Europe is somewhat awash with trade shows – wait a few months and several come along at once. Located in the same region as the Automechanika Frankfurt show, Birmingham has to be timed carefully. So, the ‘UK Garage & Bodyshop Event’ (‘UKGBE’ – sounds like some sort of offence) was held over 2 days in June, the very same year as the bi-annual Automechanika Frankfurt show.
The first ‘UKGBE’ was held in 2024 and achieved a rare thing – exhibitors and visitors were happy. Three major refinishing companies booked space, along with quite a lot of bodyshop related suppliers. The overall event vibe was about discussion, chatting, learning – not sell, sell, sell. Then again, the draconian Lock Down saga was still a recent memory.
This year’s event attracted 6098 visitors, featured just one paint supplier, and the dedicated bodyshop content was lower than before. On the other hand, there was an astounding number of suppliers offering diagnostics, which of course serves the entire automotive aftermarket:
- Diagnostics equipment (most of the major players were there)
- Diagnostics remote service providers
- Ramp and four-wheel alignment equipment suppliers also offering… diagnostics.
- Workshop management systems with links to… diagnostics.
Bay, after bay, after bay of diagnostics.
Some highlights:
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- SATA X DIGITAL pro spray gun complete with anodised Union Jack, a limited edition of 226 units with 1 to be retained by the company. It was made to mark the 20th anniversary of the UK division. The prototype, which had been used extensively, had no degradation of the surface decoration. So, is it time to introduce a limited edition with the flag of South Africa, or, indeed some other logo?
- Schaeffler followed the recent European launch of a hydraulic separator to pull the core out of a vehicle electric motor. This demonstrates that if a motor has permanent magnets, it will not be possible to remove the core by hand.
- Schaeffler made another, more interesting announcement. Launching dedicated kits of service parts of traction motors and power controllers, much as they do for timing belts / chains and so on, they stated…….
- Schaeffler will not chase China manufactured car business due to the frequency of model changes. Understandable, given they need volume of business and few individual models from China reach significant numbers before being replaced.
The best thing to come is an Issigonis Mini pick up with ice cream van body, bored / stroked A series engine with almost no metal left, painted – from seats to engine to exterior – in the colours of Neopolitan ice cream. It’s first appearance will be running demo laps at Brands Hatch on 23rd August 2026 (no pressure – will the paint be dry?) before appearing at the Birmingham NEC Classic Car Show in November 2026. The paint guns used for the project came from SATA.
Here’s what the artist involved in that project got up to at the show – which, of course, was far from dust free. What was the bonnet from? Why yes, an Issigonis Mini!
Onward to Frankfurt in September!
