The love for everything automotive is very evident from the myriad vehicles that assemble at such shows.

BHPian hifisharu recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Tuning World, at Bodensee, is sort of the European Version of SEMA, though probably on a much smaller scale. Nevertheless, it is very interesting what the Tuner Market has to offer, everything from basic suspension mods, ECU tuning, to entire engine swaps, body kits, suspension lift kits for Off-Roaders, Air Suspension kits, Body Wraps, LED lighting kits, Sound Systems, you name it.

Previously I had visited the show in 2017 and then now in 2024. The layout of the show is there are a number of Halls, sort of vaguely segregated into JDM, Euro and American and then one main Arena, where the Drift challenges happen. This is what we were greeted with when we entered the Exhibition space:

JDM:

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Let's embark on a visual journey together as I share snapshots from the event

BHPian HatchMatch recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Greetings everyone,

After a considerable hiatus, I am pleased to be re-joining this platform to share an enriching experience I recently had the privilege to partake in at the New York Auto Expo'24. This event served as a confluence for automotive aficionados and industry enthusiasts alike, showcasing a diverse array of vehicles from established manufacturers to budding enthusiasts.

The Expo proved to be an impressive spectacle, featuring an extensive collection of automobiles that captivated attendees with their innovation and design prowess. Additionally, the expo served as a platform for automotive enthusiasts to showcase their passion projects and custom builds. These bespoke creations added a distinct flair to the event, embodying the creativity and ingenuity of grassroots automotive culture.

As attendees navigated through the expansive exhibition halls, they were treated to a sensory feast of automotive innovation, with each vehicle offering a glimpse into the future of transportation.There was no shortage of excitement and anticipation in the air.

I invite you to join me in reliving this virtual tour and celebrating the passion and innovation that define the automotive industry.

Let's embark on a visual journey together as I share snapshots from the event, offering a glimpse into the dynamic world of automotive design and technology.

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I must have visited it at least 15 times over the last 30 years.

BHPian Jeroen recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I have been visiting classic car shows all over Europe. One of my favourite shows is the Techno Classica in Essen, Germany. I must have visited it at least 15 times over the last 30 years. Often with my best friend and spanner mate Peter.

We were always under the impression that Techno Classica is the largest Classic car show in Europe. We found out we were wrong and we will make sure to visit the largest classic car show in Europe this year too. More about that later.

We used to drive up and down in a single day. Essen isn't all that far. But these days, Peter lives an hour and a half drive from us and from us, it is still another 2-hour drive to Essen. So Peter comes and stays with us on Thursday evening. We book a hotel for the Friday evening. So we can take our time at the exhibition, we don't need to worry about driving home in rush hour. After we are done at the exhibition we drive to our hotel, freshen up. We get some drinks and a nice meal. On Saturday morning we drive home, after breakfast at the hotel, at our leisure.

On Friday morning we got up early and hit the road on Friday morning between 07-07.30. With one coffee stop on the Autobahn that gets us to the exhibition centre around 09.30. Depending on traffic. Although ze Germans organise these things extremely well, the exhibition centre is almost in the centre of Essen and you might find yourself queuing for 30-40 minutes before being able to park your car. Parking the car is never a problem, lots of space. But the roads to the parking centre clog up.

This exhibition is huge. You could visit and see very different cars from the ones we looked at.

There are thousands of cars, so this is just a small collection.

Car stands are a mix of commercial enterprises and classic car clubs. This is an excellent formula for these events. The clubs pay a largely reduced tariff for their stand. But lots of car club member like to visit their club stands at exhibitions such as these. So the whole event gets a lot of PR and advertisement via the classic car club channels.

This was the very first car we bumped into a; BMW Isetta. Gives a different meaning to "front door"! Note the tasteful carpet!

Next, we bumbed into this soft top RX7 with a Wankelengine. Both Peter and I are quite familiar with the RX7. But even Peter, who makes a living valuing classic cars, had never come across or even heard about the softtop version!

Very rare, only 47 were made!

If you have been into the (original) Mini, you will have seen them with just about every modification possible. Some were very nice, some not so nice. The first time we came across a mini with Gullwing doors! As far as we are concerned the Jury is still out on this modification!

The VW Beetle has always been a hugely popular Classic car. There are still tens of thousands of them out there. Spare parts availability is excellent, probably better than when these cars were still produced—easy cars to work on and restore. Even so, they command a very hefty price these days.

Euro 89500 for this:

This is an original 1951 Beetle with a split rear window. Yours for Euro 69900

These days more and more YoungTimers make it into these classic car shows. Nothing wrong with YoungTimers. But they should not overdo it. This is a show about classic cars. Although there is no formal definition of what constitutes a classic car, the consensus, sort of, means it needs to be at least 25-30 years old.

This Mercedes is only 10 years old. So it is not even a YoungTimer really! Only 35K kilometres on the clock, 6,2l V8 for only euro 650000!

A pretty cool car too, Renault 5 turbo! The proverbial pocket rocket. A friend of mine had one of these and took it to the circuit of Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Crashed and totalled it within minutes!! Just because you can afford one of these cars, doesn't mean you know how to drive them!

