A modern motor show is not exactly the Mecca for classic car enthusiasts. The 2013 event was particularly bad, with not even a dozen classic cars on display. The 84th International Motor Show in 2014 made up for this low point of the previous year twice over.
Le Mans heroes in the spotlight
In a special exhibition in collaboration with the ACO (Automobile Club de l'Ouest), which organizes the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and with the support of Rolex, the official timekeeper, twenty vehicles that have shaped the history of what is still the most important car race in the world will be on display.
Among the exhibits on display are cars from the early Le Mans races, including a Bentley Speed-Six, two Chenard & Walcker and an Alfa Romeo 8C.
The era of the fifties is celebrated with the Jaguar D-Type and two Ferrari sports cars (166 MM and 250 TR).
The sixties and seventies are represented by the victorious Ford GT 40, the unforgettable Porsche 917 K and the two French Matra 670 B and Alpine Renault A 442, while a Rondeau M379, the Sauber-Mercedes C9, the Jaguar XJR9, the Mazda 787B with Wankel engine and the Peugeot 905 lead towards the modern era, which is documented with the last Porsche GT 1 winner from 1998, two Audis (R8, R18 e-tron) and a Peugeot 908.
Racing car exhibitions have a long tradition at the Geneva Motor Show, and it is great to see this continuing in 2014.
Old racing cars as a center of attraction
Several manufacturers are using the charisma of old racing cars to draw attention to their new car range in 2014. McLaren, for example, is putting the M7A Formula 1 monoposto from 1969 on the stand. The attractive single-seater with high-slung wings in orange also attracts a lot of attention. You could almost look past the newly presented 650 S at the stand due to the visible technology and sheer dynamism.
Alfa Romeo shows the RL Targa Florio from 1923 from the factory museum at the presentation of the open-top 4C.
Abarth uses the popularity of the midget 695 SS from the 1960s to draw attention to the newly launched Neo model. Incidentally, the 695 SS was shown for the first time exactly 50 years ago at the 1964 Geneva Motor Show .
At Mitsubishi, we unexpectedly come across the 1974 Lancer, which won the Safari Rally twice (1974 and 1976) with Joginder Singh at the wheel and 160 hp under the hood.
Honda also uses the charm of old racing cars and shows the first Formula 1 car that was used in 1964. With the Honda RA271, the Japanese tried to arrange the mass as centrally as possible and therefore installed the V12 engine transversely, which resulted in a relatively wide monocoque. The car was actually supposed to start in gold, but the FIA had already assigned this color to the South Africans and so the Honda Formula 1 had to start the race in white.
Attractive cars from past decades will also be on display at the joint TCS/Lignières Historique stand, where four classics, including two racing cars, will be on show. With the Alfa Romeo 1900 Super Sprint, the Tecno F2 from 1970 and the AC Cobra and Aston Martin 15-98 Open Tourer road cars, the Lignières Historique event is certainly attracting attention.
Ancestors as appetizers
It is not only racing classics that attract the attention of the 700,000 visitors currently expected at the Geneva Motor Show, but also road vehicles from years gone by.
While Volvo hides the P 1800 ES Snow White coffin behind glass, Audi makes no secret of the fact that the new RS 4 would like to benefit from the enduring popularity of the first RS 2, then still built by Porsche. It's nice that both cars are shown in the rare color "Nogaro blue".
On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the MX-5, Mazda is showing the entire, albeit short, ancestral gallery with a green Mk 1 and a silver Mk 2. However, the earlier models are to be put away again after the press days, as was reported.
Ruf is showing the brute RCT based on the 964 Turbo, Brabus is exhibiting two Mercedes classics from the sixties and Motor-Presse Stuttgart is using Paul Pietsch's private car, a Porsche 911 Turbo 3.0 from 1976, as its flagship.
Touring Superleggera shows the current Disco Volante together with its perhaps even more elegant predecessor from 1952.
The Ermini brand has been resurrected and, in addition to the current 686 model (seiottosei), has put one of the almost two dozen sports cars built in the 1950s on the stand, a 357 Sport from 1955.
Classics on video walls and posters
If you don't have any classics on the stand, you can at least show them on video walls and posters.
In the background of the presentation of the new MaseratiAlfieri concept caris an early Maserati sports car, namely the Maserati A6GCS from 1954, whose lines set the style for the current design.
And other vehicle manufacturers, such as Renault, also like to quote their own cars of the past.
The oldest classic in the underground
Probably unnoticed by many, the oldest classic car at this year's motor show is leading a somewhat shadowy existence in the underground. It is the Pic-Pic from 1914, a car from the Piccard-Pictet company, or Pic-Pic for short, which presented vehicles in Switzerland from 1910 to 1924. Bertrand Piccard, who wants to travel around the world in his solar-powered airplane, and representatives of the Pictet company were personally present at the presentation on Tuesday.
