The 55th edition of the Essen Motor Show took place at the Gruga exhibition grounds in the first few days of December. The organizer reported over 200,000 visitors. The traditional "Classic and Prestige Salon" was also part of this for the 41st time in two halls covering 17,000 square meters. The EMS therefore once again consisted of a mixture of classic vehicles and a predominantly different section with the themes of motorsport, accessories and, above all, "tuning and lifestyle". There were also two special shows. Nine vehicles from the legendary "Jägermeister team" were on display around the "Palais" of the organizer SIHA. Another special exhibition focused on the 75th anniversary of the US motorsport association NASCAR. In the following, the focus will be on the classic cars that were shown in Halls 1 and 2.
Special shows and special models
Let's start with the special shows. When it comes to orange-colored racing (sports) cars, readers with an interest in automobiles will not primarily think of Dutch national teams, but rather of the herbal liqueur manufacturer Jägermeister. This company has been using orange racing cars with the Hubertus stag for advertising purposes since 1972. The show began with a Porsche 914/6 GT and a replica of a BMW 3.0 CSL. Niki Lauda, James Hunt and Jacky Ickx, among others, were once successful with the original. The presentation was complemented by a Ford "Kleint" Capri RS 2600 and a Volkswagen Golf Rallye from 1975. A BMW 320 Group 5 and a BMW M3 "Sport Evolution" from 1991 were also on display, as well as the Porsche 935 and 962. An Opel Astra V8 DTM from 2000 brought up the rear, the year in which Jägermeister ended its involvement in motor racing.
The second special show in Hall 3 provided an insight into the American NASCAR series, which has now been in existence for 75 years. Here is a small selection of the 16 vehicles on display: Two cars were contributed by the National Automobile Museum Loh: the Dodge Avenger IROC, which was used successfully from 1984 to 1995, and Jeff Gordon's Chevrolet Monte Carlo. This car was nicknamed the "rainbow warrior" because of its paintwork. The replica of the Olympia Beer Dodge Charger, which took part in the 2006 Le Mans Classic, was also on display. Finally, Matt Kenseth's 2010 Ford Fusion and the only Ford ever driven by the "King" and long-time Plymouth driver Richard Petty: the Torino Cobra from the 1969 season.
The example of the Mercedes-Benz brand can be used to demonstrate many variations of the vehicles shown at the event. So let's move on to the "Mercedes-Fan World", whereby this association may be representative of the clubs and IGs that were unfortunately again poorly represented. On the one hand, there was the fully standard Mercedes-Benz 560 SL (R 107), which is available for three months to the winner of a young talent competition organized by the R/C 107 SL Club. In the neighborhood was another R 107 from 1983, which is, however, electrically powered. This also applies to a T-model from the S 124 series, which was fitted with a Tesla Model S (!) drive system. The extreme conversions of the 1980s were represented by two examples created in the SGS Styling Garage: a Mercedes-Benz 500 SEC (C126) as a convertible and a 500 SEC "Gullwing" from the same model series with gullwing doors.
These were joined by a 350 SL from 1979 with air suspension. Those who found this too extreme could enjoy a standard, almandine-red Mercedes-Benz E 200 convertible (with matching hardtop). A very recent Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series (2021) was also on display. And once again the color orange, but now in a different context: a Mercedes-AMG GT-R (2022) from the fleet of the Dutch royal family was of course painted in the national color. The "piece of gold" rescued from a scrapyard in the USA, the Mercedes-Benz E 400 project car, was also back with the "Mercedes fans". It has since been given a new interior, and the owner assured us that there are only minor things to be done before next summer
Classic and movie cars
Now let's take a look at the range of classic cars on offer, starting in the "brass era". An Opel A from 1931 went for 26,980 euros, but a Citroën 5 HP C3 was even older. The 100-year-old cabriolet was expected to cost 24,700 euros. All in all, however, pre-war vehicles were also rare this year, and the range of British and Italian cars on offer was also not plentiful. Nevertheless, an Alfa Romeo Montreal was offered for 105,000 euros.
Audi and especially BMW vehicles, on the other hand, were on offer in abundance. There were significantly more Japanese cars on display than in the past, and not only on the so-called "Japan Mile". Speaking of the Far East: this year, stands from Chinese manufacturers were still somewhat peripheral at the "Galeria". However, this is likely to change soon.
In the €20,000 price range, the selection was much larger. For example, a Fiat Coupé (1998) was available for €19,500, a Mercedes-Benz CL (1997) for €19,999, a Mercedes-Benz SL 500 (2002) for €17,500 and a Smart Crossblade from 2003 for €22,480. For around twice as much, you could have chosen between a Peugeot 404 Coupé (40,404 euros) or a Fisker Karma (39,500 euros). A vanilla yellow Artega GT from 2009 for 79,900 euros was certainly also interesting.
At the upper end of the price scale, there was a Brabus 820 - a Porsche 911 Turbo Cabrio modified by Brabus - for €415,406.30 or an Audi Sport Quattro E2 for €499,999. Which brings us to the company "Soujon Supercars", which also offered a Ford GT and a Pagani Huayra GT alongside other rarities. A large area was again used by JB Car Design, which offered "rebuilt" Porsche 911s in addition to some somewhat martial-looking Dodge Rams.
Movie cars were also on show, especially from "Chrome Cars", which presented several cars from the "Fast and Furious" series. New products were also presented in Essen, such as the Lamborghini SC 63 hybrid racing car. On the other hand, a few cars had already been offered at the last EMS. For example, the Borgward Arabella de Luxe from 1962, which was offered at around 30 percent less than last year. Finally, it would also be interesting to see whether the replica of a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL based on an SLK for almost €200,000 has found a buyer.
What else caught the eye: Students from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Ruhr University Bochum exhibited racing cars they had designed themselves for the "Formula Student" at their stand. The Sinsheim and Speyer Technology Museums drew attention to their future special exhibition "Fascination Tuning - VW vs. Opel" - with two completely standard Opel Kadett GT/E and VW Golf GTI.
Tuning and lifestyle
Which finally leads to the topic of tuning, which cannot be the focus here. Among other things, JP Performance exhibited a spectacular Volkswagen "G3 V10" and an Audi Sport Quattro, painted in the Porsche color "Meissenblau". Needless to say, there were extensive discussions about all of this on the Internet. Sidney Hoffmann's Porsche 911 Carrera 2 RWB "Furusato" was on display - albeit at a model car dealer, where visitors were able to take the corresponding 1:18 scale miniature home with them.
Around 150 tuned private vehicles were then exhibited in Hall 5, including a number of vintage and classic cars and, increasingly, electric cars. Even though this hall had a special attraction for many visitors, only the pictures should speak for themselves at this point.
The author has been visiting the EMS for decades now, so comparisons should be admissible. When looking at the pictures from ten years ago, the differences of this event become clear. The major manufacturers have now withdrawn and there are no longer as many accessories being dragged away by visitors as there used to be. Furthermore, the range of old and youngtimers was probably broader back then. Back then, there was a Ro 80, a Mini Moke, plenty of Alfa Romeos and even a Nissan S-Cargo on offer. Today, the few remaining trade fair models seem like a relic from the past. Instead, the theme of "tuning and lifestyle" - as celebrated in Hall 5 - has clearly taken center stage. We can only hope that the "Classic and Prestige Salon" will continue to exist for a long time to come.
