The very first Retro Classics Essen opened its gates this Wednesday. This year, the legendary Essen Techno Classica gave way to their main competitor, the organiser of the Retro Classics car show held in Stuttgart. They are to replace the king of classic car shows, so no pressure… : )
The show takes place at the usual venue: the Messe Essen is the trusted exhibition centre of the city of Essen, (located in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany). The show lasts from Wednesday to Sunday with generous opening hours: from 10:00 AM to 18:00 PM, except on Wednesday (from 13:00 PM – to 20:00 PM). The 8 halls and auxiliary spaced offer is a massive exhibitor area of 80.000 m2, and the organisers promised 600 exhibitors showcasing over 2500 cars. That is a lot to walk through, as classic car stages are usually smaller and more dense. The big question is, will the quality keep up?
Size does matter!
Starting with the good news: the Retro Classics made full use of the Essen expo area. There are no empty spaces, and each hall is filled with cars, bikes or buses (!!!) following a different theme.
Hall 1 is dedicated to Brands notably Mercedes and BMW.
Hall 1 is dedicated to Brands notably Mercedes and BMW.
Hall 2 hosts workshop supplies, accessories and technology Arena
Hall 3 is the Premium hall with high end traders and Ferrari Classiche.
Galeria gallery forms the British Lane with cars from the UK
The British Lane was set up in the gallery of the Essen Expo, showcasing a variety of classic vehicles from the British Isles. The two sides of the gallery hosted clubs honouring Britis brands or models.
These included automotive icons like the roadsters from MG and Triumph, stylish limousines from Jaguar and Rover or exotic cars such as Lotus, TVR, Morgan and Austin.
Hall 4 hosts Commercial vehicles and the majority were king size buses!
This hall showcased historic commercial vehicles and buses as part of a Heavy Duty exhibition. The exhibits included rare coaches, trucks, and tractors from the past 70 years.
Hall 5 recalled the good times of Opel
A considerable part of Hall 5 of the Retro Classics Essen was dedicated to Opel, celebrating several anniversaries. The rest of the hall featured various clubs, each showcasing rare cars and remarkable specimens
Hall 6 Private and commercial vehicle sales exchange and parts market
Hall 7 Motorsport Arena, associations and SIM Racing
Hall 8 is primarily dedicated to the Porsche brand
Retro Classics Essen’s Hall 8 is primarily dedicated to the Porsche brand, though about half of the surface area hosts different themes.
Here we take a rhetorical break, but we will provide more updates in the coming day.
