Newcastle’s NE1 Motor Show 2016

Last weekend saw the return of Newcastle’s NE1 Motor Show. The event last year was the first of it’s kind.

The show saw the area around Grey Street and the Monument being taken over by cars of all shapes and sizes. This second event promised to be bigger and better so how could we not go? My husband and son are great lovers of cars and we have been to a number of different car events. The Whitley Bay Vintage Bus Rally and the Vintage Car Rally at Kielder Water are two others we attended last year.

Newcastle’s NE1 Motor Show

The NE1 motor show was held over the weekend. We visited on the Sunday and although it was rather grey at least it was not raining. A sense of excitement could be felt in the air as people got a chance to get up close to the cars. There was a wide range of cars on display with Aston Martin, Bentley, Porsche, Jaguar, Tesla, Inviniti and BMW being instantly obvious. Some of the cars have only been shown previously at VIP motoring events. There was a chance to sit inside some of the cars and imagine what it would be like to drive them.

Aston Martin, well know as being the car supplier of choice for James Bond, brought their brand new DB11 to show.  The most powerful in DB’s history it is capable of reaching 220 miles per hour. Also on show was the Vantage V8 Vantage GT8. Only 150 of these have been produced and they have all been sold at a starting price of £165,000. It was fascinating to see some of these up close.

The Porsche’s look sleek and sporty, capable of racing around hairpin turns on a mountain road. More sedate looking are the Bentleys, you can imagine royalty being chauffeured around in one of these.

Read more: Young Driving Lessons

Classic Cars

As well as the modern cars a number of classic and vintage cars were on show. Some of these were owned by Northumbria Classic Car Hire. If you want to drive a classic car for a special occasion you can hire one for the day from them. Other cars were shown by private owners and were obviously well taken care of and much loved. One was even being driven by a husky.

New to the NE1 Motor Show this year was a section on High Bridge Street that was a chance for Lambretta and other scooter owners to show off their scooters. There was also the opportunity to watch the British Grand Prix live on the Screen on the Green. An open air cinema situated in Old Eldon Square during the Motor Show. During breaks in the Grand Prix action classic car movies and children’s shows with a car theme were also shown. The NE1 Motor Show is a free event and it was a great chance to get up close to some high speed and vintage cars in the city centre. The event was really enjoyable and well attended. I hope it comes back next year.

Did you go to the NE1 Motor Show this year? What was your favourite part?