Event Retromobile 2018

[doug]

How does Retromobile compare to the NEC classic?

 

I have been 3 times to the NEC and loved it every time. But thinking of giving it a miss this year and going to Retromobile instead.

 

Good idea?

[dollywobbler]

I've heard great things from those who have been, but have never been myself.

[barrett]

You can't compare the two. The NEC thing is like a local village car show moved into a warehouse, with the same standard of exhibits (i.e., a load of rubbish) and perhaps two or three interesting cars in the whole place. The tickets are outrageous, the food is disgusting, the lighting is a joke and most of the stuff on display is wobbed up, pedestrian crap. I HATE the NEC show. 

 

Rétromobile is the best static 'car thing' in the world. There is always incredible stuff on display, the tickets are cheap, the food is excellent, it's well laid-out and the lighting is great. Everything the NEC isn't, basically. The last couple of years I've been for the whole week and you still don't really see everything.

[doug]

Thanks folks! Decision made.

[Sam Glover]

I think a counter-argument is needed. Rétromobile is small, posh and cliquey. I found last year’s show a bit dull and resolved to give it a miss for a year-or-three (though my judgement was certainly clouded by attending only on the heaving Saturday and having a terrible hangover).

 

Techno-Classica Essen is my favourite. It addresses the justified NEC criticism above and is friendlier and less up-itself than Rétromobile. It’s significantly bigger than either, which makes for a greater diversity of cars and people, with space spared for the weird, cheap, unloved, dull, crusty, modified and unpopular (cars and people). Plus the beer’s better and it’s 100% hangover-friendly.

[Sam Glover]

…though to actually answer your question: I think yes – giving the NEC a miss and attending Rétromobile is a very good idea. 

[panhard65]

I will agree with Barrett there it is so much better than the NEC. I went last year but didn't get to see half the stuff on display due to a lack of time. I don't think I saw a single MGB and it is a lot cheaper than the NEC with a few hotels across the road if you drive there (not recommended as that is why I missed loads stuck in traffic.)

[barrett]

 

I think a counter-argument is needed. Rétromobile is small, posh and cliquey. I found last year’s show a bit dull and resolved to give it a miss for a year-or-three (though my judgement was certainly clouded by attending only on the heaving Saturday and having a terrible hangover).

 

 

 

But I'm small, posh and cliquey, no? Actually, you're right on all counts, but I do really enjoy it despite its many flaws. Going on the weekend is a bad idea, though. Thursday is probably the best day.

 

I haven't done Essen, but that's only because everyone I know goes to Rétromobile and my aversion to Porsches. I'll do it one day soon, though.

[Sam Glover]

I haven't done Essen, but that's only because everyone I know goes to Rétromobile and my aversion to Porsches. I'll do it one day soon, though.

 

 

Well yes – over-restored Porches and Mercedes form a sort of dull metallic-grey plasma that you have to wade through to get between clusters of proper cars.

[seth]

Another Retromobile lover here but I probably wouldn't go every year even if I could - the same way I feel about Goodwood events. It is possible to go to Retromobile in a day from London though obviously you won't be able to fully take in the whole event. I think we get to the show at about 11am when we do that and then leave the show by around 5 to go and get some dinner before heading back to the station for the last train back to London.

I haven't been to the NEC for some years so can't really comment but do feel you tend to see things at Retromobile that just wouldn't be in the UK Its that variety that makes it interesting particularly if all the other events you go to are in the UK and feature the 'usual' British classic brigade.

 

 

PS, Barrett, have you seen the Barrett Pantry SexCrime that's in the latest C&SC Lost and Found?

[doug]

Thanks Sam,Techno-Classica Essen is also on my to-do list. Maybe next again year.

[barrett]

I have, and I remember it was on eBay in the UK last year or the year before. It's a true horror.

 

Further thoughts on Rétromobile - The drive there is significantly nicer than the drive to Birmingham (if you live in Sussex) and not much longer and, as above, lots of cheap but good hotels nearby if you're staying for more than a day. Also some genuinely nice Bistros over the road (but, and I can't stress this enough, the food at the show is FANTASTIC). The stuff for sale is great too - more models and books than I've ever seen, all odd French stuff so take plenty of cash with you if that's your sort of thing.

[Sam Glover]

…or you can stay in central Paris and fail to make it to the show on the first day of your two-day visit, getting sidetracked by drinking wine, eating mysterious seafood, drinking beer, riding around on a Velib and drinking cocktails. Come to think of it, I suspect our lack of enthusiasm last year was more our own fault than Rétromobile’s.

