[Jeroen]

Last Friday I visited the Techno Classica Classic Car Show in Essen, Germany.

I must have visited this show more than a dozen times. I used to go every year. However, that came to an end when we moved away from the Netherlands. So no Technco Classica for the last five years for me.

I was on a business trip to Stockholm Sweden. As there are no direct flights from Stockholm to Delhi, I usually fly via Amsterdam. This time I stayed in the Netherlands for a day and a half. The Netherlands is my home country as well, so I can stay in my own home. Arrived Thursday night late. Got up Friday morning and took of in my wife's little Ford Fiesta and barreled towards Essen, Germany. About 235 kilometers, all motorway, part in Germany with no speed restrictions. Got there at 0900 at which time the doors open.

This is a massive exhibition. It is a true Mecca for the Classic Car enthusiast. You can find just about any classic car, from a very simple MG or Fiat to some real exotic ones. Next to cars, they cater for just about everything and anything for the distinguished classic car enthusiast. From tools, to parts, to coats, model cars, antique watches, books, manuals etc.etc..

The German brands such as Mercedes, Volkswagen and Porsche have enormous stands, a whole hall. In particular Mercedes and Porsche do a lot for their classic car owners. They have their own classic car divisions, maintain spare parts etc. Volkswagen brought all their brands, including Bugatti. They even brought a Veyron! Sort of a classic soon to be.

I usually went with a very good friend and spanner mate of mine. Between the two of us we owned 5-8 classic cars in various states of (dis) repair. We usually came home with lots of spare parts, endless amounts of tools, books, manuals and brochures. As my classic cars are in storage, not much use buying stuff. I did get myself a years subscription to Classic & Sport Cars. They had a special exhibition promotion going, year subscription + very nice classic car book. Don't know how they do it. I'm having Classic & Sports Car delivered to Delhi for a whole year for a whole lot less then buying separate issues, plus I got the additional classic car book.

I did not have my camera with me, so all pictures are made with my phone. Still, I think it gives a good impression.

Couple of things to note:
Bosch is always present with a huge stand. They have demonstrating rigs for the various classic injection system. They still supply most parts of the old injection system and can overhaul and repair just about any of their old bits as well.

Lots of model cars for sale. From the more or less standard ones, to specially commissioned one of off's.

Volkswagen had a line up of all versions of the Golf starting with the original Mark 1.

Royal Enfield was presented as well. Although with brand new bikes. Had a little chat with them. Now I understand what modification an European Royal Enfield has to meet European regulations!

Lots of specialized stands. For instance, there's guys specializing in classic car period radio's. Others specialize in bolts and nuts (!), various rubbers etc etc.

Endless bookstall where you can find books about any car, brochures, poster, work shop manuals, part manuals etc.

I went home at around 1530. In the evening had a nice dinner with my eldest son and on Saturday flew back to Delhi.

There are quite a number of classic car shows in Germany. I've been to most, but I always like this one the best. If you ever find yourself in Europe whilst this show is on and you like classic cars, try and go and visit. You won't regret it.

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

Some more photographs. Anywhere you point a camera there is something unique, amusing, special etc

[Jeroen]

And the third, final and last batch
enjoy,

Jeroen

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Not a big fan of classic cars , but certain photos shared by you seem to me interesting. For e.g. the KE Jetronic Funktionsmodell. Could not attend the show, as I had labs that day.

BTW, did you pass via Aachen? The next time you are nearby, let me know. It would be great to meet up with a bhpian from Netherlands.

Spike

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

Not a big fan of classic cars , but certain photos shared by you seem to me interesting. For e.g. the KE Jetronic Funktionsmodell. Could not attend the show, as I had labs that day.

BTW, did you pass via Aachen? The next time you are nearby, let me know. It would be great to meet up with a bhpian from Netherlands.

Spike

Hi Spike,
The Bosch stand is really interesting. They have all the old systems, quite a number of these "funktionsmodell" too. I own a Alfa Romeo Spider that uses the L-tronic system, later models had the Motronic version. I also have a Mercedes W123 and various Bosch models found their way into them.

I drive Arnheim, Emmerich, Oberhausen, Essen. Noticed you're an R&D engineer in Aachen. You wouldn't be working at the Ericsson R&D centre by any chance?

Jeroen

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Hi Spike,
The Bosch stand is really interesting. They have all the old systems, quite a number of these "funktionsmodell" too. I own a Alfa Romeo Spider that uses the L-tronic system, later models had the Motronic version. I also have a Mercedes W123 and various Bosch models found their way into them.

