Eight theme halls for classic and historic car fans / 125 Years of Bosch / Special show on “Dino” cars and vehicles with a Wankel engine / Auction of rarities

First the good news. Now in its 11th year, Retro Classics is booked up for the third time at the Stuttgart Trade Fair Centre. Expressed in figures, the exhibition will occupy eight halls with an area of around 100,000 square metres. According to the project managers, this anniversary event is expected to attract a record number of more than 1,300 exhibitors, including some new commercial companies and a substantial number from abroad. The constantly high level is the result of good business and a correspondingly high level of satisfaction among exhibitors. In 2010 more than 60,000 classic and historic car enthusiasts attended Retro Classics. Messe Stuttgart will do everything in its power to not only attain this figure this year, but also surpass it if possible.

Retro Classics will stick to the proven concept of “theme halls” and present famous and not so well-known classic models from automobile history to the general public. During the last few years the vehicle exhibition in Stuttgart has become one of the highlights and must-attend events for the international historic and classic car scene. Special features will be emphasised in each of the eight exhibition halls, i.e. all over the trade fairgrounds. From pre-war automobiles, young-at-heart youngtimers and legendary racing cars through to classic cars of the future, the exhibition programme of Retro Classics will contain something spectacular for every classic car aficionado and every motorsports enthusiast. Visitors will be able to see a total of more than 3,000 vehicles at the Stuttgart Trade Fair Centre.

Lankes auction at the East Entrance of Stuttgart Trade Fair Centre
Visitors will be rewarded with an extraordinary treat at the East Entrance of the Stuttgart Trade Fair Centre. The Lankes Auction House will exhibit in the atrium rare pre-war vehicles, historic racing cars, automobilia, spare parts and accessories which will come under the hammer there on the auction stage on Saturday, 12 March 2011. Lankes staged its first auction at Retro Classics in March 2010. According to the company, it sold around 35 per cent of the lots to enthusiasts and collectors.

The highlights in Hall 1 (area: 20,000 square metres) will include leading automobile manufacturers, automotive component suppliers, international premium dealers such as Mirbach and worldwide renowned restorers such as Kienle Automobiltechnik and FRG Mechatronik. Daimler AG, including the Mercedes Classic Centre, “Meilenwerk” in Böblingen or Aston Martin and Jaguar will also stage impressive presentations together with different automobile tradition departments, for example Bosch Automotive Tradition, in Hall 1.


Growing interest in “Neo Classics”
Other leading dealers and restoration garages will set up their first-class stands in Halls 1 and 3. Porsche and the BMW Group, for example, will display their gems in Hall 3. Visitors to Hall 3 will also be able to see outstanding examples of “Neo Classics” which are becoming increasingly more popular. According to a visitor survey conducted at Retro Classics in 2010, 11 per cent of respondents were interested in this segment. Since the move to the New Stuttgart Trade Fair Centre in 2008, “Neo Classics” has established itself as a separate exhibition segment under the umbrella of Retro Classics. This segment includes modern luxury sedan cars, special edition cars and sports cars which are now already regarded as classic cars on account of their low unit numbers. It is obvious that striking one-off items from Relux, Lorinser and Pagani, for example, will play an important role in this respect.

Motorsports Hall 4 with special show on BMW motorcycles
The premiere of the Motorsports Hall in spring 2009 won the hearts of visitors straightaway. As an outstanding top event, Hall 4 will therefore again be devoted specially to motorsports under the name “Solitude Myth”. On an area of 10,000 square metres fans will find all conceivable sports cars, classic motorcycles and companies which specialise in veteran rallies. The worldwide promotion campaign “Automobile Summer 2011” commemorating the 125th anniversary of the invention of the automobile will naturally play an important role in this case under the regional focal point “Solitude Revival”. The exhibitors in the two-wheel show, the area of which has been doubled to 4,000 square metres, will include the Hockenheim Ring, BMW with a special motorcycle area (350 square metres) and many other marques.

