Retro Classics Essen’s Hall 8 is primarily dedicated to the Porsche brand, though about half of the surface area hosts different themes.
We spotted a selection of Mercedes youngtimers in the corner, and there was a stage dedicated to classic American cars with an exciting selection.
Between them and the Porsche segment, we spotted the booth of AVD, a German car club showcasing classics and advertising its services.
The rest of the hall was dedicated to Porsche, with a smaller section showcasing modern cars and tuning, while the main stage hosted assembled cars from Porsche clubs. This segment was the highlight of the stage, though far from the pre-covid level Porsche presence we were used to in Essen.
This is a crucial problem we already noticed four years ago, when the entire car industry decided to abstain from Techno Classica. This hall is a little bit more than nothing, as we saw several well-restored hobby cars that might have represented the finest specimens of cars we used to drive, but far from the dream cars we put on our walls, when we were young. Altogether, this hall lacked the wow-factor of former factory stages, which used to showcase milestone concepts, jaw-dropping specimens and stylish decoration.
The Porsche hall also fell short of the event’s competition this year, especially given the official factory stages of German manufacturers at this year’s Retromobile or the Porsche booth at InterClassic.
