33th Edition

On 12 April, the 33rd edition of Techno-Classica Essen opened its doors. This year too, the organisers did everything they could to attract the car and more specifically the classic car enthusiast to Essen. The great variety of vehicles and memorabilia on offer certainly helps in this regard. Whether you are looking for a pre-war, a race car, a vintage truck, a motorbike, parts or books. It’s all there and in abundance. If you’re looking for info on your favourite brand, with over 200 clubs attending, you’re also sure to find your answers.

The classic car sector is actually still doing very well. In fact, it stands in shrill contrast to regular car shows. When writing this article, I just heard that the Brussels car show in 2024 will not take place because of too little interest by the brands. At classic car shows it is simply drumming, so many people are often there. So the saying ‘The Future is Classic’ seems to hold some truth after all.

The torch is passed on

Perhaps this is why classic car events and shows do so well. After all, the variety on display is extremely wide and the technology commands respect. Hopefully it can stay that way for a long time. As a matter of fact, things are looking pretty good in that respect as we see that young people are also paying due attention to the classic car heritage.

As always, the selection was very varied, although, as at Retromobile, you do notice some chauvinism. In Paris, for instance, you invariably see more French brands where here the German brands carry more weight.

Anniversaries

Anniversaries always do well and this edition was no different. let’s run through the list of what was celebrating.

● 100 years of MG
● 75 years of Porsche
● 75 years of Citroën 2CV – the Duck
● 70 years of Corvette
● 60 years of Mercedes-Benz 600
● 60 years of Mercedes-Benz 230 SL Pagoda
● 60 years of Lamborghini (S.I.H.A. special exhibition)
● 50 years of BMW 2002 turbo
● 50 years of Volkswagen Passat

Some anniversaries are bound to stand out a bit more than others. Not that I have anything against the VW Passat, but I don’t think it will attract as many people as, say, 60 years of Lamborghini.

60 years of Lamborghini

The centre court in Hall 5 was reserved for the birthday of Lamborghini. Just about every model the brand has made was on display. While the car division was founded in 1963, the Lamborghini brand started building tractors in 1949. A group of tractors was on display at another place in the fair premises.

60 years of Mercedes-Benz 600

The Lamborghinis stood out the most thanks to their place of honour. However, Mercedes also had a strikingly beautiful display of their Mercedes-Benz 600, showing, among other things, the last Mercedes 600 produced, which they literally highlighted. The 600 was an imposing sight and in Pullman trim, it even put up a length of 6.24 metres.

Show & Sales

Techno-Classica is one of the larger indoor classic car fairs. More than 1,100 exhibitors and over 200 clubs were attending. In total, there were more than 2,700 vehicles for sale. And a lot of them were sold, as we could clearly see from the many signs with ‘verkauft’ on them.

Best of Show

Every Techno-Classica show presents numerous awards and prizes. Every year, for instance, there is a ‘Best of show’. This year, it went to the Spanish Pegaso Z102, a car we have come across before. So be sure to check out our report on Pegaso.

At many classic car shows, they have widened the offer by also admitting youngtimers. Sometimes I feel they go too far because cars that are barely ten years old do not really belong at a classic car event. But that’s just my personal feeling about it, on the other hand, it helps them attract a wider audience.

There are places provided where individuals can stand with their car to sell it. This ranges from a simple 2CV to a Maybach. You can really find something for sale in every price category.

BMW 2002 Turbo

The BMW 2002 Turbo may also blow out 50 candles this year. Connoisseurs describe the 2002 Turbo as one of the most radical cars of the time. A displacement of 2 litres, a KKK turbo, 168 hp and a weight of barely 1038 kgr made this BMW extremely fast for its time. It is currently one of the more valuable BMWs.

Also always interesting to see is people practising crafts as you can see here with these sheet metal workers. This knowledge should also not be lost because where you just order a new wing for a modern car, it is often custom-made for old cars.

Car clubs

Earlier we mentioned that over 200 clubs were attending Techno-Classica Essen this year. And even among the clubs there are competitions. This is often about originality, and this year the Opel Commodore B Club of Germany went first prize.

Museums

Museums also use popular classic car events to raise their profile. That is how we saw this beautiful Maserati 250F on loan from the Turin car museum. It was said to be the one that Juan Manuel Fangio won the 1957 F1 world championship with.

Restoration

Restoration companies are also always on hand. Some try to preserve the original character of the car as much as possible while others often make the car better than when it left the factory. Others specialise in one segment, e.g. engine overhaul. Plenty of choice and they all seem to do a good job.

In Essen every year there are also a number of exhibitors with classic bikes only. We may not look at it as much but this too appears to be a growing market. Recently, Taschen released a nice book about it, which we briefly reviewed.

Memorabilia & books

As at most classic car events, there are plenty of stands with memorabilia, books, model cars and parts. Techno-Classica Essen is no different in that respect. In fact, I would argue the opposite because that selection is also considerably large here.

Conclusion

Techno-Classica Essen is always the closing event of the indoor season and at the time of writing we are already well into spring and Spa-Classic is even already behind us. However, Techno-Classica Essen is more than worth a visit. It is one of the bigger indoor events in Europe together with Retromobile. We will be present again next year. Perhaps you should take a look in your diary and note down 3 to 7 April 2024 already. You won’t regret it.