Had a few hours at the
British Motor Show today at London's
ExCeL. Ultimately looking for a new car in 8 months time (have I really had my current one 2 years and 4 months?) and making some initial enquiries at Saab and Jaguar stands. Passed by Mercedes-Benz, as their UK place is just up the road from my house (and I went there later in the day), and missed BMW and Audi who were not exhibiting (wassup??). Actually, I'll admit to checking out Lexus too, but it only reinforced my view on them being rebadged Toyota's and lacking the finesse of the BMWs and Mercs I have had in recent years.
Both Jag and Saab had girlies to take my enquiry details on a handheld, no doubt linked through to their back office to send me the relevant information - and excellent use of technology. The Jag lady seemed very keen on flashing her legs at me (sorry, darling, I'm very happily married and my son's sitting right behind us, thanks) but she did allow us to go up to the VIP area for coffee and croissants courtesy of
Leith's catering. The Saab lady was much less salesy and more keen on getting my details on her system and assured me that some stuff would arrive in my inbox within 8 hours. Not sure about why there was a delay like that (doesn't the internet allow us to do everything NOW?), or why there's nothing here 12 hours after she told me. Hmmm...
Nice
touch-screen on the
Jaguar XF too!
An excellent use of technology - a round-the-world speed record attempt is currently under way and you can follow them LIVE on the web, including the speed they are flying. Took off from Virginia USA on Thursday, landing on West coast of Greenland. Friday took them on through Iceland, Faroe Islands to the south of the UK. Saturday they flew on to Germany where they currently are, thanks to satellite tracking on their website. Good luck Scott and Steve - hope you smash that record! Can they top the 169.2 knots they managed earlier (that's about 195mph, pretty amazing for a helicopter)?
