British Motor Show preview

The doors officially open to the 2008 British Motor Show at 10:00 on Thursday July 24th, though if you're super keen you might still get your hands on one of the 500 tickets up for grabs for the Press Preview day on the 22nd or even the VIP Preview Day on the 23rd. Whenever you decide to go, make sure you bring along the whole family, as there is loads to do at the show, making you wonder why it's only every two years.

20 world debuts

First and foremost are the cars. The organisers are telling us that there will be more than 20 world debuts at this year's event, which is a significant number and definitely makes it worthwhile making the trip to London if you like your motors. Enthusiasts will be keen to see the all-new Lotus sportscar, codenamed Project Eagle, while hot hatch fans will get the chance to pore over the new Ford Focus RS and an extreme version of the Renaultsport Mégane.

Alfa will show its cool new MiTo for the first time and Bentley plans to reveal a high-performance version of its Continental Flying Spur saloon. At the other end of the spectrum is the stylish Vauxhall Insignia, the fuel-sipping Fiesta ECOnetic and an electric supercar. There are surprises likely too and the first appearance for many concepts in Britain.

Take a break

For those of you that just want a good day out, there is plenty more to see away from the busy show halls. The Marine Experience allows punters to 'Try-a-Boat' and also board a wide variety of yachts. Dock Rock is a music festival that runs alongside the motorshow (you'll need special tickets) with big acts including UB40, Alice Cooper, Status Quo and Blondie.

Honda has a live action arena called Dreamscape, which you'll need to reserve a place in (it's only a fiver), while the kids can play in the Kidz Car Zone. Big kids can try their hands in the Land Rover Ultimate Experience, Mazda's Zoom-Zoom Challenge or the Westfield Active Drift Experience and there's even more going on, including themed enclosures for classic cars and supercars.

What you need to know

The normal public access days run from 24th of July to August 3rd, but beware that the weekends are likely to be very busy. If you can make it mid-week, you'll have a much nicer experience and it's cheaper.

Adult tickets start at £10, with children under five gaining free entry. The organisers have sensibly offered decent value family tickets too, where two adults and two children can get in for £25 (or £35 at the weekend), so it needn't be an expensive day out. A neat offer is for anyone arriving after 5pm to pay just £5, which is superb value given that the show is open until 9pm during the week. The official website is www.britishmotorshow.co.uk from where you can buy tickets for each of the days in advance and even print them out.

Getting to the show is dead easy too, though it is not advised to drive there if you can help it, as parking spaces are limited and traffic in the area is never great. Thankfully, public transport in the Docklands is well developed, with two Docklands Light Railway (DLR) stations serving the show (Custom House and Prince Regent). Using the London Underground system to link to the DLR is a cinch, but if you need any help, the official site has a handy journey planner.

Yahoo! Cars will be at the Press Preview day to report live from the show, so keep a close eye out for updates.

Shane O' Donoghue