The 1976 Motor Show
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In the UK, the long hot summer of 1976 eventually ended in September of that year. It was the culmination of a 16-month dry spell - the longest recorded over England and Wales since 1727. One month later the London International Motor Show took place at Earls Court in London. It was the last year it would appear at the London venue. From thenceforth it was to be (and still is) venued at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. However, perhaps the most significant event of 1976 for many visitors to this website was that the Mercedes W123 made its first appearance. I thought it might be interesting to put this event into context by showing what other cars were on the scene at the same time. So on this page images from the brochure for the 1976 Motor Show are presented for your education and delectation. All are viewable in a larger size if you click on them. See the prices. Enjoy..... |
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In 1966 Clint Eastwood starred in a film named "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly". Ten years later Aston Martin gave us "The Good and the Ugly".......
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I had to show you this. You need to click on it to see the full advert.
BTW: In 1975 it was called the Hillman Avenger. |
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Those of us in our 40's who live in the UK will know that the wonderful Fiesta seems to have always been around. As well as a W123 I have also owned a MK1 Fiesta. So what does this say about me? (My wife would say " he likes owning clapped out old cars !!")
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When
I think of a Ford Granada I think of the opening titles of that brilliant
1970's cop show "The Sweeney". Go here
for a link if you've no idea what I am talking about. In fact this show
first appeared only one year before the W123.
Below the Granada is the British car icon. The Ford Escort. By 1976 in its MK2 incarnation. The Escort was probably the most popular car in the UK ever? Need I say more? I never actually owned one myself.....
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Not many of us will have owned a Lotus Elite. Or a Lancia Beta Monte Carlo for that matter. But I found it rather interesting that the Lotus was only a few hundred quid more than the 280E. See below.. |
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Here they are folks. The debut of the W123 300D and 280E. A shade off £8,000 for the 280E. Compare this to the (admittedly bottom of the range) Granada above. More than 3 times more expensive!! And yet apparently there was a waiting list for them when they first arrived in the UK. I need say no more, except prepare yourselves for the surprise (well it surprised me anyway) of the price of the 450 SEL 6.9 below.... |
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Dont try and read the small print. Click and discover the price....and its top speed. |
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I had to include the Mini. Small. Cheap. Beautiful. The mini was already 17 years old in 1976. "The Italian Job" had been screening for 7 years and was still not out on video. Or DVD for that matter!!. |
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The Pontiac Firebird was probably a car drooled over by Brits and Yanks alike. And some Brits even bought them. How much were they..? The Porche 911 is a legend. The Turbo version had a 3 litre engine and could do 155 mph. I think I would have preferred to own the Porche rather then the Pontiac. At half the price of the Porche, the Mercedes 280E does however share a high performance design feature with it that was still very rare in cars back then. Fuel Injection. |
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In 1976, if you had the odd £37,539 to spare, you could have bought yourself a Rolls Royce Camargue. But you would still have ended up with carburettors on top of your V8, 6.7 litre engine. Even the new Rover 3500 did not have fuel injection. Nice car though.... |
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And finally. 1976 heralded the arrival of the poor man's sports car that went on to become a design classic. The Mk1 Golf GTI. (With, of course, fuel injection) I discovered last week (at the 2005 Classic Car Show) that the new Golf GTI weighs twice that of the 1976 MK1. So, although its engine produces twice the power of the 1976 version, the power to weight ratio is exactly the same. And that's progress folks..... |