarding my concerns and I appreciate the reasons why the barriers are there (idiots stealing parts off cars, scratching them with bags etc).

I also think that there could have been better use of the stand if there wasnt a "secret-curtain" in the middle

But to balance the argument, these are volunteers who give up their spare time, to represent the club. So who am I to complain

[ASL642]

The "secret-curtain" you refer to is in fact a) where all the stock of regalia is stored - otherwise I would have large cardboard boxes all over the stand and b) where the electrics come up for the lighting of the stand and where the kettle/tea/coffee making equipment is kept . Thus all electrical connections are kept in one place to avoid people tripping over cable.

[Cam]

Thanks Oddball67 for your comments and debate!

Perhaps the MMOC can take some lessons learned and, not have Soooo many vehicles on the stand in order they don't have to get them chained off?

To be honest, the reason for SO many cars on the stand is that this year's 'theme' was the registers (MM, modified, million, ex-government, police, etc, etc), so we had to have quite a few vehicles to give a representation of the registers.

As a member of the public, I would prefer a stand WITHOUT chains, purely because they can get in the way of a good shot of the vehicle.

However, looking from the perspective of the vehicle owners, it does make sense to have chains up to protect your pride and joy.

Gill's van had her passenger wing quite close to the chain and I lost count of the times I had to clean the grubby fingerprints from the wing, bonnet edge, top chrome strip and even bumper!

I understand about 'tactile', but also about respecting other people's property and of course the old saying: Look with your eyes, not with your hands!

[Romeo]

I would like to thank the people manning the stand for the free tea and bicuits and some where to sit and chat and looking after my shopping for me

[yorkshirelass]

I would like to reply to the brickbats aimed at the MMOC stand at the NEC this year. I have been involved with the stand for a number of years, both as an exhibitor and as part of the staff who run the stand.
1) chains around the stand - not all the exhibitors are able to stay at the show for all three days and so they leave their vehicle in the charge of the staff on the stand. This, as you can appreciate is a great responsibility, and so measures have to be taken to ensure the safety of their cars. I invited many people over the course of the weekend who were looking over the chain if they would like a closer look and helped them to inspect the cars at closer quarters. I also "helped" people who rudely ignored the chain. The other side of this of course, are the stringent rules and regulations around health and safety which we have to adhered to. Some of the stands have only cars, no other "props"or hospitality area which all has to be taken into consideration.
2) new members - far from putting people off from joining the club we signed up 23 new members over the weekend, many of them joining because of the friendly atmosphere and openness on the stand, the offer of refreshments and to rest their weary legs going a long way towards that I suspect. Comments in the visitors book backed up the general opinion that the stand was welcoming.
One comment was that there were too many cars on the stand. As Cam explained in an earlier reply on this page, the theme of the stand this year was the MMOC's registers. There are eight of these plus an example of a Concours car and finally an "ordinary member's" car to give a balanced feel to the whole thing. There are over 12 thousand members of the MMOC, many of whom have more than one car, and while a great deal of these members have no interest whatsoever in displaying their cars at the NEC, there are a good many more who would welcome the opportunity. There is an unwritten rule that cars can only be exhibited once on the MMOC stand and so to try and accommodate them would be impossible with only one or two cars on the stand each year. The number of cars will alter with the theme of each display. Also don't forget, as one of the larger classic car clubs with a great variety of models, we should endeavour to display as great a choice as possible.
I noticed a copmment about the Minor Million and that more empasis should have been put on the is iconic model. All the registrars were asked to provide as much information as possible about their own particular variant. These registrars are the experts and holders of all the info, if the available information was a little lacking on any of the registers then all I can say is the organiser of the stand can only work with what he has been supplied with.
Despite the critisisms, hard work and long days, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and look forward to the next show

yorkshire lass

[dalebrignall]

i thaught the stand was very good,i was given a cup of tea and somewhere to leave my coat and shopping.i fully understand the need for the chains,to help protect the cars.how would you feel if your pride and joy was on display,and it got dammaged by a member of the public.