22nd TECHNO-CLASSICA ESSEN 2010

Malgré la crise, le salon regorge de voitures et de potentiels acheteurs...

En quelques mots :

• Le plus grand salon dédié au Classic Cars

• Plus de 12 palais, remplis pour couvrir une surface de plus de 110,000 metres carré

• Plus de 2500 voitures à vendre

• Plus de 170.000 visiteurs attendus de plus de 40 pays différents !

Nous nous y sommes rendus ce jeudi 8 avril en compagnie de quelques amis belges et avons pu y prendre quelques photos que nous vous livrons ci-après.

Le salon est en effet un must pour tout passionné car il pourra y découvrir tous les modèles et toutes versions possibles et imaginables de la voiture de ses rêves ! Une chose nous a tous surpris: le prix ! En effet, les différents visiteurs nous ont tous signalé une impression d'augmentation des prix des voitures. à suivre donc !

Pour le reste, à part une nourriture "locale", les halls se visitent aisément, les voitures étant relativement nombreuses le visiteur ne sera pas surpris de les voir serrées les unes contre les autres !

Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda entre autre font par contre une place belle à la mise en valeur de leur patrimoine, en privilégiant aspect historique, découverte des modèles pas rapport aux revendeurs professionnels qui privilégient surtout le nombre de voitures en présentation au m2 !

Notons que nous avons eu la chance de pouvoir voir, de près la splendide Mercedes 540K de 1938, à vendre à plus de 6 millions d'Euros. voiture invisible au grand public, cachée derrière des vitres teintées sur le stand Mercedes !

A part les voitures, les habituels accessoires et objets ont une part belle dans le salon pour ravir tout le monde. Voici quelques photos retraçant l'exposition et également un petit descriptif en anglais en provenance de l'organisateur !

• Mercedes-Benz will be taking a look back over its sporting past and showing that the brand with the star has always built fascinating, out-of-the-ordinary high-performance cars. The Stuttgart-based company is taking the launch of the new SLS as an opportunity to present super sports cars from the last 100 years or so. Beginning with the Mercedes simplex from 1902 to the SSK, the 300 SL, right up to the C 111 and the SLR McLaren - these fascinating dream cars testify to the noble ancestry of the new SLS. The huge Mercedes-Benz stand in hall 1 will also present current offerings from the young classics range, showcase the work of the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center, and inform visitors about the well-assorted range of spare parts available for Mercedes-Benz classic cars. And Mercedes-Benz will be giving the recognised German and some international Mercedes-Benz clubs the opportunity to present themselves and their services to a wide public.

• In hall 12 BMW will be celebrating the BMW 328's success in the 1940 Mille Miglia: 70 years ago Hanstein/Bäumer drove the legendary BMW 328 touring coupé to victory in the famous road race. BMW will also be presenting highlights from the history of the Mini to demonstrate the variety of different models - also with a view to the group's New Mini. The works presentation, which will also highlight the efficient spare parts system, will be suitably framed by the clubs and their various offerings. BMW are also planning a memorial exhibition to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Georg "Schorsch" Meier, the famous German racing driver who died in 1999. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the BMW G/S, the first multiple-cylinder Enduro motorbike, and the 25th anniversary of the BMW M3.

• As in previous years, the Volkswagen Group will be taking over a large part of hall 7. This year's presentation will remind visitors that SUVs, fun cars and crossover vehicles - from the 181 to the Touareg II, which is being rolled out in the spring - are rooted in a tradition that goes back 40 years. On display will be the last production VW 181, as well as a VW Tarek, a VW Golf Country (which, incidentally, is celebrating its 20th anniversary), a VW Dune Buggy, and a VW Iltis - which won the Paris Dakar no less than 30 years ago, in 1980. A further focus will be provided by the 1st International K70 Club, with two VW K70s owned by club members: It was 40 years ago that the NSU-developed car came on the market.

