Showbus 2026 has been cancelled, with organiser Dr Martin Isles citing conflict in the Middle East and its potential to impact diesel prices and availability as leading his decision to call off the gathering on Sunday 27 September at the Hertfordshire County Showground.
Dr Isles points to the impact on the 2021 Showbus of difficulties in fuel supply largely caused by a tanker drivers’ strike. He believes that there is potential for similar this year if the Iran war continues for the coming months.
“In all likelihood, we will still be dealing with the impact of the current Middle East conflict in September, either through diesel prices and/or fuel shortages,” says Dr Isles.
As a result, the gathering – which usually attracts hundreds of modern and heritage coaches and buses entered by operators and preservationists – is now expected to be relaunched at the Hertfordshire County Showground on Sunday 26 September 2027.
Dr Isles describes the 2024 and 2025 Showbus events as “unfortunate,” noting how the first of those saw trouble with waterlogging at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre in Quainton.
Last year’s Showbus gathering was cancelled because of access issues at Quainton relating to the HS2 project, with 2026 having been set to mark a return. Instead, “we have decided to wait until 2027 to relaunch Showbus,” says Dr Isles.
The 2022 Showbus had been cited as a finale for the event on its 50th anniversary, with Dr Isles saying at the time that the physical investment in organising the gathering had become too much. After a year off, that decision was reversed, and the rally returned in 2024.
The first Showbus was held in 1973, with a small number of vehicles on the staff car park at Brunel University in Uxbridge. Later venues have includes Woburn Abbey and the Imperial War Museum at Duxford.
A detailed history of the event on the Showbus website notes how sponsorship from many parties within the industry has been a constant of the event. Besides an extensive range of domestic entries over the years, the event has also hosted foreign visitors – including on at least one occasion a left-hand drive Leyland National from the Netherlands.