Special show with “Dino” vehicles
The exclusive “Dino Show” in the “Motorsports Hall (Hall 4) will be a real highlight at Retro Classics 2011. When Alfredo Ferrari was born on 26 March 1932 as the son of Enzo and Laura Ferrari, nobody suspected that this would be the origin of the “Dino” myth. “Dino” Ferrari studied engineering in Modena and wrote his degree dissertation on the construction of sports cars. Together with Chief Designer Vittorio Jano he planned the unusual – for Ferrari - concept of a V6 engine. Before Alfredo “Dino” Ferrari died aged just 24 in 1956 from kidney failure, he had put the V6 series on the road to success. The famous 156 ran for the first time in November 1956, just five months after Dino’s death. To ensure that his son would never be forgotten, Enzo Ferrari called all models containing a V6 engine “Dino”. The Fiat and Lancia models with the same V6 engine were also named Dino while Ferrari created a separate automobile marque from them in memory of his son. There were separate workshop signs and illuminated advertising signs, and only selected dealers were authorised to sell and maintain Dino 246.


“125 Years of Bosch“ and Solitude Revival during the Automobile Summer 2011
To celebrate the company’s anniversary “125 Years of Bosch”, the special show entitled “Bosch Motorsports” with many vehicles will be a real thrill in the Motorsports Hall 4. Another of the focal points will be motor racing which will be represented, for example, by historical and current cars from the German Touring Car Championship (DTM).
The presentation “Solitude Revival” will occupy a special place in this case. Residents of Baden-Württemberg and visitors to the state can look forward to a fantastic spectacle during the “Automobile Summer 2011”. The organisers of Solitude Revival, the “lighthouse event” in the Automobile Summer 2011, will not only revive the legendary Solitude Ring from its slumber after 46 years from 22 to 24 July 2011, but will also present more than 600 vehicles on the 12.7-kilometre-long circular course in Glemswald near Stuttgart in the anniversary year “125 Years of the Automobile”. This three-day festival will revolve entirely around engines and bodies in the birthplace of the automobile, and actually on the historic site of the first ever car race in Baden-Württemberg.

Rarities with a Wankel engine in Hall 5
The unique exhibition of rare vehicles with a Wankel engine in Hall 5 will be more than just an eye-turner. The Frey private collection from Augsburg will feature several choice vehicles, motorcycles and boats which were driven by this engine. The Wankel engine is a rotary piston engine named after its inventor Felix Wankel. Two versions exist: the Wankel rotary piston engine DKM 54 and the Wankel rotary piston engine KKM57, where the number represents the year of production. However, economic importance was only achieved by the rotary piston engine designed by Hanns Dieter Paschke, which is now generally called the Wankel engine. A car, a NSU Prinz III, was driven for the first time by a KKM 250 Wankel engine in 1960. On 19 January 1960 the KKM 250 was presented continuously to the general public during an event organised by the Association of German Engineers (VDI) at the German Museum in Munich. In 1963 the NSU Wankel Spider was shown in public at the International Automobile Exhibition (IAA) while Mazda exhibited a test car with a double-disk engine at the Tokyo Motor Show. Mazda presented the Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid fitted with an improved Renesis 16X Wankel engine at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2007.

“Youngtimers” concentrated in Hall 5 / Clubs in the “Country Hall” (Hall 7)
An indispensable part of Retro Classics will focus in Hall 5 on the topic of “youngtimers”, i.e. cars which must have at least 20 to 25 years on the clock depending on their type. More than 50 per cent of surveyed visitors in March 2010 were particularly interested in this segment. An entire exhibition hall with an area of 10,000 square metres will again be provided for youngtimers. In addition to the Mercedes, Porsche and VW marques, models from other clubs will also play a leading role. While sufficient space will be made available to “youngtimers” in Hall 5, visitors to the “Country Hall” (Hall 7) will see European marque clubs with gems from countries such as Italy, the United Kingdom and France.