• The museum run by the Volkswagen AutoMuseum Foundation will be exhibiting two cars to mark 75 years of the Volkswagen Beetle: a VW 3 replica of the 1935 original and the "50 Years of the Beetle" anniversary car from 1985. An eye-catcher from the VW Classic Parts division is the 1952 "pretzel-window" Beetle, known affectionately as the "pea" because of its green colour. Two Beetle fans entered last year's Panamericana in this car.
For VW it's very important that all the divisions - Volkswagen Classic, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, and Vintage Cars and AutoMuseum/Classic Parts Center - should share one common design to show that they are all part of the Volkswagen family.

• The Autostadt in Wolfsburg, with the ZeitHaus, a museum that includes all the marques that go to make up the VW Group, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and points out that, with more than 2.2 million visitors in 2009 alone, it is the most-visited automobile experience in the world. With 11 fascinating cars, all based on the Beetle chassis, the Zeithaus will be showing how special bodies changed the face of the Beetle. The rarities include, for example, a Rometsch Beeskow cabriolet and coupé, a Beutler special cabriolet, a Volkswagen 14A Hebmüller cabriolet, a VW Denzel sport, and further little-known highlights from Volkswagen's history.

• Audi, which also belongs to the VW Group, will be celebrating "30 years of the quattro" at TECHNO-CLASSICA. The Ingolstadt-based company is presenting five cars fitted with the permanent four-wheel drive: the 1980 urquattro, the 1987 Audi coupé quattro, the 1993 Audi RS2, the 1995 Audi S2 coupé and the Audi V8 DTM. The latter is celebrating its 20th anniversary: It was in this four-wheel drive V8 that Hans-Joachim Stuck brought the exciting season to a close with a victory in the last race of the 1990 German Touring Car Championship. The 700 square meter stand in hall 7 also houses the Audi museum mobile, the Audi Club International (ACI), the umbrella organisation for all Audi clubs, as well as all the clubs for the predecessor makes.

• "Sporting Škoda" - under this motto the Škoda stand will be exuding the flair of the Rallye Monte Carlo and the AvD-Histo-Monte. It was 40 years ago that the Škoda 110R was presented which formed the basis for the 130 RS, the successful sports car. The Czechs will have seven or eight vehicles on show, including the 110R which Matthias Kahle and Peter Göbel are entering in the AvD-Histo-Monte and which is coming directly from Monte Carlo to Essen, and also a rare Popular Sport Monte Carlo coupé from the works museum in Mladá Boleslav.

• At their stand, Porsche will be celebrating their first Le Mans victory 40 years ago, when Hans Herrmann and Dick Attwood triumphed over the rest of the field in their 917. The Zuffenhausen-based sports car makers will be showing the 911 GT1 98, in which the Porsche works team took their 16th overall win in Le Mans in 1998, coming in first and second - almost 50 years to the day after construction of the first Porsche sports car was completed. The Porsche clubs will also be on hand to inform visitors, and there will be a restoration project in progress from the factory.

• Ford is again to be found in hall 3 with a Ford club stand - the focus this year will be on the anniversaries of the P3, nicknamed the "bathtub" (50 years), and the Kundsen Taunus (40 years).

• 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of the Alfa Romeo marque - a good reason for the Italians to put on a large special exhibition. Organised by the works museum in Milan, Alfa Romeo will be showing an impressive cross-section from 100 years of the company's history. The details are still being kept under wraps, but the firm is sure to be presenting a whole raft of automotive treats for visitors' delectation.

• Citroën will be presenting the new DS 3 alongside its historic counterparts, but is keeping mum about further highlights. On the "Citroen Street" set up by the clubs, the focus will be on the 40th anniversaries of the Citroen SM and the Citro?n GS.

• Volvo will be putting on a very special show this year: 75 years of the Volvo PV 36 Carioca - a streamlined design that was named after a Brazilian dance that was fashionable at the time. The Swedes will be exhibiting three of these cars, of which only 400 were built in all.

Other carmakers such as Ferrari, Bentley, Bugatti and Seat are not yet divulging any details as to what their stands will hold in store for TECHNO-CLASSICA visitors.

Organisers:
S.I.H.A. Ausstellungen Promotion GmbH
Banker Straße 14
D-52118 Herzogenrath
Tel.: ++49(0)24 07-173 00, Fax: ++49(0)24 07-177 11,
E-Mail: info@siha.de, Internet: www.siha.de