Essen Techno Classica 2012 Car Show Gallery 2
Essen Techno Classica 2012 Car Show Gallery 2 Photos and Stories.
Photos and story provided by Patrick Wheeler Contact Photographer for Information.
GALLERY 1
GALLERY 2
Essen Techno Classica 2012 Car Show Gallery 2
The techno classic tradeshow/event in Essen Germany every March is heralded as the 'start' of the European car season ... given that I often spend my conference going days in informatica speaking with vendors on technical solutions, a chance to attend an event dedicated to the physical world is one to be enjoyed ...
It is arguably one of the world's largest ...
21st March: Preview, Trade and Press day
In the classic car scene, the Porsche car is everywhere, and so in Essen as well, the representation of the Fuchs company, known for that distinctive Porsche wheel look is in evidence with some very attractive updates on their iconic product ...
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Grill badges, with the proper patina of age are not to be had for love nor money on the open market, serious collectors have snapped them up long back, if you've an old badge from your favorite (or least favorite) uncle, cousin, whatever sitting in the desk drawer, well, eBay is your friend!
While most car shows are about the most gorgeous piece of sheet metal perfection, the Porsche dealers here are happy to show wares as works in progress, they are proud of their ability to take a rusted out tub with only remnants of the original vehicle left salvageable, and build an entire new car around it, and it is great fun to get to see the process ... it is not a car, it is just a slightly complicated go-cart!
Everything period for your restoration project, including period racing helms under glass, wait a minute, aren't these brain bucket supposed to protect you? When did they need the museum glass treatments ... oh , right, display pieces only ...
In the some assembly required, they have entire shells taken back to bare metal, restored and build back up and painted to a fair-thee-well ... some assembly required ... is actually a bit sad for me, I like old cars and the patina , no patina left here ... our old '71 car is still running the streets on the Bay Area and occasionally I see pics of it with a roof rack full of bicycles, with modest upgrades (SC brakes, twinspark motor, new oil cooler; just the basics mind you) you can keep these cars running 'normally.' Is fun to see here, but still ...
And if fully complete jobbies are more your speed, no assembly required, drive off the lot today ... ouch!
Ooh, ooh, ooh! Not that bad actually... But still, I am holding out for a Beck 904 replica ... if you have the real thing in this category it needs the full museum treatment and gets to live on a car-carrier from event to event, where is the fun in that?
Of course, you can also do a 'Back-Dating' ... once upon a time people would take old porsches and add new body styling kit to make them look new ... now they are doing the opposite, take a more modern and relatively unloved car (the heavy 964 model with round plastic bumpers and sluggish performance are not well thought of but has excellent mechanicals) and adding as much lightness as possible and adding back only the extra go-faster bits like the stripey paint job ...
Out in California a few boys have put together a car company, Singer http://singervehicledesign.com/, dedicated to advancing building the best of modern tech into a period look, tempting ...
Getcher gauges hare! Getcher re-hot, retro-look period-correct gauges here, step right up ladies un gentermen! Getcher red hot gauges here!
If buying a ready-made model is not your speed, well, the boys in the other parts of the show will fit you right up ... there is everything here to work with classic iron, drill bits that will drill through other drill bits, and fellas to give you the finer pointers on how to use them, and there are some _serious_ discussions going down ... and if i need to explain the leather pants, well, we _are_ in germany ...
Next to cars (and cameras), boys love tools! And Oh do they love tools ... drewl!
Gitcher thing-ma-jiggy that'l fix yer whatch-a-ma-bobbit that goes under the this-a-ma-hoochey an'd'll straighten yer what-sa-ma-hitcher right out for you ... who can say no?
And if you need all of it explained to you, there are extremely patient gentlemen who will be here all four days worth of the event to explain it to you over and over again ...
Oh, nice, I left toolkits back in California along with a car and a motorcycle, all the vehicles are gone but the toolkits never caught up and I have scraps and remanats, ooh to have the right shiney socket sets again ... woooooooooo ...... and if you buy that pre-prepped porsche shell, well, you will need some tools to assemble it with ...
Over around the corner I am saddened to visit the factory Porsche booth, after the disastrous financial shenanigans that still roil the two companies once the David eating Goliath story, VW turned the tables and gobbled the financial gamesman playing (and frankly forgetting to make a sports car) porsche .... While they wrangle all this out the Porsche exhibit at the Essen classic has a forlorn feel to it ...
But out in the stands, every pejorative ever thrown at Porsche or a Porsche owner are given validation. O-M-G ! ! ! A gold-plate-accented Porsche engine coffee table mount ... oh ouch, some things should not be allowed
I am sorry, I love a nice Porsche car, but if Essen is any indication it is all over for the factory ... but perhaps from this heart of darkness they can recover, there are stories that VW is having a hard time swallowing and integrating the prickly independent Porsche brand, and it is slightly in competition with their own Audi and Lamborghini marques, so maybe Porsche will get spit back out, or better yet, a happy marriage with VW and the a return to their sporting roots with the depth of VW's resources (knowledge and money) to draw from, but oh ouch this is a hard one to prognosticate...
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