trailer world issue Three 2009

Issue Three 2009 13 Report With more than 165,000 visitors from 35 countries and over 1,000 exhibitors from 26 nations, the Techno-Classica is the world’s largest vintage car show. Since 1988, it has been held in Essen every spring and is seen as a barometer of vintage car culture. Photos:Spiegl Holy metal! Claus F. Mirbach knows them all. His company which special- ises in classic cars currently has more than 300 vehicles on of- fer. “Here we’re talking about emotional, sensual products” – that’s how one of the most distinguished classic car dealers describes the special atmosphere prevailing among all the glossy vehicles of yesteryear. Potential customers, including many society celebrities and big names in racing sport, are looking for models that match their own personality. Driven by the desire to own something no- one else has, they’ll pay several thousand Euros for their special requests. The globally unique range of collectors’ items on show in Essen is huge. The international purchasing public is highly ap- preciative and finds the visual incentives almost irresistible. And so it is no great surprise at the end of the show’s first day which is reserved for trade visitors and the press, to find that numerous top-of-the-market classic cars already have the so terribly final “SOLD” sign on their windscreen. Neat values One particular rarity from the ‘50s, a Victoria Spatz dated 1957 went for 25,900 Euro as soon as the show got underway. On day two, a VW Bus dated 1972 changed hands from its first owner for 28,800 Euro. Sounds like a lot of money, which it is too, but the Techno-Classica shows that nothing is impossible. Essen has laid the table, and the prices even for bread-and-butter cars are really spicy: just about 1000 kg of Toyota 1000 dated 1975 costs 16,975 Euro. Car shopping in Essen Behaviour patterns at the show are chan- ging too: the top-of-the-range dealers are noticing a striking fre- quency in the number of customers from North and South America as well as the Asian region that are deliberately on the look-out for vintage cars at the very top of the price scale. Perfectly restored high- end vehicles with an Emily, jaguar, horse or trident on the bonnet are usually presented without any indication of the price; all you can see is a discreet sign saying “Price on request”. The dealers have to get used to these particular customers who come to Essen from other countries, from Russia for example, carrying the necessary hard cash with them in flat aluminium cases. They purchase vehicles less according to the state of preservation and more for the model and colour. Tradition and brand loyalty Meanwhile nearly all major Euro- pean manufacturers recognise the valuable contribution made by Techno-Classica as a leading fair, where models from a company’s past bridge the gap to the present. For example, VW placed the new Scirocco clearly in the tradition of its predecessor models, paying homage to the pop-coloured paintwork of the top coupé model of the ‘70s and ‘80s, on loan brand new from Wolfsburg’s Autostadt. While Audi placed the focus on “40 Years of Sport Quattro”, Ford looked back on 100 years of its Model-T. The Italians come across as incredibly elegant and sporty. Beautiful Alfas and Lancias from the pre-war and early post-war period raised the pulse not only of the Alfistas. Statistics indicate that events such as the Techno- Classica have a greater impact on the sales figures for Alfa-Romeo than any other marketing activities undertaken by the Italians. The brand image created in better times still persists today. Citroën is

trailer world issue Three 2009

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