131mirafiori forum

Having heard from by buddies in other car clubs that they received confirmation of their stands at the NEC Classic Motor Show (http://www.necclassicmotorshow.com/) in November as far back as mid-April, I thought my application for a stand for the 131mirafiori.com 'Club' was rejected. But I'm not one for giving up easily so armed with my newly acquired skill of "flowery language" (thank you Jacquie  ;)) I contacted the organisers and I am pleased to confirm that we will have a stand at the show  :D


Dear Theo
 
Happy to say you are on the list to have a stand.
 
I am just finalising the Italian section so bear with me for details.
 
Kind regards
 
Alison
 

Alison Judge
Club Coordinator
Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show including the Classic Motorbike Show



I still don't know what size stand we've been allocated but we now need to decide on the cars to display (I'd still like one from each type/series and Simon's Stradale  ;) ) something to make the display into a 'stand', a place to stay for the weekend etc.

Happy to provide my orange S1 1600 Special if required  ;D ;D

OK that's Series one sorted then 😉

Not one to miss a 131 event I can have either a Sport or series 3 Super there.  ;)

You're on the list for a Series 2 car so it'll have to be the Sport. We already have a Series 3 4-door  ;)

Okydoky...we must obey the list!  ;)

Yes, the list must be obeyed unequivocally  ;D ;D ;D ;D

Er...what list? If it's a list of cars that we'd like to have on the stand perhaps it should be shared. ;D

So, cars so far are -

Possible - Fiat Abarth 131 Rally Stradale - Simon
Confirmed - Fiat 131 1600 Special - Simon
Confirmed - Fiat 131 Sport - Kevin
Possible - Fiat 131 Sport - Theo
???
???

How big is the stand then Theo? And who is on the list to provide the Series 3?

The list that Theo will produce when he posts a link to the old NEC thread. :)

Phil is down for the S3....and Theo is the taxi driver using one of his modern fleet to take us backwards and forwards from the hotel each day. I don't think he's planning to take his Sport, hence the comment about obeying the list. All hail "The List"!!! ;D

Full marks to Kevin 😊 Top of the class!! 😃 Obviously paying good attention 👍

As Kevin said, Phil is providing the S3. He's already booked the time off work and he may even have booked his hotel for the weekend. I wasn't planning on taking my Sport as I'll be the taxi driver plus Kev's Sport is so much better than mine. I don't know the size of the stand yet but expect it to be a 5 car stand as that's what I've requested. Hopefully Bobby is bringing his Volumetrico and then we need an Abarth or replica to complete the lineup. I think it'll be good to have an original Stradale on the stand 😉

I too think it will be good to have an original Stradale on the stand but we might struggle as mine is the only one known in the UK (although there are a couple of three in Ireland  ;)) and it might be in bits by November - emphasis on the 'might be'  ;) If it's not in bits then I'm happy to bring it along but will need a driver for one of my cars as even I can't drive two at the same time  ;) ;) ;) ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

I really enjoy the NEC Classic Car Show and having a 131 Sand will be great.

With an Orange Sport, 131S and an Abarth (Orangeish) that is a lot of Orange. Are there any S2 Super's or Estates that could be shown.

We still don't know the size of the stand and how many cars we'll be able to have on it but we already have orange, blue and white so colours are well represented. I had the idea of getting some cheap white picket lock fencing to mark out the stand and I was going to paint alternative posts in red and green so with the white it would be the Italian flag colours but apparetly it's not allowed by the Health and Safety bods  :-[

Just to confirm - as per the list - one blue S3 will be in attendance at the NEC ;D ;D

Which is the 'White One' that was mentioned.

We now have stand details for the NEC  :D

Hall   8
Stand number   8-205
Width:   10.5m
Depth:   6.5m
Area:   68.25sqm
Pillar/ irregular stand shape?   no

Our stand will be next to the X1/9 Owners Club and the Fiat Motor Club and very close to the Lancia Motor Club abd the Lancia Beta Forum (see below).

Now I'm fairly sure that we can get five 131s in an area 10.5m by 6.5m. So we are going with:

Series 1: 131S - Simon
Series 2: Mirafiori Sport - Kevin
Series 3: Supermirafiori 2000 - Phil
Specials:
131 Supermirafiori Abarth Volumetrico - Bobby
131 Abarth Rally Replica - Andy

The cars need to be on the stand on Thursday 13th November and cannot be removed until after the show ends on Sunday 16th November.

