Those same people, however, will never miss Frankfurt, quite simply because it is the most important show in Europe. It is a vital venue for any serious observer of the motor industry, as Frankfurt crystallises what will happen on the roads in the next months and years.

You will find every motor industry high-up at Frankfurt, and not just from Europe. During the press days pause for refreshment on any stand - and they all have plenty to offer us press in the way of sustenance - and you are just as likely to hear American drawl as you are German or English. No-one misses this show.

The many visitors from the US at this year's event probably had more reason than most to remember the opening day of the last one - but all of us that were in the German city on September 11 2001 remember that day, and the wave of shock that swept across the exhibition halls as events unfolded across the Atlantic. Spookily, your correspondent was sitting on the stand of US maker Chrysler drinking milkshakes and eating cookies when the phone call came through from Mrs C. It felt just a little strange entering that same stand this year, the memories coming back.

No outside events detracted from the business of the show this time, and there was plenty of business to be done, with important launches presided over by compnay bosses in soem cases trying to not look as nervous as they had reason to be - some of these new cars not only represent potential profits but the potential for certain CEO's continued employment.

Me, my main problem was convincing stand staff I didn't speak German – courtesy of a pass that added an extra 'n' to my surname, and coping with aching legs. Frankfurt is too big really - for just one example consider hall four. It housed the might of the VW Group, including Audi, Skoda, Seat and Lamborghini, so lots to see. But that was only on the ground floor – take an escalator to the first floor and you discovered Ford's empire, Mazda, Land Rover, Volvo, Aston Martin and Jaguar all joining the blue oval.

Four of the halls form the edges to a big open square, complete with fountains and such like, except that at motor show time much of this disappears because BMW builds an enormous two-storey display building on it. But for the greatest extravagance step forward Mercedes-Benz. The Frankfurt Messe was built behind an old and grand concert hall which the three-pointed star takes over, creating by far the largest and most amazing stand in the show. It's breathtaking.

What Mercedes will do if the show moves is open to question. According to industry newspaper Automotive News Europe, when the show's contract next comes up for renewal in 2007, other German cities want to steal it. Chief among them is Hannover, and the centrepiece of its argument is that compared to Frankfurt it has three times the exhibition space. They cannot be serious...

The strangest-looking car
Hard to pick this - Peugeot had a weirdity, as did Skoda, then there was the Jetcar, but for me it was a thing called the ai - car speak for "eh?" perhaps?

Silliest name
Could have been Renault's Be-Bop and Be-Bop, a sub-editor's nightmare, but I chose the Fiat Idea, as in it's Fiat's new Idea - no that's what it's called...

Best refreshments
You won't appreciate this unless you're a journalist at Frankfurt, but while everybody had food on their stand, I kept going back to enjoy Mini's assortment of home-cooked burgers, battered prawns, cakes and crushed ice fruit drinks that chilled the throat - just what was needed in the heat of the halls...

Best gratuitous use of female adornment
No contest - Alfa Romeo, Italian style at its best...

Quote of the show
Al Clarke of the SMMT, on hearing that in 2009 the show could become a three-times bigger event in Hannover; "Welcome to the Mercedes stand, otherwise known as Belgium..."