1953: Eight years after the end of the Second World War, the world looks to the future - Joseph Stalin dies, Tito becomes President of Yugoslavia and Elizabeth II is appointed Queen of Great Britain. The "GDR" declares 1953 the "Karl Marx Year" and experiences the largest popular uprising in its young history on June 17. Eisenhower becomes the 34th US president, the Korean War ends, while the Soviet Union detonates its first hydrogen bomb. The New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary conquers the 8848 meter high Mount Everest, Alberto Ascari becomes Formula 1 world champion and 1. FC Kaiserslautern becomes German soccer champion.
And what about the automobile? In 1953, Germany breaks the million mark, with around 1.13 million cars registered in the Federal Republic, which is only four years old, at the start of the economic miracle.
Opel presents the "Olympia Rekord", BMW introduces the "Isetta", while Mercedes-Benz heralds the departure from pre-war baroque design with its "Ponton" 180 model.
In general, design trends and the taste of the "New World" USA set the tone in the "Old World", and this also applies above all to the automobile.
And: Messerschmitt Kabinenroller-style scooters are booming and manifest the incipient transition of Germans from motorcycles to automobiles.
Memories of the year 1953
At Retro Classics Stuttgart, delicacies on two and four wheels will be presented, all of them "guests" of the 70th anniversary of the 1953 automobile vintage, including, for example, a Heinkel Tourist scooter, an NSU Ur-Quickly and a Mercedes-Benz 170 S.
We continue with a Bautz AS 120 tractor, an Opel Kapitän, which beautifully demonstrates how US design found its way into Europe, and a DKW RT 200 H.
Other highlights among the "guests" are a French Ford Comète V8 with an elegant coupé body by Facel Métallon (later active with its own vehicles under the "Facel Vega" brand) and a British car in the form of an Austin A 40 Sommerset Drophead Coupé.
The "birthday guests" of the 1953 vintage will be on display in Hall 3 from February 23 to 26, 2023, along with other surprises.
Further information about Retro Classics Stuttgart can be found on the event website.