The show 'theme' this year is "Big Screen". Here's what the organisers have to say:

SHOW THEME:  THE BIG SCREEN
?The Big Screen? evokes images of escapism, splendour and glamour and we hope will provide clubs with the perfect platform to bring out the ?star quality? in every car.  As well as iconic TV and movie star cars, including scene stealers from TV motoring shows, we encourage clubs to think much broader with this year?s Show Theme.
 
You could think about famous posters or adverts which launched cars which appeared on huge billboards or with ?big screen? campaigns.  You could perhaps recreate a famous film poster on your club stand, or maybe give over the entire stand to a TV show or advert that featured a chosen car ? there?s scope to really get creative.  With a plethora of War films, we trust that The Big Screen can encompass the commemoration of conflict that some clubs are planning.
 
The theme is also open to other interpretations, perhaps displaying a car that boasts a ?big screen? price or even just cars with an extra-large windscreens!  Whatever your Big Screen theme may be, all ideas are welcome.


So my ideas for this are:

1. Print some large poster-size versions of Robert's "Lingotto Job" (with Robert's permission of course) and use them as film "adverts"  ;D

2. Get a video selection of old adverts, rally sequences and other videos with the 131 and have them loop-playing on a largish screen or projector. Of course for this we'll need a largish TV or projector so if anyone has anything suitable, please let me know.

3. I'd like to find an original large poster of the 131 in a cage. It was a very successful marketing campaign and people still remember the "Wolf in sheep's clothing" slogan. I'll contact Fiat and see if they have any but my success rate with Fiat is not good  :-[

There's a lot to do yet with sorting out the stand, finding a place for the exhibitors to stay etc.

There will be a discount code available for all members of this forum and details will be posted soon.

Good update Theo..and ideas. And next to the toilets too!  ;D

Good to see that we're in a little Italian corner.

I have a DVD of 70s rallying which features the 131 quite a bit, although there are  other cars in there too. That could do if we can't find anything dedicated exclusively to the 131. I can also bring a DVD player and a small TV if no one has a large one that they want to bring. Is electricity included in the fee?

I also have some old broadsheet adverts of the 131 saved away somewhere, plus some fold out posters from Fiat. Will we have a wall to display on I wonder?

Thanks for the offer to bring a DVD and TV Kevin but I'm hoping we'll manage something a bit closer without the need to bring such things from Ireland. I was thinking of running these things on a laptop and I have spare computer screens but nothing too big. I don't even know if we'll have power on the stand but I do have an inverter that will run a laptop and screen for a long time off a car battery  ;)  We'll also need a table of sorts (preferably folding) which I don't have but can just buy a cheap wallpapering table or something. I have several folding chairs I could take.

Your Fiat posters and adverts would be very welcome  :D  We certainly won't have a wall unless we provide one as our stand is not against a wall. So we'll need to sort something out to mark the stand's boundaries and to mount things on. I still like the idea of white fencing that can be painted red and green to look like the Italian flag. These free standing panels are designed for events so might be acceptable to the health and safety guys http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Freestanding-3ft-Picket-Fence-panel-Round-Top-white-event-fencing-/321463842186 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Freestanding-3ft-Picket-Fence-panel-Round-Top-white-event-fencing-/321463842186?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4ad8bcf58a). It can work out expensive though...

I think the first thing we need to sort out is a place for us to stay. The Travelodge near the airport (just over a mile from the NEC - http://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/519/Birmingham-Airport-hotel (http://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/519/Birmingham-Airport-hotel)) has availability and only ?34 per night on their non-refundable saver rate. I'll email everyone concerned and try to sort something out soon.

What about having my old banger  ;) and then people can compare with yours and see what you can make out of a 131 ;D ;D ;D

Whatever about fitting in another 131... come along and say hello Finnie

It should be a good opportunity to meet up and chat with forum members.... :)

Well I am certainly coming along and looking forward to meeting everyone! ;D

Sid, will you be crossing the water for the event?

I havnt been to that show in years doubt if id be there this year :(

Any further thoughts on the hotel situation yet Theo?  :)

Looking into that today  ;) Expect an email fro me.....  :D

what percentage is the discount on the tickets with the code

Depends on the type of ticket and day. The club offer is for Saturday or Sunday tickets and there's no club discount for Friday tickets. Normal Saturday or Sunday single adult tickets are ?18.50 if pre-booked or ?21.50 on the day and they are discounted to ?16.50 with the club special code (must be pre-booked). There's a ?10 saving on family tickets (2 adults and 3 children).