news:

So following on from my Sneak Preview Feature about this show, I went up on Sunday 17th January to see the show in full flow and to retrieve Godzilla 2 after it finished.

First stand I made a beeline for was Sumo Power's GT-R themed display as they had just been announced as the race team who were going to field the mighty Nismo built GT-R GT1 race car in the inaugural FIA GT1 World Championship this year.

The car looked very imposing with wider front and rear wings, louvres everywhere and side exit exhausts for its 5.5 litre V8 600hp engine.

Yes, as GT1 regs forbid both turbochargers and 4WD, this GT-R has to make do with a normally aspirated V8 and RWD. But with a race weight of 1100kg, it should still be pretty nippy, even compared with a "real" GT-R...

They also had a matte black road GT-R with the HKS GT600 kit fitted to it, also producing 600hp but via the tried and tested route of adding more boost and a bigger exhaust. It also had some nice looking lightweight Rays wheels wearing Toyo's aggressive looking new 20" R888 track day tyre.

What I found intriguing about this car, is that amongst the plethora of matte black vinyl wrapped GT-Rs out there (including Jensen Button's), this one had been painted, and very nicely too.

I got my first look at Noble's M600 supercar. Impressive looking beast and clearly a big step up in build quality and materials from the earlier generation of Nobles, with an interior no longer looking as if it had just been ordered wholesale from the Demon Tweeks catalogue.

At £200,000 though, I'm not at all convinced it will pry many customers away from the more obvious Ferrari 458 Italia or McLaren MP4 choices.

Far more affordable at an all-in imported price of about £36,000 is the brutal looking new Chevrolet Camaro.

I had a good chat with one of the guys from Wortec and this awesome 430hp 6.2 litre Corvette LS3-engined muscle car should be celebrated, as I'm pretty sure it will be the last of its breed.

I've also learned that a right hand drive version has been confirmed for the end of 2011...

There were some fabulous Group B rally cars from the mid-1980s. This Peugeot 205 T16 was my dream car for years.

Mid-engined, mega-powerful, 4WD, lightweight composite construction and driven by fearless driving gods.

What have Peugeot done with their once-unassailable rally heritage since then?

Gorgeous Lancia 037, last of the great RWD rally cars.

A Lancia Stratos replica, made by Hawk. This was the one Top Gear used and mercilessly made fun of. But it hasn't hurt their profile one bit, in fact far from it, according to the owner.

(Yes, I know the Stratos was pre-Group B.)

In the Pistonheads Members' Cars area, there was a very rare roadgoing Group B Audi Sport Quattro with its distinctive short wheelbase designed to make it more wieldy.

There were a few Auto-Journalists' cars parked there, including Jonny Malim's green BMW Z1 complete with pedestrian-unfriendly bonnet mascot, Henrietta the tortoise.

Regular contributor Steve Lloyd also had his Brabus Smart Roadster Coupe there, of which I'm sure he took plenty of his own pics, and as already mentioned, Godzilla 2 was there in a prime spot too.

So why no photos of my car? Well there has been a dramatic change in its appearance which I alluded to in the Sneak Preview and it deserves its own Journal Entry which will be forthcoming shortly...