London, 16-19 May, 2019

The London Motor & Tech Show presented by leasing.com in association with Drivetribe was held at the Excel Exhibition Centre between 16-19 May. The show occupied three halls of the exhibition centre, two being the province of static displays, whilst the third featured live action which encompassed electric go-karts, a wall of death, Caterham Drift Taxis and renowned stunt driver Paul Swift performing some amazing feats. If you wanted to take the wheel yourself, there was also the opportunity for test drives in a variety of vehicles, or if you wanted to drive remotely then there was the Theo Racing Bugs remote control race track. In fact the whole family were catered for, as there was a specific Kids Zone to entertain the younger generation, with adjacent to it Fairy Bricks, a charity providing Lego to children in hospital, where attendees could add to a 100,000 brick mosaic being constructed through the course of the show. Add in a live stage with motoring personalities and journalists providing discourse on a variety of topics, and one had a very broad based show.

Apart from the manufacturer and dealer displays there were also special feature displays, notably the BIG arena, which featured customised cars and trucks, with adjacent to it the Warren Supercar Paddock, where there was a tantalising display of exotic machinery including an Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Volante Cabriolet and a Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake, a Bugatti Veyron and a Chiron, a Ferrari Enzo, a Koenigsegg Agera, a Lamborghini Murcielago LP 650-4 Roadster and a McLaren 688 MSO HS. Another more “down to earth” display was the “Electric Avenue” featuring currently available electric and hybrid cars, with adjacent to it the antithesis in the form of the Bloodhound SSC World Land Speed Record project, which aims to be the first car to achieve 1000mph. Motor shows are all about being able to see vehicles that one is unlikely to encounter on your run to the local supermarket, and if the supercar paddock hadn’t provided enough exotica, then one had to look no further than the Liberty Walk stand. Here there was an array of their wildly “personalised” creations including a BMW i8, a Nissan GT-R and a Lamborghini Aventador. Further glamour was provided by the Miwhip supercar taxi service, with their signature gold Lamborghini, Rolls Royce and Smart, which provides an Uber style service in London, albeit in an ostentatious way to brighten up your day. The show also featured an array of 2019 World Car Award contenders and winners, including the World Performance Car, the McLaren 720S, and the Jaguar I-Pace, which apart from winning the overall World Car of the Year award, also took the Design of the Year and Green Car awards.


Keith Bluemel
05/2019