Of course, when you visit one of the top classic car shows in the world, you expect more classic Ferraris than you can shake a stick at. We were not disappointed. Gorgeous 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Boanao, only 36K on the clock. The asking price is just under 1.3 million euros!

I always like this 1970 Mazda Cosmo 110 S Coupe. Euro 135000

Those of you who have followed some of my posts know I love old vintage tractors. The Lamborghini folks had brought some very nice ones!!

Of course, there were some Italian supercars as well.

I must admit, in this red, I initially failed to recognize it. I don't think red does this car any justice. For a supercar, it is surprisingly small too!

Imagine sitting here, in short sleeves, foot down, doing well over 330 km/h on the Autobahn!

Not sure why, but there were a lot of Mercedes 190SL and 300SL about.

Look at this! Did you know Fiat made stunning cars like this in the past? A 1954 Fiat 8V. Only 114 were built. Just over a million Euros.

The Jaguar E-type is, no doubt, a true iconic classic car. Although not everybody agrees. For some, the owners just want to advertise something about the size of some of their limbs, so to speak.Never understood that.

And then Austin Powell came along. Yeah, Baby get a load of my mojo!!

Here in Europe, classic car shows will have primarily European and some Japanese cars. There are always some American cars as well of course.

Like this 1962 Studebaker Avanti. 300 HP V8 supercharged. An extremely rare car these days. Not pretty perhaps, but still very rare!

Here is another Supercar. A 1992 Jaguar XJ220 undergoing a full re-commissioning by Jaguar Essen. Done less than 850 kilometers?! Only 275 of these XJ220 were produced.

The engine is still out! Impressive set-up.

There were also a lot of Citroen DS about.

We came across this one, that had a couple of pretty special options installed.

Look at this dashboard. It is known as the Jagear Tableau. All instruments were supplied by Jaeger!!

Custom-made radio fits the shape of the dashboard!

Finally an Alfa Romeo Spider. In this case, my not-so-favourite is Series 4. The last of the famous 105/115 series Spiders. Ridiculous asking price of euro 30000.

Continue reading BHPian Jeroen's report for more insights and information.

Cadillac showcased their Escalade EV. It was a massive sized EV and looked absolutely gorgeous.

BHPIan mobike008 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

March 23rd, 2024

I got to know a few weeks prior that Vancouver’s Auto Show is coming back after several years. I think the previous one was prior to Covid times. While the auto show itself didn’t make me too excited as it’s never on the world map for auto-shows even though Vancouver is a rich city with lot of high-end cars driven by Chinese or Indian which is the primary high income population of Vancouver, Canada.

Our agenda was simple, I like to drive to Vancouver which is 2-hours away purely for the reason that Indian food scene out there is simply phenomenal and being a North Indian, I got bored with the South Indian and red chilly infused food that is sold in entire USA.

Agenda was simple for our day-trip :

1. Drive to Vancouver, Canada for the Auto show and spend a few hours browsing the latest car offerings.
2. Make pit stops for lunch and dinner at our favorite Canadian Punjabi/Indian Chinese Joints including a lot of take-aways of sweets as well (mandatory as Holi was next day)

Initial plan was to stay overnight at the Hyatt Vancouver in Downtown and make a trip to Whistler but, just a few days before cancelled the reservation as the weather was pretty bad- Heavy Rains, Overcast throughout. You know, the quintessential PNW weather.

Bought the tickets a couple of weeks in advance and it costed $25 CAD (US$18) per head.

Venue : Vancouver Convention Center in Downtown Vancouver which is by the Ocean. A beautiful location for sure and Vancouver reminds me so much of Seattle as they are almost like two peas in a pod with Seattle being a much larger city.

On the D-Day we left home around 9:30am and drove through some crazy rains lashing heavily till we crossed the border about 1.5 hours later. Post the border crossing the rains stopped but, weather was still cold, damp, grey and cloudy.

Post our brunch and shopping stops in Surrey, we drove towards Vancouver around 2:00pm and by god, everyone seemed to be going there and traffic reminded me of India. It took us nearly 1.5 hours to cover 20kms to Vancouver. Finally, reached our parking garage which was walking distance to Convention center. We spent an enjoyable 3-4 hours at the Auto Show walking around and met BHPian Rahul who was also visiting with his family and friends from Seattle.

Post the auto show, we headed back towards Surrey and after a pit stop for dinner at our favorite Punjabi restaurant, we were back home around midnight

Breakfast enroute while Tesla is on Auto-pilot.

Pouring rain most of the day.

Border crossing into Canada.

Brunch pit-stop.

Enroute Vancouver.

Vancouver Convention Center in Downtown Vancouver. Location for Auto-show.

We reached the Auto Show around 3:00pm and like most auto-shows the cars are displayed in a large convention center hall. It was the same case here.

Honestly speaking, Vancouver auto-show was not impressive as I felt it was just an opportunity for regular folks (Cadillac, Ford, General Motors etc) to showcase their newest gas car or EV offerings. There was nothing too exciting that made me feel this show was anything special.

