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Pembroseassociation

The approach

The approach

Five steps, in this order, every time. It is not clever and it is not fast, and it is the reason the entries can be specific about things that stand cards leave out.

Hands lifting a boot carpet to check the spare wheel well for corrosion
Hands lifting a boot carpet to check the spare wheel well for corrosion

  1. 01

    The plan before the hall

    We read the exhibitor list and mark the hall plan the night before, dividing stands into a slow pass, a glance and a skip. We also note the benches, the quiet corners and the door nearest the car. A walked order beats a wandered one by about ninety minutes on a full floor.

  2. 02

    Three aisles properly, the rest at a walk

    The slow passes get the measuring tape, the seat test twice and the boot opened. Everything else gets a steady walk without stopping. Attention is finite and we spend it where the shortlist is, not where the lighting is best.

  3. 03

    The same four measurements on every car

    Cushion length under the thigh, lumbar adjustment range, boot aperture height and the lip you lift over, and the figure the stand quotes for boot litres so we can say how far off it feels. Four numbers, same every time, written on the spot.

  4. 04

    The questions, asked in front of a notebook

    Service interval in kilometres, nearest workshop that honours the plan, lead time on a common wear part into the Bay, tyre replacement cost in the fitted size, and any tracker condition the insurer will want. Answers improve markedly when you are visibly writing them down.

  5. 05

    The road, then the writing

    Where we can drive the type, we do: a loop that includes the Van Stadens crossing, a patched stretch and a slow crawl through traffic in Central with the aircon working. Then the entry gets written, with the things we could not test listed as untested rather than guessed.

A line we hold

We do not accept a stand's hospitality beyond a cup of coffee, and we do not take a car on loan from anyone who knows an entry is coming. It makes the work slower and the entries easier to defend.

A coastal road running past grassland towards the sea on a windy afternoon

Going to a hall this season

Send us the show and what you are weighing up, and we will tell you plainly whether it is worth your Saturday or whether you should wait for the next one. That answer is free, and it has saved a few readers a long drive.

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