Plans for a new London Motor Show were first revealed by Prince Michael of Kent at the Guild of Motoring Writers Annual Dinner and Awards at the beginning of December.
It would be the first time that a full-scale show has been held in the capital since the British International Motor Show in 2008 at ExCeL. The new show is due to be staged in Battersea Park between 5 and 8 May 2016. The big question will be, can it gain enough support? The organisers think so, so let’s hope they are right.
Back here in Western Group territory, the 2015 PR Driving Day is beginning to take shape. I had a meeting at Castle Combe in January and following that, we are looking at some new ideas for this year.
The circuit will be re-surfaced during February, so there should be some fresh tarmac for track users on the day. VW has promised us its trailer-reversing test with the new Passat, an idea that Robin Roberts brought back from the UK launch at Mallory Court in January. Kia has kindly offered to host the group again for the day before event too.
We are planning how we might take advantage of the fresh track tarmac for new events, and I am currently waiting to hear about one proposal – more on that if the idea takes shape and on others.
Western Group members will be getting up close to one of Tesla’s Supercharger points in Exeter this week. It gives us the opportunity to spend a bit of time with the company’s impressive Model S and see how the rapid charging technology works.
That will be the first of two group events in February with a visit to the RAC control centre at Bradley Stoke, near the M4 and M5 on the edge of Bristol. We shall be holding our first meeting of 2015 there, thanks to Simon Peevers and his team for hosting that.
November seems a long way off at this point, but at the AGM we shall be looking for a new Chairman and Vice Chairman as Robin’s term of office and mine will end then. If any member is interested both of us would be happy to let you know what is involved.
John Kendall | Chairman WGMW
