Mercedes show?

[Mercedesstar]

Just testing the waters, ladies and gents. I have long been going with this thought in my head, tried to talk myself into not thinking about it, but it is still there. Maybe some of you can get me back down to earth. So here goes.
We have this and other sites. We have gtg`s, and so on. All great stuff and really good. But how would a Mercedes weekend sound to you guys? I am talking about everything and everybody in one place, everything Mercedes. My wife works at the showground in Peterborough, they have good facilities both in door and out,
Welcome to Peterborough Arena which will be fairly central for everybody. She has got contacts for security and everything else we need. To help with cost of setting the weekend up, Mercedes, along with many others, needs approaching, to for instance, using an idea from Goodwood, perhaps have the Friday as a rolling motorshow, where people can testdrive everything Mercedes. When I say everything Mercedes, I mean new as well as old. We would need Mercedes owners attending with older models to try and give people a taste of what it is like to drive an old car as well as new. Along with this there would be Mercedes owners to hand to explain what it entails to own and run a Mercedes. There would be a spares area, there would be, perhaps inside, the likes of Kleeman, AMG and so on. There could be a 4x4 area, the list is endless. June would be a good time, theres hardly anything going on at the showground, and it is before the Formula 1, Goodwood etc etc.
Is there anyone here on the forum who thinks this could be something good, something coming around every year, and who would be willing and capable of setting up a group to put everything into place. Everything is there at the showgorund, and I have helped my wife set up for the East of England show etc on many occassions. It is not something I want to set up for making a profit or some pocketmoney, obviously it needs to pay for itself and it would be nice with a bit of a reward for the undoubtedly hard work it will be. But I genuinely think something different could be set up, Mercedes is a big enough and strong enough brand to have a 3 day weekend show once a year, with everything from new and old to maintaining them, keeping them, cleaning them, tuning them, insuring, travelling, the list is endless.
So over to you guys, is this doable, is there an audience for it? I know I have been going on for a bit and waffled a bit, but it was a sudden decision to get it of my mind and test the waters. I will look foreward to hear from you all, good and bad. Thanks for reading this.

 

[219]

Hmmm , nice idea and good on you if you can make it work .

However , Mercedes tend to have a global policy of only supporting the official club they recognise in each country .

In the UK this is The Mercedes-Benz Club ( a club rather than a web forum ) who already run a great many shows around the country , some dedicated to specific models such as the W123 , S Class range or the SL range , even specific days for R107 owners . Then there is the club national weekend , held in different parts of the country each year ( which is a gathering for all models , concours and road runs , a dinner , technical seminars , new car displays ) - all of these events have attendances well into the hundreds , if not the thousands .

Mercedes also have Mercedes-Benz World at Brooklands , which is open year round , and affords the opportunity to test drive new cars on their circuit , has the museum on site and plays host to events for many clubs .

Besides UK based events , Mercedes also participate in major international events such as Techno Classica in Essen every year ( the biggest car show in the world ) , Classic Days - which is held in a different country each year , and the recent event celebrating 125 years of Mercedes at Tempelhof airport in Berlin . Many of the independent companies in the aftermarket already support these events .

While another event would be nice , it would be hard to break into the existing calendar and get commercial support I suspect .

 

[bpsorrel]

Maybe this is something that could be discussed on a local level, with an MB dealer in the area?

Sounds like a great idea if you can get the support.

 

[219]

Yes , starting it off as a local show , with dealer support ( which is at their discretion ) , then hoping it will be a success and grow in future years , might be the best way forward .

 

[d w124]

It is a good idea and surely it will work but such events take time to arrange

 

[nb_racing]

A 3 day national event: You're talking about a full time job to organise it. It will take tens thousands of pounds of investment. You will need a dedicated reliable team to help you organise it, and to run it. You need a whole raft of insurance and liability cover. You need people to attend. You need marketing and advertising. You need market research and analysis. You need a price point that suits everyone.

You need a lot!
Go for it!

 

[BlackC55]

This is our intention with Benzonthegreen. To make it just as you say but still keeping it MBClub dedicated.

We haves looked into this kind of thing in great detail.

The work involved is tremendous.

 

[nb_racing]

This is our intention with Benzonthegreen. To make it just as you say but still keeping it MBClub dedicated.

We haves looked into this kind of thing in great detail.

The work involved is tremendous.

For your info, Mercedesstar, we have a team of 6 people for www.benzonthegreen.co.uk and we have already started working on 2015. Around full time jobs it fills any spare time you have!


We welcome you to come along in May next year and see what we do.

 

[Deleted member 65149]

With the intended venue only minutes from my home, of course I'd be interested. But only as a spectator - the work involved in organisation would be massive. Try to get together some idea of costs including hire of the showground then go and have a chat with John Ford the General Manager at Mercedes-Benz Peterborough.

 

[Mercedesstar]

Thanks everyone, and you are of course all right. It is an enormous task, and it will require alot of time and effort. I see and hear from my wife every day the input that is required to put a show on.
Thank you BlackC55, nb_racing and knightterrant for advice, encouragement and invitation. If I possibly can I will be there.
Again, you are right, Pontoneer, there is a lot of different shows involving Mercedes already. What I haven`t seen, and do correct me if I am wrong, is a show that involves everything. From owing new or old and everything that involves, being able to drive which ever model it is you are interested in, looking at everything from bodykits to exhausts and wheels, talking to all the clubs, I know you say you want to keep Benzonthegreen MBclub dedicated, and I respect that, and maybe it is wrong of me to say it here, but I would like to give people the choice and for them see what is out there. Also I think many of the members on here are also members of the Mercedes Benz club, I know I am. An autojumble, 4x4 track, skidpan for the AMG team, the list is endless. Again, as some of you pointed out, start small and local, gauge the interest and go from there. This is how Goodwood Festival of Speed started 20 years ago, and we all know how they have got on!
Hhhmm, I must remember to send invitations to Hamilton and Rosberg as well ).

 

[Mercedesstar]

Sorry, nb_racing, just had a look at the benzonthegreen website, looks really great, have put it in the calendar and will endeavor to be there next year.

 

[jamesfuller]

I think its a great idea, as long as the date is known for a long time so people can plan!

I think entry costs have broken the back more than a few shows (BMF for example)
maybe charging per car for entry, its a fine line between making enough but being a reasonably priced day out for families! Between the younger car enthusiasts I know, they consider paying £20+ entry to be to much and simply dont bother going.

As mentioned, MB themselves probably wouldn't be interested but the local dealer probably would. Certainly at some big 4x4 events the local dealer has plenty to display. Also may be worth approaching some of the specialists like Nigel Jarvis and Charles Ironside etc to have some of there examples on display!

Its only just up the A1 for me so I could bring a couple of my old Mercedes up

A non static display is always good. Don't make it just AMG focused though, the old V8's can make quite a sound (mine turned heads when driving past the quiet AMG's on the skid pan on the way out of Brooklands)

 

[BlackC55]

The budget has to be considered. For botg it was an incredible amount of ££ for such a relatively small event.

I fronted all the cost myself because I love doing it. An event like you are suggesting will be serious £.

Give me a buzz. We could work together.