 

I also don’t belong any of the good cliques – so I’m jealous.

[holbeck]

 lots of cheap but good hotels nearby if you're staying for more than a day. Also some genuinely nice Bistros over the road 

 

Anything you could recommend?

[Sam Glover]

We stayed in the Hotel Kuntz last year, for obvious reasons. It's nowhere near Rétromobile, though.

[barrett]

Hotel Gabriel in Issy is cheap and cheerless (that IS a recommendation), named after Gabriel Voisin which is the entire reason we go there. Make sure you don't accidentally book the Hotel Gabriel in Paris, though, like we did once, as that's nowhere near the show.

 

The Ibis on rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau is good, but a bit further to walk and a bit more expensive - the tram system is great though, it costs like a euro a pop and goes straight from outside the show. 

 

Sam - you're more than welcome to join our clique if you'd like, as you well know

[chaseracer]

I wouldn't join any clique that would have me as a member, as someone might almost have said, sometime.

[Mrs6C]

I loved Retromobile. Six-cylinder and I went in 2007 and enjoyed it very much, with the bonus of a (warm!) springtime weekend in Paris as well.

 

We went over on Eurostar very early on the Saturday morning.

 

I was working in town at the time so had a season ticket, but Six-cylinder didn't. Our local station staff found him a special Eurostar-only return ticket to London that lets you catch a peak time train to and from the International terminal (Waterloo at that time) at an off-peak price:

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations_destinations/44929.aspx

 

On arrival at the Gare du Nord, we walked to our hotel, a nice little place called Albert Premier on Rue de Fayette. It is just along the west wall of the station, so only a few minutes' walk away. It is a long, thin and triangular building, so all the rooms are odd shapes inside, but it was cheap, clean and pleasant and very convenient for the railway station and Metro.

https://www.hotelalbertpremier.com/en/

 

We dropped off our bags and spent the rest of Saturday walking all around central Paris, seeing the sights and being tourists. It was remarkably warm for mid-February, so it was very pleasant to be out and about. We had to stop off and see a few marvels of engineering, of course:

 

http://hydrogenhouseproject.org/peugeot-h20-fire-engine.html

 

After sight-seeing, we headed for a restaurant that had been recommended to us by friends: Le Grand Colbert. I practised my French to book us a table for later in the evening. A nice one was reserved and in due course, we returned and enjoyed an excellent meal. It would be fair to say that it was not cheap, but we agreed it was worth it. We kept the bill as a momento...

http://www.legrandcolbert.fr/

 

On Sunday morning, we went to Retromobile. It was great. We had just acquired our first CX so of course we went straight to the Citroen display and spent some time there. I remember being allowed to sit in the back of the S1 CX Prestige:

 

They had the special elongated presidential DS there too, that Henri Chapron built for Président de Gaulle:

 

There were all kinds of other cars at the show as well, of course, including the usual exotic machinery and some of the less common continental marques that don't appear often on the UK show circuit:

 

After the show, we took the Metro back to the hotel and had (a much cheaper!) supper and a drink, then turned in.

 

On the Monday morning, fortified by real French croissants, we walked along the side of the Gare du Nord and headed for the 07:00h service to London. We arrived back in Waterloo at about 08:30 GMT and headed up the Northern Line to Euston. Six-cylinder then caught a train back home, while I walked off to my office. I was at my desk before 09:00h!

 

All in all it was a very nice trip to a very nice classic car show and one I would like to do again.

[holbeck]

I think you just convinced me Mrs. 6C

[doug]

I think you just convinced me Mrs. 6C

Made it as far as the front gate but it was too late to go into the show.Long day,french trains not running because of a few flurries of snow. Buses not running because jammed packed because trains off. So tomorow it is. Pics on monday when i get home all being well.

 

Sent from my LG-K120 using Tapatalk

[holbeck]

I think you just convinced me Mrs. 6C

 

Convinced I might have been, but I decided to go to Essen instead.

[pshome]

I was about to go friday with a friend, but Air Chance sent a message thursday afternoon that they threw us out of the 07:30 flight from Munich and rebooked us to 15:30.  Pointless to go, so i cancelled the whole thing. Got a full refund and claimed my 250€ EU compensation. I don't really care, will go next year. Thanks Air Chance for 2 x 250€ pocket money!

[doug]

Here is some photos.