Yeah, as I will be specializing in a related field (mostly), I would like to see the older systems, which I haven't earlier, hence interested.

I drive Arnheim, Emmerich, Oberhausen, Essen. Noticed you're an R&D engineer in Aachen. You wouldn't be working at the Ericsson R&D centre by any chance?

I was an Automotive R&D Engineer in India, now a full time student. Hope to catch up with you sometime. As long as you are within NRW, I can catch up with you anywhere, as travelling within the state is free for students.

Spike

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

Yeah, as I will be specializing in a related field (mostly), I would like to see the older systems, which I haven't earlier, hence interested.



I was an Automotive R&D Engineer in India, now a full time student. Hope to catch up with you sometime. As long as you are within NRW, I can catch up with you anywhere, as travelling within the state is free for students.

Spike

Hi Spike,
If you're interested in the old Bosch systems you might want to try and get your hand on the old Bosch manuals. I'm not sure what they are called in German or English, but here's the link to some of the Dutch booklets.

I've got a whole bunch of them. Mostly bought on Ebay and these sort of exhibitions.

http://www.publitas.nl/deltapress/ca....php?spread=58

the more modern version are listed here:

http://www.boschtechinfo.com/index.cfm?
event=product.search&format=Technical%20Instructio n%20Booklet


Take care,

Jeroen

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Last Friday I visited the Techno Classica Classic Car Show in Essen, Germany.

This is a massive exhibition. It is a true Mecca for the Classic Car enthusiast. You can find just about any classic car, from a very simple MG or Fiat to some real exotic ones. Next to cars, they cater for just about everything and anything for the distinguished classic car enthusiast. From tools, to parts, to coats, model cars, antique watches, books, manuals etc.etc..

The German brands such as Mercedes, Volkswagen and Porsche have enormous stands, a whole hall. In particular Mercedes and Porsche do a lot for their classic car owners. They have their own classic car divisions, maintain spare parts etc. Volkswagen brought all their brands, including Bugatti. They even brought a Veyron! Sort of a classic soon to be.

Thanks for sharing, Jeroen, this must have truly been exciting. I can't get enough of the Bugatti and Silver Arrow Mercedes art installations made from scrap. Any more details on those?

Also great to see the big brands supporting their older cars, though I imagine for the most part parts will be prohibitively expensive, compared to an aftermarket supplier.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Thanks for sharing, Jeroen, this must have truly been exciting. I can't get enough of the Bugatti and Silver Arrow Mercedes art installations made from scrap. Any more details on those?

Also great to see the big brands supporting their older cars, though I imagine for the most part parts will be prohibitively expensive, compared to an aftermarket supplier.

Let me see if I have any more photographs on my Iphone.
On the parts cost, you'd actually be surprised.

I can't speak for BMW or Volkswagen, but I have quite a bit of experience with Mercedes. Mercedes has a policy a supplying parts for cars up to thirty years, so the aftermarket doesn't pick up before that. So for instance for my W123 than just turned thirty I got nearly all parts directly from Mercedes. Reasonable prices, every main dealer will stock it, or have it in house within 48 hours.

Very different with for instance Alfa Romeo. As soon as a new model hits the street, the parts aftermarkets starts up. Alfa is notoriously bad in supplying parts. So for my Alfa Romeo Spider I buy parts from aftermarket suppliers. Sometime they will get their parts from official authorized Alfa channels and it will be sold as an official Alfa part, even though it might not be sold through the official Alfa dealer.

Where you will find big difference in the dealer and the aftermarket is on what I would call main stream part suppliers; Eg. My Mercedes and my Alfa use a regular Bosch fuel pump. Buying it from Mercedes or Alfa directly will always be more expensive then from the aftermarket. The only difference will be the part number and the box it comes in.

So in general, it's always usefull to shop around. But after a while you get a feel for which parts you best go to which party.

There are several 'aftermarket' suppliers who cater for certain "classic brands model" who will commission the manufacturing of parts. E.g. Jaguar, MG etc. You can get aftermarket parts, with better quality and lower prices

Jeroen

[rajeev k]

The 2015 show began on April 15th and will be on till April 19th. The theme for the year is "Share the Passion“.
The brochure is available at this link: http://www.siha.de/tce_uk.php?m=3&ms=2