Vehicle selling market for private individuals and dealers in Hall 6
Another highlight will be offered in Hall 6 for the third time after the great success in March 2010: around 250 vehicles changed hands then during the premiere. A vibrant market will again be developed here with more than 350 vehicles which must not have been built after 1984. The vehicle selling market for private vendors and dealers where vehicles can be offered or purchased has been popular for years and will be a big attraction on all three days of Retro Classics. The fees for the duration of the exhibition are €180 per car and €75 per two-wheeler. Model car enthusiasts will get their money’s worth during “Automania” in the same hall.
Omnibuses, trucks and tractors in Hall 8
The Stuttgart Trade Fair Centre offers Retro Classics enough space to include other special topics in its portfolio. This will include for the fourth time a show on historical agricultural machinery and tractors, which visitors will be able to admire in the Commercial Vehicle Hall (Hall 8) on an area of around 2,500 square metres. This special hall will be completed on an additional area of 7,500 square metres by a large number of omnibuses, trucks, tractor units and fire engines. The section containing historical agricultural machinery and tractors will be divided into three areas. In addition to a selection of the good 100 tractor clubs in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and the Rhineland-Palatinate, invitations have been sent to current manufacturers such as Fendt, John Deere, McCormick and Massey-Ferguson, which will be represented by their tradition departments, and tractor dealers together with important accessory and spare part retailers. A special parts market for agricultural equipment is also planned.

Special show with legendary Kaelble tractor units
The Veteran Commercial Vehicle Association (NVG, http://www.n-v-g.de/) will also be represented by their historical tractor units and tippers. The contribution towards the “Automobile Summer 2011” will be a special show (area: approx. 900 square metres) featuring legendary vehicles from Kaelble. The company from Backnang (Baden-Württemberg) was a manufacturer of construction machinery, engines and commercial vehicles, and was well-known through its tractor units for road rollers, dump trucks and bulldozers. Under the motto “Trust Your Truck” Daimler will have a great display in the commercial vehicle section. The exhibition hall will be supplemented by a number of historical fire engines and classic omnibuses which were displayed in the “Auwärter Hall” at the Old Stuttgart Trade Fair Centre. Konrad Auwärter from the Neoplan dynasty will show around two dozen powerful exponents of automobile construction history for the eighth time during Retro Classics. The exhibits will include different classic vehicles from Kässbohrer/Setra, Mercedes-Benz, Saurer, Steyr, Büssing and naturally Neoplan. The vehicles will not only come from Germany, but also from eastern France, Austria and Switzerland.

Accessories and international parts market in Hall 9
Collectors, “tinkerers” and enthusiasts will be in for a real treat in Hall 9 when they look for accessories and original parts for their historic/classic cars during the international parts market. Several hundred dealers will take part in the parts market and offer their treasures on every day of the exhibition. Purchased small parts can be deposited in the cloakroom for safekeeping during the opening hours of Retro Classics.


Retro Classics 2011 at the Stuttgart Trade Fair Centre will be open on Friday, 11 March 2011 from 10.00 to 19.00 and daily on Saturday and Sunday, 12/13 March 2011 from 09.00 to 18.00. A Preview Day for journalists and trade visitors will be held for the third time on Thursday, 10 March 2011 from 16.00. The Preview, Trade Visitor and Press Day will take place from 16,00 to 18.00 on Thursday, 10 March 2011. The RETRO NIGHT Party will be staged on the same day in Hall 1 from 19.00 to 22.00.
Admission tickets including the VVS (Stuttgart Public Transport Authority) combined ticket will cost €16.00 for adults; children, school pupils, students and other concessionary groups will pay €12.00 (with VVS). Groups of 10 or more persons can visit Retro Classics for €12.00 per person (excluding VVS). Admission to the Preview Day and Retro Night from 16.00 to 22.00 on Thursday, 10 March 2011 will be €22.00 (including VVS). The Happy Hour ticket from Friday to Sunday after 16.00 will cost €5.00 (excluding VVS).