Shows

In January, I visited the Autosport International Show and was reminded of the first Racing Car Show I visited, in late 1961. That was a modest affair, in no quantifiable way to compare with the Autosport, but I do not think it is merely the fervour of youth and rose-tinted spectacles that makes it the more vivid memory.

All exhibitions have changed over the years in line with show biz. Early rock concerts had four or five guys on stage with instruments, and that was it. The Fab Four didn’t even do the rudimentary dance steps of some groups, and John Lennon didn’t make love to his guitar. The nearest most of us had come to seeing a laser was in Goldfinger.