In Part I we looked at only Porsches which were plentiful at Techno Classica.
However lets not forget that Mercedes was also extremely well presented. As were many other great brands, like Ferrari, Maserati, Fiat, Aston Martin. We even found a superb Hudson, a fantastic American car bodied by Touring. There was also a superb Fiat Otto vu or 8V bodied by Vignale. Indeed there were some fantastic masterpieces at Essen.
The great thing about Essen is that there is also plenty of memorabilia, letters, and photographs. I would like to share some of this with you.
Lets start with real masterpiece, a Vignale bodied, two tone, FIAT otto vu or 8v. This car was extremely elegant. And look at this color. Do you notice the darker blue roof? I also like the rare Alfa Guiletta Sprint Speciale in dark blue with the French Marchal lights.
This two-tone FIAT was an absolute dream. Below you notice the two tone color much better.
The interior of this car was very attractive. I love the seat pattern. Notice the peculiar dashboard.
One last shot of this divine Fiat 8v or Otto vu. What a splendid example of true elegance. From FIAT.
Lets take a closer look at the beautiful Alfa Giuletta Speciale bodied by Bertone. Notice the 3500GT Maserati in the background.
Lets continue with Italian brands. We move onto Ferrari of which there was plenty at Techno Classica. Like this sublime 275 GTB Ferrari. Short nose.
Apparently it left the factory with a magnesium Engine and has quite a good racing history. Which is why the asking price at HK Engineering was an absurd €6m.
Lets show another sublime short nose 275 GTB. This one was a blue, silver, grey on Axel Schuette’s stand.
The short nose is just perfect from a design perspective. What a shame Ferrari had to change later versions to long nose examples due to aerodynamic concerns (front lift).
There was however a very nice long nose alloy version. Now you can compare nicely. Short nose or long nose? For me it is a short nose that wins in terms of aesthetics.
If you look at the long nose from another angle – it does look more aggressive than a short nose though. I still prefer a short nose anytime.
For the next picture -I have to show you this superb 250 SWB that I saw. I absolutely love this dark red. This very car won the jury’s prize for best of show.
A 250 SWB is probably always best admired from the back. Notice the great line-up. DB4, Porsche RS, and on the right a 300SL roadster (barely visible in this picture).
Another vantage point and now you can see the great lines of the 300SL roadster on the right.
For the next Ferrari we show a very rare and unusual 250 S2 with different headlights. I liked the color of this car very much.
Let us look at this car from the front. Notice the unusual headlights and form. This car is normally a S2 250 Pininfarina but apparently born with different headlights (which I find more attractive). A superb car.
The last Ferrari I am going to show is very rare. A 365 GTB Daytona with plexi headlights – only the very first Daytona cars had these.
I find plexi headlights the most attractive Daytona’s to own. They are also the most collectible and valuable in the market today.
Lets move onto a superb Maserati Bora I saw – just look at this beautiful color. Love it. Stunning car in my opinion.
We move swiftly on to another brand- this time German. As you can imagine there were plenty of Mercedes at Techno Classica.
Lets look at the 300 SL Roadster – I assume Mercedes brought this example from their museum. I have always preferred the Gullwing but the one thing I do prefer on a roadster are the front vertical headlights. How does the famous saying go: You can’t have the cake and eat it too.
A gullwing is always nice to see – especially if it has Rudge wheels like this version had.
If you were not in a mood to buy a real Gullwing then you could buy little ones at the Mercedes Benz stand.
We now move to England and show a rare open headlight Aston Martin DB4 from the back. Notice the rear lights which indicate that this must be a series III car.
The interior of this car was very nice. I love red interiors for classic cars – especially if the exterior is grey or silver as this car was.
I took this next picture not because of the rare car (a DB5 convertible or DB6 Volante – I cannot remember) but rather because I sincerely question how on earth someone can drive this car with an automatic transmission?
A Bentley or Rolls Royce yes. But not a sports car.
We move on to something completely different – an American car HUDSON designed by Touring of Milano. The lettering font of Hudson fascinated me. I thought the car was very very cool.
From a design perspective this car was highly interesting. Loved it.
Are those exhaust chrome pipes or lights? Italian design with American car brand makes for a superb combination.
The last three pictures show three of the most beautiful car emblems. We start off with one of my favourite: Talbot Lago.
However many say this French brand is also among the best and most beautiful. I will not disagree!
I also like the third and last one very much. It is Italian.
Lets finish with some photographs.
This superb picture is from Brands Hatch 1970s and shows a Rodriguez brother racing a Porsche 917k in the pouring rain and trying to cut a corner (inside left). Look how close he is to the curb. This picture was shown at Art Speed Gallery from Belgium.
Another great picture could be found at a German photographer Ralph Lücker. I bought this nice Porsche 917K which he took.
Next year I am going to spend even more time at the section of Memorabilia.
There are so many cool things like letters that Enzo Ferrari wrote, correct manuals for all kinds of old-timers and authentic vintage posters from Le Mans in the 1960s.
We look forward to Techno Classica 2017.
