St Albans Motor Show

Over a dozen car companies will be exhibiting more than 20 cars at the St Albans Motor Show, which will be held along the pedestrianised areas of St Peter’s Street.

The free event, between 10.30am and 4pm on Sunday, March 20, has been organised by the St Albans City Centre Partnership (CCP) to help promote local businesses.

As well as being able to view the latest models from dealers, including Ford, BMW, Maserati and Porsche, visitors will also see St Albans-based police officers and firefighters on site during the day – assuming they are not attending emergencies at the time.

Budding mechanics from Oaklands College’s motor vehicle department will be displaying their own kit car.

And for the first time, there will be a land train operating during the event to give visitors a tour of the cars between the Town Hall and St Peter’s Street roundabout, for which there will be a small charge.

Tesla Motors, founded by engineers in Silicon Valley, will show premium electric vehicles at Christopher Place, with the shopping precinct offering people the chance to have a race or two on giant Scalextric slot car tracks, and other games.

City centre manager Richard Marrett said: “We are very happy that the motor show is happening, and look forward to managing more events in the city centre this year.”

The CCP launched its campaign for a Business Improvement District (BID) earlier this year and the motor show – believed to be the first such display in the city centre – is the first event it has organised.

Richard said: “One of the key focus areas of the BID will be to organise multiple events throughout the year, not just on St Peter’s Street but also in other areas of the city centre to help promote the wide range of businesses in our city.”