Techno Classica is almost upon us and the 120,000 square metres of exhibition space are fully booked. We’ve spoken to the manufacturers and dealers to discover the highlights of the 27th edition of the world-famous classic trade fair…
From 15 to 19 April 2015, the world’s passion for classic cars, motorcycles and collectables again focuses on Essen, in Germany. More than 1,250 exhibitors are booked, while the organisers themselves are presenting an exhibition of historic racing cars from the late 1920s, all of which took part in the legendary Tourist Trophy in Ireland. At the time, this road race (held from 1905 to 1936) counted as part of the World Sportscar Championship. Models ranging from Alfa Romeo and Alvis, Austin, Bentley and Bugatti, to Mercedes-Benz, OM and Riley are expected at the exhibition in Hall 6.
Important birthdays and young classics
Every year, manufacturers celebrate the anniversaries of important milestones in their model histories. This year, Ford will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the GT40’s Le Mans win in Hall 3, while Jaguar’s 80th year is cause for much rejoicing, including a small excerpt from the Jaguar story in the form of an SS1 ‘closed coupé’ from 1935, a 1975 Jaguar XJ-S V12, and an XK8 from the 1995 ‘X100’ series.
Speaking of younger classics, the 27th Techno Classica places many in the spotlight. Take BMW in Hall 12; here, a whole portfolio of ‘youngtimers’ is helping to mark the 30th anniversary of the BMW M3 – from the 6 Series Coupé to the Z1. And, as it happens, this year is the 90th birthday of the Rolls-Royce Phantom. Meanwhile, in Hall 7, the VW Group will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of his engineering miracle that was the Porsche 959. The all-wheel-drive sports car from Zuffenhausen will be joined by a Carrera GT from the Porsche Museum and a 918 Spyder. But hold the headlines: in Hall 1, Mercedes-Benz will exhibit the 1955 Mille Miglia-winning 300 SLR, not to mention the reborn 1938 540K Streamliner.
A touch of motorsport from Coys
On the afternoon of Saturday 18 April, the annual Techno Classica Coys auction will take place, with the usual selection of athletic motorsport offerings that tends to be heavily Porsche-centric. One example is the 1992 Porsche 911RS in white, shown here, which was unfortunately upgraded to 3.8 RS spec during its career… but apart from that promises a clean history.
There’s also a 959 on sale, a 1988 example of the supercar that was recently running on Italian roads and has 75,000km on its odometer, Coys tells us. From the previous decade comes this redMaserati Ghibli Spyder 4.9SS, built in 1971. The Maserati counterpart to the Ferrari Daytona, this specimen comes to Coys with a relatively affordable price tag of just 250,000 to 300,000 euros.
Highlights from the dealers
As well as the auction, traders and private sellers provide a richly laid table in the market area of the fair. With a large booth in Hall 11, E. Thiesen is not only well represented in Essen but will also be presenting almost 50 classics. These include a beautiful, dark blue 1959 BMW 503 Cabriolet Series I with Italian history and, also with rich blue paintwork, a 1967 Ferrari 330 GT with beige leather interior and well-documented mileage. And you can’t miss the legends of motorsport that Jan B. Lühn is serving up on its stand in Hall 1, including (as we discuss in an interview with the man himself) a 1968 Ford GT40 with Le Mans history, a 1973 Porsche 2.8 RSR factory racer and an original Lancia Delta Integrale with Works history. Early 911s (Hall 3) brings not just theunique retractable roof Porsche, but also an orange Porsche 356 Speedster with a certain ‘special something’.
Also in Hall 3, thanks to Jochen70 , there are two great classics formerly owned by Formula 1 driver Jochen Rindt: a 1967 Porsche 911 S and the Brabham F2 BT23-5 with which Rindt took first place nine times in the 1967 season.
You can find further information about Techno Classica at www.siha.de.
