NEC Classic Motor Show 2024! Full Review Posted!

[Red & Black]

With great pride I'm happy to announce that the RX-8 Owner's Club has a stand at this years NEC Classic Motor Show!

Now this is not the kind of show where we have unlimited space, and the stand design will need to be submitted ahead of time, with cars needing to be on-stand all the time. As such this thread is for general attendance - but we will have a discount code for you all soon enough!

So what to expect at the Classic Motor Show?

THE UK'S BIGGEST & BEST CLASSIC MOTOR SHOW
This year marks the 40th Anniversary of The Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show, featuring the biggest ever gathering of classic car and motorcycle clubs showcasing their iconic vintage vehicles. Don't miss the biggest and best classic car event, this November, as we unveil special features to celebrate its milestone birthday!

Indulge your passion for classic vehicles at the ultimate season finale – whether you're a classic car/bike owner, collector, enthusiast, club member, or simply someone with a love for timeless automobiles!

It's more than just a display of classics! In addition to admiring these incredible vehicles, explore the autojumble for elusive pieces or find parts and tools for maintenance and restoration from numerous specialist traders.

Looking for something to fill that classic-shaped hole in your life? You’ll find an outstanding range on offer from the Dealers and at Iconic Auctioneers offering the perfect addition to your collection.

Experience a wealth of activities! Listen to captivating talks by motoring celebrities and experts, gain insights from specialists throughout the halls, or embark on a drive in a unique classic to support Sporting Bears in their mission to raise funds for remarkable children's charities.

The RX-8 Owner's Club are placed in the Restoration Hall alongside the Mazda Rotary Club! So of course, if you do attend come and say hi!

DISCOUNT CODE: CCCNOV602

Once you've bought tickets then let us know which days you're coming down below! The show runs from the 8th to the 10th of November!

Attendees!

[Dr. FrankenRex]

Giving this a bump as we now have the discount code!

We are also looking for 2-3 exemplary RX8s to go on display. If you would like your car to be considered then please PM me and we'll review as we get closer to finalising a display!

[Rutz]

We are planning to attend so it's great news that the club has a discount. Sadly my PZ doesn't fit the "exemplary" category!

[thatturborx8]

Assuming NEC is in Birmingham i can/will attend,no problem

[DrewR3]

I shall be there if selected for the stand or Malcolms stand. I believe we are next to each other. Malcolm are you also still wanting RX8 presence for your stand? Just so we know and don't double book any of the same examples?

[casey]

Sorry for the late reply Drew, been absent for a couple of weeks

The MRC requested a stand to accommodate 8 cars, but have been granted a max 4 car stand, as has the RX-8 OC. With that in mind, the MRC will now focus on featuring models prior to the RX-8. Even then, the choice is going to be tough, as we potentially have many more models on offer than space available

[Reloy]

As the MRC have been good enough to join our displays, could we donate our four places to the MRC? Just a thought.

Sent from my Nokia G42 5G using Tapatalk

[Reloy]

As the MRC have been good enough to join our displays, could we donate our four places to the MRC? Just a thought.

Sent from my Nokia G42 5G using Tapatalk

As nice a gesture as that is, the organisers of the show have selected the RX8 Owner's Club as an exhibitor. We can't just give our stand to another club.

Currently the aim is to have an S1, a 40th, a PZ and an R3 on display, which is a great cross-section of the RX8 - I may have a member with a full Mazda speed kit willing to display as well, which would be great.

Could potentially drop the standard S1 and offer one place to a car from MRC, but that would need approval from the rest of the events team and also potentially the committee.

The reason for this is that I had to specify what kind of display we were planning when I submitted the application, which I did the day they opened.

[casey]

I'm very pleased that both clubs have each successfully secured stands, albeit smaller than we both hoped for. However, given we have managed to get adjacent stand areas means we can provide a great "combined" rotary display to visitors.

[Red & Black]

As the MRC have been good enough to join our displays, could we donate our four places to the MRC? Just a thought.

Sent from my Nokia G42 5G using Tapatalk

As nice a gesture as that is, the organisers of the show have selected the RX8 Owner's Club as an exhibitor. We can't just give our stand to another club.

Currently the aim is to have an S1, a 40th, a PZ and an R3 on display, which is a great cross-section of the RX8 - I may have a member with a full Mazda speed kit willing to display as well, which would be great.

Could potentially drop the standard S1 and offer one place to a car from MRC, but that would need approval from the rest of the events team and also potentially the committee.

The reason for this is that I had to specify what kind of display we were planning when I submitted the application, which I did the day they opened.

I'm not on the committee or the events team, but I am an RX8OC member and would like to add my two penn'orth!

If this is a "Classic" car event, does the same criteria apply as the Japfest Classic, meaning that the RX8 has to be a 2004, which you'd mentioned when posting on that event?

