Two articles published in July and August of 1914 about the exhibition to be held in late November 1914.
The second article was published in The Motor Cycle on the 6th of August. Two days earlier, Great Britain had declared war on Germany after it invaded Belgium, which had recently declared its neutrality in the Treaty of London, to which Germany was a signatory. The German Chancellor said that the treaty was just a chiffon de papier.
Some drastic alterations are already in progress in connection with the Olympia Show arrangements in November for business office space and the grouping of the light car exhibits.
Last year nearly the whole of the Annexe was given up to business offices. This year the organisers have decided to erect above all stands which back on to the walls of the building on the ground floor an office which will be reached by a staircase and passage. The latter will extend all round the building, so that visitors to several offices can walk from one to the other without having to descend to the ground floor.
These stands will lie uniformly decorated, and each stand will be equipped with the same type and shape of banner and lettering. It will be found that his scheme will add considerably to the general appearance of the Show, whilst providing the necessary extra space for the light car exhibits which is so urgently required.
The whole of the light cars will this year be grouped together in the Annexe, and a price definition has been decided on which will exclude all cars from the motor cycle and light car show which do not conform to it. The definition is as follows:
"Any two-seated automobile, the retail price of which equipped for the road, including hood, screen, lamps, and spare wheel, does not exceed £200."
This will not prevent the organisers, the Manufacturers' Union, from refusing any vehicle which in their opinion is not a light car, as they will have a clause in their agreements to that effect.
The Motor Cycle, July 2nd, 1914. p8.
AN effort towards a scheme of uniform stand decoration with a view to such being adopted for 1915 will be one of the features of the 1914 Show. To this end certain stands on the ground floor will be set apart for the erection of specimen stands, and will be completely fitted with stand fittings, sign and name boards, floor covering, electric fittings, and a certain member of these will be. available for firms . desirous of availing themselves of such types of stand. Many readers will recollect that at the last Paris Salon a scheme of uniform stand decoration was adopted with excellent results, both from an artistic and utilitarian standpoint, and there is little doubt that it is only a question of time before the same principle is applied to Olympia.
Cycle Cars in the Annexe.
At the forthcoming motor cycle show this year the Annexe, other than stands backing on to the Avail, will be exclusively reserved for light cars and cycle cars, and in this connection it is interesting to note that the Cycle and Motor Cycle Manufacturers and Traders Union, Ltd., define a light car as meaning any two-seated automobile, the retail price of which equipped for the road, including hood,. wind screen, lamps, and spare wheel, does not exceed £200, while for cycle cars the cylinder capacity must not exceed 1,100 c.c., and the weight of the chassis must not exceed 6 cwt. The chassis shall include tanks, radiators, bonnet, and tyres. The Management Committee reserve the right to exclude from the Show light cars within the above definition, but having larger engines fitted.
Convenient for Visitors.
This grouping together in the Annexe of the four-wheeled exhibits is undoubtedly a move in the right direction, as visitors will not then have to dodge about from stand to stand all over the Show in search for cycle cars or light cars.
An excellent new feature of the management is the placing of the offices of the different firms over the stands on the ground floor backing on to the wall. Approaches to these offices will be by stairs arranged at convenient distances. This scheme will release a large amount of space on the ground floor for exhibits.
This year's Motor Cycle Show is the fifth of the series, and will be held from the 23rd to 28th November inclusive.
The Motor Cycle, August 6th, 1914. p178.
If you have a query about this page please contact us
