1st Melbourne MotorEx Show

by Carps Sun 20 Jul 2014, 4:56 pm

With football at all the major stadiums and horse racing at Flemington, traffic was a nightmare and finding somewhere to park even worse. We walked a mile to get to the front gate.

Having previously costed the running of a similar event using this venue I am aware the promoter was taking a very big and extremely expensive risk so the price was at the point I figured it might be.
However, considering all the whinging we hear about event prices, I wasn't sure that the '$35 bucks to get in was not a bit steep.

The layout seemed good and allowed easy movement around the show, whilst participants told us that set up was also very well organised.
The display vehicles arrived in waves based on where they were to be displayed, with the vendors setting up last around the perimeter of the main hall.

The thee buildings used were linked by a covered walkway which, considering the lousy weather of late, was a great idea.

The display out front suggested more Auto Salon type cars may be inside but this wasn't the case, the show was mostly street machines (although I'd question the streetability of many :wink: ) and Muscle cars with a modest number of pre '48 Hot Rods and a handful of Traditional Style Kustoms. Almost all motorsport categories were catered for, with exotic sports, drag racers, muscle cars, historic racers and even sprinters.

A great first effort and if it's continued the Melbourne MotorEx will only improve. Im not sure the venue is the best available and considering the space available inside the show grounds, maybe something can be done to provide adequate parking for guests in addition to entrants. It's fine to promote the idea of using public transport, but the fact is, car people drive cars, especially when they go to car events! So promoters need to consider how much parking space is available. I'd also like to see more hot rods and customs involved, but that's always a challenge for any indoor car show promoters.

There were some great cars that we might not have otherwise had the opportunity to see, but it's rare for me to leave any car show after less than 3 hours, so I'm still in two minds as to what that says about value for the money paid.

Anyhow, here's some of the stuff that grabbed my attention.