My own personal view is that the S1 has to feature, it surely is the car that all the changes and modifications were modeled on? When it comes to the car, although I love to see all the modifications, I am purist and I'm fascinated to see how the car has developed over the years, however, this is the opportunity to show the conception of the RX8 to the masses.

Although my car is not to concours standard, it is a good example of a 2004 with factory added extras only. Maybe someone in the club has a better example, if they are available to show it at the event?

[Clive]

Just to let you know if you are attending the NEC Classic Car show next weekend that we will be selling some Rotary merchandise on the MRC stand on Saturday and Sunday only.

These will include various style t-shirts, Rotary drawstring bags, rotary key rings etc. Malcolm and Lisa have access to taking payments via card payments so no excuse for not having any cash

[350matt]

Well I was there helping out on the stand today and generally had a rather good time, the show this year is vast, over 8 halls full of cars and stalls,

didn't see more than a couple of halls but I would highly recommend the crusty bake shop in hall 5 I think ( the one adjacent and down the stairs from the mazda club stand)

the best car I saw was this amazing custom jaguar saloon, based on a mk9 I think with a roof chop and many other mods , one of the finest fabrication mods / bodywork I have ever seen

there was also a scaled down austin healy 100 sportscar about 1/8th scale that was a runner, the fully functional 6 cylinder engine was just like the real thing but like it had been shrunk in the hot wash , teeny tiny DCOE carbs and coil - incredible

and it was nice to chat to so many folks about the fulsome experience of owning the Mazda Rx8 of course
there was a lot of pleasant curiosity about the cars and the engine, most folks had no idea how it all worked

[nightfire10]

Good to meet you at the show Matt. I was amazed at the level of engagement we had across the RX-8 OC and MRC stands. I had a great time busting some of the old myths that people had heard about Mazda rotaries.

[350matt]

some rather poor pics of that Jag and the miniature Healey, that is not a giants hand.....

and this bit of gorgeous

[ChrisHolmes]

Thought you lot may be interested in this chap

He is basically Mr PZ! He was the programme manager who oversaw the development of the RX-8 PZ at Prodrive! Really great guy and loved chatting to him about the PZ, the developments and the (sadly) canned MX-5 PZ project!

[MightyCondor]

Thought you lot may be interested in this chap

20241108_153600.jpg

He is basically Mr PZ! He was the programme manager who oversaw the development of the RX-8 PZ at Prodrive! Really great guy and loved chatting to him about the PZ, the developments and the (sadly) canned MX-5 PZ project!

Had no idea there was a MX-5 PZ under consideration. That would have probably sold quite well.

On a side note, I just took delivery of the same shirt in the same colour, so there's inevitably going to be an awkward encounter between us one day

Sent from my Pixel 8 using Tapatalk

[casey]

Crumbling sills, but good engine?

Here could be your solution

Claimed weight just 645kg

An Exocet kit car, powered by a Renesis engine.

[MightyCondor]

Crumbling sills, but good engine?

Here could be your solution

Claimed weight just 645kg

An Exocet kit car, powered by a Renesis engine.

20241109_145721.jpg

20241109_145754.jpg

20241109_141237.jpg

I really want to build one. The only things stopping me are space, money and the realisation that I'd probably never get enough chances to drive a car like that....

Sent from my Pixel 8 using Tapatalk

[warpc0il]

An Exocet kit car, powered by a Renesis engine.

Well, in that case, we can forgive them for the colour scheme

[DrewR3]

On a side note, I just took delivery of the same shirt in the same colour, so there's inevitably going to be an awkward encounter between us one day

Sent from my Pixel 8 using Tapatalk

I'm sure it won't be awkward at all Alan, as everyone else will be wearing one or another of the designs surely by then. Thanks for grabbing one though, hope your happy with it. We've just been finishing up some more designs and Harvey is now fully kitted out in a trial kids line, really impressed with the fit and quality of the kids ones. But then it's not surprising given the quality of the others. I've now got every design across the family In one type of clothing. Really like my new BMW CSL sweater though. I don't really have many sweaters and with winter upon us I thought I'd branch out from just the Hoodies or T shirts on mild days. Harvey of course went for Dean's motorbike from the MrT-23 collection, a worrying pre cursor, it's all fun riding motorbikes until it's your own Son showing interest in them. But he has been lucky enough to jump on that in real life and wanted the image of it on a shirt. 20k full carbon fibre fireblade race bike....what's not to like....

[DrewR3]

Is that exocet road legal?

[350matt]

yep, very bare bones kind of thing tho

think aerial atom

[Dr. FrankenRex]

I'll do a full write up tomorrow, but it was an absolute blast. So many people showed great interest in the car and the engine.

Brilliant show to wander around too!

[willberry70]

Yeah, exhausting though it was, it was great fun telling everyone about Rotary engines for hours on end

[Dr. FrankenRex]

Also, was chatting to a guy today who casually name dropped "his friend, Johnny Herbert"