The Way We Were
We go back 40 years to see the race cars and family hatchbacks that their respective manufacturers from across Europe chose to show off in the capital
Earls Court, 1981
The British International Motor Show moved from Earls Court to the NEC in Birmingham after 1976, where it was held every two years until 2004. This left something of a gap in London, one that was gratefully filled by the organisers of the London Motorfair, which took over the old stomping ground of Earls Court and appeared in odd-numbered years from 1977 all the way through to 1999.
This must be a shot taken before the doors were swung open to the public; imagine the throng of people that would soon form around that Renault Fuego on the turntable or the Renault 5 Turbo 2 on the stripy carpet. As well as a more basic R5 and a black Fuego GTX elsewhere on the stand, we see two R18s, at least one of which is a Turbo.
The Citroën stand behind Renault’s is well-stocked with cars bearing prices in the windscreen: there’s a GSA estate (£3995), a Dyane (£2668), a Visa (£2820) and a GSA saloon (possibly £4092). Pointing the other way is a CX Safari. These ‘special offers’ are a little puzzling compared to list prices of the day, however; the Dyane is a whole £1 cheaper here, the Visa a whopping £655 cheaper, the GSA estate £289 cheaper and the GSA saloon, for some reason, is £128 more expensive…
Porsche’s stand has a bit of glamour, with a 911 SC Targa flanked by 924s, plus a pair of 928S models rather hidden at the back – had it finally dawned on Stuttgart that these admittedly splendid GTs would never replace the 911? Behind Porsche is a stand with an identity crisis; ostensibly Peugeot-Talbot, it features a car with a Matra- Simca badge – the Rancho (it would become a Talbot the following year). We can also see an Alpine, launched here as a Chrysler in 1976 but re-launched as a Talbot in ’79, and next to it a Tagora, new for 1981 and built, rather strangely, as a rival to one of the company’s own bestsellers, the Peugeot 505.
Fiat creeps into shot on the far left with an X1/9’s nose and a neat Panda, then it’s Silver Spurs and Spirits from Rolls-Royce before we get to a crowded Vauxhall stand. There we find a Chevette, Manta, Astra estate, Carlton, Senator and then several of the important new second-generation front-wheel drive Cavaliers. Is that an Ascona 400 rally car facing away from us? Walter Röhrl would win the 1982 World Rally Championship title in one just like it.
Fast-forward to today and sadly there is no motor show taking place in the capital (or anywhere else, for that matter), however the organisers behind The British Motor Show at the Farnborough International Expo Centre are planning/ hoping for their event to take place on 19-22 August (assuming social distancing restrictions have been sufficiently eased by then). A highlight promises to be a celebration of 100 years of motor shows with a huge display of some of the most significant cars to debut in this setting.
We wonder if any of the cars from the 1981 Motorfair will make the cut at the latest event?