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Kits a No Show
Posted by Madabout News on Sunday, February 9th, 2014 at 06:41 PM |
 2014 is proving to be the year where show organisers have had to pull the plug on several kit car shows as the economics was no longer stacking up.
Any kit car enthusiast would have seen for themselves the declining attendance of pretty much every show on the calendar over recent years, not just from manufacturers who’s stand space started to get bigger gaps between him and the next but the all important attendance of the general public and kit car drivers.
This year has hit the Detling kit car show and Exeter and the biggest and longest running of them all, Newark. Newark is a particularly sad one, this show along with the Sandown kit car show were the first shows I visited when first getting into kit cars in the late 1980’s. I particularly liked Newark as I always seem to remember blisteringly hot days, club events going on, stacked manufacturer halls and hundreds upon hundreds of club cars on show.
So after 30 years of the Newark kit car show the organisers have this to say;
“There will be no Newark Kit Car Show in 2014
Kevin and Lesley Musson, aka, Newark Promotions are sad to report that Newark 2013 was the last in a long line of Newark Kit Car Shows.
For many reasons and only after long deliberation, we have come to the conclusion that it is no longer possible to sustain the show without unacceptable financial risk. As well as the unfavourable economic climate, in the last six years we have experienced and recorded the wettest, the coldest and the windiest events in all of the 31 years. We have had an unlucky run and there is no doubt that the climate in the UK has changed. This along with other factors has resulted in the decline in attendances. This has also occurred at a time when the costs for putting on such a show have increased dramatically.
The fact that the Newark Showground made the huge error of allocating the wrong weekend for our show in 2014, meaning the event would clash once again with the Le Mans 24hr race, was the final straw.
Sadly, the industry has now lost one of its flagship shows. All that remains now is for us to thank everyone that has helped along the way. This has to start with Alec and Hilary Trueman, our original partners. Without Alec, we doubt that the show would have ever got off the ground. Also, we must thank Peter Filby, whom we managed to convince that our idea would be a success. We even borrowed the title of his magazine "Alternative Cars" for the original show title. We must thank "the mob", our team of willing volunteers and friends that proudly formed our staff for the weekend and without whom we could not open the gates to the visitors. There are many institutions and past sponsors who deserve thanks, they know who they are. Then there are the exhibitors. We include the manufacturers, trade stands, autojumblers, craftsmen and women, and modellers. Last, but certainly not least, the kit car clubs and their members. Thank you. There are so many great memories and most of all, it was fun. We are pleased to have made many lifelong friends through this venture.
Newark Promotions would like to thank all of our customers and partners for their valued support and wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year.”
Madabout Kitcars thanks all the organisers of the shows that have ceased this year, without your many people would not have got into the kit car scene to start off with or renewed their interest or just simply kept going. We hope that you make a comeback one day.
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