Pop-Up Motor Show sees over 4000 visitors in opening weekend.
- ‘Amazing’ weekend surpasses all expectations despite careful Covid measures
- Now open at Festival Place, Basingstoke, until 24 December 2020
The UK’s first portable ‘pop-up’ Motor Show enjoyed an amazing opening weekend, with over 4,000 visitors through its doors on the weekend of October 17-18.
And although current Covid-19 protection measures were carefully observed at the event in Festival Place, Basingstoke, with social distancing measures in place the free-to-enter Show still saw a lot of interest and engagement.
The British Motor Show CEO, Andy Entwistle, said: “It was an amazing weekend and surpassed all expectations, especially given that we didn’t overly promote the event to ensure Covid-19 compliance and not risk creating big queues.
“We saw over 4,000 people through the doors in the first weekend, all managed carefully with social distancing. Everyone was hugely positive, with one car sold, 82 people converted to EVs, 46 budding car designers and hundreds of conversations with people about the upcoming show and general car buying advice.
“It was hard to pick out a stand out car, the Tesla was very popular, particularly with the younger generation, however our brace of mini’s really got some attention. The Subaru drew a crowd and the Maserati was a star of many pictures, as was the E-Type.
“Our partners got great awareness, Cinch’s interactive car finder was well received and the electric bikes were a real winner, while the Scalextric and simulators, courtesy of Think Scalextric were always busy.”
The Pop-Up Show also saw lots of merchandise and ticket sales, including 10% of the limited number of VIP tickets for The British Motor Show itself sold, which takes place on August 19-22, 2021.
It will continually evolve between now and December 24, with more partners getting involved and constantly changing exhibits. The latest big name to come on board is Select Car Leasing, which will be opening an area within the Pop Up show to help educate and answer questions on leasing, along with offering some great Motor Show deals.
Customers have until Sunday October 25 to see the Pop-Up Show in its current status, before the first of a number of changeovers, including one of Pilgrim motorsports amazing Mustang restorations on display and a one off Camero ZL1
During half-term there’ll also be a great “Play Your Cars Right” competition and a Wheel of Fortune, with prizes to be won.
The entirely new concept in automotive exhibitions is created by the team behind The British Motor Show and sponsored by online car sales platform Cinch, and is the first of a series of portable ‘Pop-Up’ motor shows in the run-up to the big event in 2021.
It is now open at the Festival Place shopping centre in Basingstoke, Hants, RG21 7BA and will run until December 24, 2020.
As well as featuring the latest new models from a selection of local retailers, the show includes a number of other interesting cars including EVs, electric motorcycles, classics and retro-electric cars, which have been converted to use modern drivetrains. Between now and Christmas, the venue will also be used for a number of new product launches, including the world premiere of an all-new British-designed model.
Amongst the exhibits on show during launch week are a 150,000-mile Tesla to demonstrate the longevity of EV drivetrains, an Electric 2CV and a unique “Push me pull you” mini that will be used in the British Motor Show Live Arena in August 2021
Other features include supercar displays, driving simulators, a giant Scalextric track and surprise ‘guest’ cars during the course of the event, making it ideal for a return visit.
The free-to-enter exhibition uses 6,000 square feet of retail space, with expected footfall of over five million people visiting Festival Place during the run-up to Christmas.
There’s a fully stacked merchandise section selling T-Shirts, posters and show merchandise, while other suppliers are offering car care goods and gifts.
Other features planned during the 10-week long show will include ‘Ask the Experts’, with consumer specialists on hand to answer car buying and maintenance queries, an online search engine to help you find your perfect automotive match and car-themed retailers offering great gifts and ideas for Christmas. There’ll also be a fee-to-enter competition to win a share in a TVR courtesy of TheCarCrowd, a new crowdfunding venture that allows normal people on normal incomes to take part-ownership of their dream car.