‘RACE CARS FOR THE ROAD’ TO STAR IN THE BGC EARLS COURT MOTOR SHOW AT THE GOODWOOD REVIVAL

Following the huge popularity of the inaugural BGC Earls Court Motor Show at last year’s Goodwood Revival, this key new attraction will once again add an exciting element to the annual Revival meeting, the world’s most authentic historic motor race meeting, being held from 18-20 September. The BGC Earls Court Motor Show takes its inspiration from the celebrated London Motor Shows of the 1950s and 60s, with an original Art Deco frontage reminiscent of the glory days of exhibitions of the past. This spacious area will give the expected 120,000+ Goodwood Revival visitors an insight into how motoring of the future might look from a pre-1966 perspective, with a display of ‘futuristic’ 21st century cars. Externally the BGC Earls Court looks like the entrance to a 1950s Motor Show, promising to display ‘cars of the future’ inside. As no post-1966 vehicles are ordinarily allowed on site during the Goodwood Revival, the BGC Earls Court Motor Show enables the event to break out of its ‘period’ timeframe and display post-1966 vehicles. The effect is like walking into a Tardis, offering other-worldly futuristic new cars to see, right up to and including manufacturers’ latest products. Each vehicle manufacturers’ stand is presented in the style of a traditional Motor Show of the 1950s or 1960s. As with the rest of the Revival, the overall display is not set in a specific timeframe, but rather at some unidentified point prior to 1966. Manufacturer displays are therefore expected to include contemporary cars of the 1950s or 1960s, as well as some ‘concept’ cars showing each company’s visions of what production cars might look like in the early 21st Century. Car manufacturers confirmed to be exhibiting at this ‘motor show of the future’ include Maserati, Jaguar, BMW, Ford, Nissan and Rolls-Royce. In addition to the manufacturers’ stands, there will be a central ‘concours d’elegance’ exhibition staged in association with BGC, the City-based voice and electronic brokerage specialists. This display will commemorate ‘the BGC Race Cars for the Road’, featuring around 25 circuit-derived vehicles that were also sold as road cars, from pre-War, right through to the present day. Expect to see track favourites such as the Jaguar XKSS, AC Cobra and Ford GT40, which dominated the racing world and also became highly sought after roads cars. Goodwood’s historic links with Earls Court are very strong. The famous London Earls Court exhibition site was built on land once owned by the Duke of Richmond; the Earl in the name referring to the Earl of March, from whom the present 10th Duke of Richmond, and his son Lord March, are directly descended.Tags:Classic Motor Show, Goodwood Revival