As every year, I went to the Adelaide Motor Show & yes, I'm aware it's not even twelve months since I bought my Dub but it's a good opportunity to see what's available.

Since most of the vehicles are running around the roads already, I tend to check out car interiors since that's what you tend to see most as a driver. When you compare cheap to expensive, there really is a significant difference.

I thought the Mini Cooper S was in the running for my dollars until I felt the quality of carpet & plastic & it was all pretty crap, which is a bit scary when you know BMW make them! Renault's Megane is quite good, but the front fenders are plastic & the Honda Civic Type R is exceptional quality but a touch too futuristic to be comfortable in. Horror of the year was for one of the newer Saab's which has these funny little toggles to manipulate the air vents. They just stick out in front of the vent, look flimsy, very obtrusive & overall they're a bit of a design disaster.

Plenty of half-baked concept cars were stuck up on stands as usual & I'm rarely interested since they get your hopes up & then disappoint when the manufacturer releases yet another box that looks like their last model. Car makers should only present stuff they're going to produce. Enough with the teasing!


Unfortunately, motor shows are generally a frustrating affair. It's my own fault for going & suffering as well, but with my three simple rules all the pain could be avoided.

1) No hot food.

You wouldn't walk into a dealer's show room with a juicy meat pie, so why would you do it at a motor show? The smell of processed meat & gravy on a fat person is very unpleasant. This would also eliminate the various smears & fingerprints left on the cars.

2) No cameras (including video).

If you're taking a shot of the Grand Canyon & you don't want unknown people in the photo, that's okay. However, if you're snapping the latest bland Hyundai & you demand everyone to step away while you get a clean shot, that's not okay.

Reviewing your photos while standing in a thoroughfare is also unacceptable. If you don't trust yourself to get a good photo the first time then you probably should give up on your photography career now.

Please be aware, the size of your camera lens makes no difference to how important you think you are.

3) No admittance to persons not in possession of a full drivers licence (includes those with learners permits or a provisional licence.)

Doesn't take long to work out that from this there will be no prams, crying, screaming, lost children, etc & that can't be a bad thing.

Why bring your kids to a show when they just get in everyone's way, that's what the annual Royal Show is for. Unless there are rides, kids will proceed to make their own fun & steal bits off the cars (look at how many gear knobs go missing!).

If you're sixteen & hanging around the latest Subaru Impreza WRX, please be advised, you really don't look cool.

This rule technically also outlaw pregnant women, but it's for their own good. What husband would take their pregnant wife MPV shopping in such an environment anyway?!


So there you have it, wouldn't a pavilion of cars be a much more enjoyable place? Some of those countless salespeople walking around scratching themselves with nothing to do, might actually sell a car during the show!

P.S. This post contains no photos due to rule #2.