To mark the big anniversary of the "50th Essen Motor Show", the S.I.H.A. will be celebrating a small, exquisite anniversary on December 2 to 10, 2017: the Classic & Prestige Salon, which is being held for the 36th time, will now be taking place in the prestigious Hall 1 for the tenth time. Messe Essen is thus illustrating the great importance of the classic car trade fair at the end of the season at the PS Festival in Essen: With more than 250 historic collector's vehicles, many of them prestigious, on offer from around 25 of the most renowned international classic car dealers, the Classic & Prestige Salon is the highlight and crowning final event of the 2017 classic car season.
For many of the expected well over 300,000 visitors to the 50th Essen Motor Show, the classic cars presented in Hall 1 are among the most important reasons to visit the trade fair. On the 8,100 square meters of exhibition space, those interested in classic cars will find the quintessence of the international range from the fields of classic cars, young classics, historic motorsport and classic and prestige automobiles. The Classic & Prestige Salon is more than just a sales show or a foretaste of the next Techno-Classica Essen, the world's largest classic car trade fair, which takes place in the spring of the following year. Rather, the Classic & Prestige Salon has developed into a showcase for the classic car scene and an attractive classic car marketplace at the highest level.
Main attraction: super sports cars from five decades
The spectacular range of classic cars on offer ranges from vintage cars in the seven-figure euro range, such as a Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta or Mercedes Benz 300 SL, to super-maintained youngtimers, such as a BMW 320 convertible from the E 30 or E 36 series in the five-figure euro range. In keeping with the theme of the Essen Motor Show, the majority of the offerings and showpieces consist of classic cars with a strong sporty touch. The main attraction of the Classic & Prestige Salon, the special show by S.I.H.A., will also focus on superlative cars with plenty of horsepower: under the title "50 Years of Super Sports Cars", the organizer will present a dozen of the most spectacular sports cars from 1967/1968 to the present day.
They include:
Aston Martin Vulcan: unveiled in Geneva in 2015, limited to 24 units, it is the most powerful Aston Martin ever built with an 831 hp (611 kW) seven-liter V12 engine.
BMW M1: Produced from 1978 to 1981 in a run of 460 units, it was the fastest German production sports car at the time with a top speed of 262 km/h.
Bugatti Chiron: Built since 2016 with an eight-liter, sixteen-cylinder W engine (1,500 PS, 1,103 kW), the sports car from the VW Group, which is limited to 500 units and limited to 420 km/h by chip, is currently the most powerful road sports car.
Ferrari F40: Originally, only 450 examples of the last road sports car developed under the direction of Enzo Ferrari were to be built from 1987. However, due to the great demand and the resulting hype, Ferrari produced a total of 1,315 units by 1992 - also in order to curb speculative price developments. The most powerful and fastest road-going Ferrari at the time was powered by a three-liter mid-engine V8 with two turbochargers, which produced 478 hp (352 kW) and accelerated the two-seater, which was partly made of carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic, to 321 km/h.
Ford GT40: Built in 134 units from 1964 to 1968, the road-going version was powered by 4.7-liter V8 engines of varying strengths - only around ten units are said to have been sold for road use. The racing versions with seven-liter engines and speeds of up to 320 km/h caused a sensation, particularly with their victories at Le Mans in 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969.
Jaguar XJ 220: Built from 1992 to 1994 in a run of 275 units, it was intended to rival the Ferrari F40 and the Porsche 959 with its 549 hp (404 kW) V6 biturbo engine from TWR with a displacement of 3.5 liters and a top speed of 342 km/h.
Lamborghini Miura P400 SV: Produced from 1971 as the most powerful variant of the Miura, which was built from 1966 to 1973 in a production run of 150 units, it reached a top speed of 295 km/h with a 385 hp (283 kW) four-liter V12 mid-engine.
Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss: produced in 2009 as the last variant of the SLR 722 in 75 units without a roof and without a windshield, it reached a top speed of around 330 km/h with its 650 hp (478 kW) supercharged V8.
Mc Laren P1: Produced from 2013 to 2015 in a run of 375 units, its 3.8-liter V8 biturbo engine delivers 737 hp (542 kW), while the hybrid vehicle's electric motor delivers an additional 179 hp (132 kW) - resulting in 916 hp (674 kW) and acceleration of 2.8 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h as well as a top speed of (electronically limited) 350 km/h
Maserati MC 12: Technically closely related to the Ferrari Enzo Ferrari, the Maserati Corsa, produced in 2004 and 2005 in a run of 50 units, has a top speed of 345 km/h thanks to its 632 hp (555 kW) six-liter V12 mid-engine.
Porsche 959: With a top speed of 317 km/h, the rear-engined sports car, a total of 292 units of which were produced between 1986 and 1988, was the fastest production car in the world at the beginning of its production period. The power source of the two-seater, which was equipped with electronically controlled all-wheel drive, was a 2.9-liter six-cylinder boxer engine with 450 hp (331 kW) with turbocharging.
Pagani Zonda Uno: Built in 2010 as a one-off based on the Zonda C12 F, which was limited to 12 units and commissioned by a member of the royal family of Qatar with a turquoise paint finish, the two-seater equipped with a 602 hp (443 kW) 7.3-liter V12 engine from AMG has a top speed of over 345 km/h.
Everything about classic cars - from spare parts, literature and accessories to art
Exhibitors and visitors to the Classic & Prestige Salon will not notice any signs of the modernization conversions at Messe Essen - classic car clubs, suppliers of classic car spare parts, accessories, classic car literature, classic model cars and car art will continue to present their offerings. In total, there will be around 120 exhibitors dedicated to classic cars and collectors' vehicles.
One of the cherished traditions of the Classic & Prestige Salon this year is once again a Concours d'Elégance: To give classic car dealers an additional incentive to bring only the best of the best from their range to Essen, a jury of internationally renowned classic car experts will select the most beautiful, best restored and most elegant classic car from the dealer range as the "Best of Show".
Further information can be found on the website.