I'm highlighting some of the things that we saw that comes to mind.

1. Cadillac showcased their Escalade EV. It was a massive sized EV and looked absolutely gorgeous. I think this will be priced from $120K ++
2. Corvette Z06 (Yellow) stole the gas car show as it was drawing too many visitors. Kids wanted to sit in it and take pictures.
3. GMC Truck and Overlander offerings was superb. Some of those giant trucks need to be seen to understand their size. Some of them you may need a ladder to climb in.
4. Vinfast (Vietnames) had their stall as they are launching in North America in next few months. They seem to have only SUV's and based on size are aptly named V6, V7 and V8. I sat in one of their premium offerings. In short, horribly quality and doesn't feel premium at all. And, they have the gall to ask $80K for it. I don't think they will do well with that pricing.
5. Maserati, Porsche, Ford Vancouver dealerships had their stalls.
6. This was interesting. Vancouver Police Department had their fleet on display (Charger, Explorer and BMW motorcycle). They were letting everyone sit in their fleet and get an experience of how you would feel if you are arrested and taken to jail in those vehicles. lol!
7. BMW and Mercedes were conspicuous by their absence.
8. Toyota had some nice new offerings in display- E. g : The all new landcrusier
9. Grenadier is such a lovely 4x4 vehicle. Solid from outside and luxurious from inside. Btw, I'm told this has a B58 engine from BMW doing the duty.
10. They had some exotics (Lambos, Ferraris, McLaren's ) in display just to up the oomph of the auto show.
11. Absolutely loved the Nissan GTR stall. A few generations on display.
12. Finally, last but, not the least. Tesla Cybertruck was the absolute show stealer as there was a 30 mins queue to experience the Cybertruck as everyone wanted to sit inside the truck and get a selfie. I saw this truck in person for the first time. Even by US standards, this is ridiculously massive. I mean, the first reaction when you see it is "SHOCK" as it's super-long and super-wide with that unique shape. It will take a long time for people to get used to the body material and shape.

M340i souped up to make it look like an M3/M4 just outside the convention center.

Taking the escalator to go to the display hall.

Pink Maserati greets us as we enter the convention center. lol!

Ferrari

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I spotted some awesome classic cars like the Buick Dynaflow, Chevrolet Impala and Nova SS. I also saw the Packard - world's first air-conditioned car.

BHPian tbppjpr recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

25th Vintage Car Exhibition and Drive 2024, Jaipur: Revisit The Era of The Most Beautiful Cars

A photo and video walkthrough of vintage cars

The vintage car show has been organized regularly at Jaipur by 'The Rajputana Automotive Sports Car Club' in association with the 'Department of Tourism' (Government of Rajasthan).

Despite this popular vintage car show being regularly organized in my hometown, I could never make it to visit any of the previous events in the past. Mostly I missed it because I could not get the schedule information prior to the events.

This year I got the schedule information in much advance so I could plan the visit. I got my cameras ready and reached the venue, Taj Jai Mahal Palace, Jaipur at 9 am on 25th Feb.

The time was perfect since there was hardly any crowd that early in the morning which allowed me enough time to capture some fine details of some of the cars without disturbance. As time passed, the number of visitors started increasing being it Sunday. Later the venue was full of curious and enthusiastic people.

The venue, Taj Jai Mahal Palace, Jaipur:

Video description:

The 4K video (watch time: 8 minutes) starts with a visual story of a participant's vintage car struggling to take off for the group drive. The story is divided into three short parts mixed with the rest of the walkthrough portion which again covers three different sections.

• The first section is about the introduction which reveals fine details of a few of the participant vintage cars. Not only the exterior-interiors, but I covered mechanical details (only in the video) of some of the cars as well.
• The second section is about the roaring motors from the past. No petrolhead would like to miss the musical notes of those V6, V8, (V12?) motors.
• The third section is about witnessing the beautiful cars in motion. Some of the car owners were dressed in some retro-style clothing and some even felt like old film actors driving cars despite not wearing any retro styling clothing or makeup.

More than 60 GB of high-quality 4K 10bit 422 log profile video clips recorded on Lumix S5IIX are tightly edited into this 8-minute short video and composed with handpicked retro style music matching the mood, full credit to the musicians of those tracks. It took a lot of time to edit and re-edit, that's why I am posting it now after more than three weeks from the event.

There are a lot of cars and their details which I could capture only in the still photographs so going through the still photographs is not going to be a repetitive experience.

Prelude:

Jaipur, capital of Rajasthan - the state with a rich heritage. But the heritage is incomplete if we talk only about the architecture and history of different eras. We also talk about the mode of transportation in different eras along with various other elements to call history - the heritage.

Elephant Seat at Jodhpur fort:

Motor cars have been a key mode of transportation since the beginning of the previous century. The technology and designs of the cars kept changing over the period of time.

Today we have reached a threshold of reliability where cars refuse to break down despite all kinds of abuses we throw them in or whatever kind of regular-irregular maintenance schedules we follow. But they miss out on the wide differentiation of design characteristics of those old-timers. They start feeling monotonic and boring at times compared to the classic beauties.

Old walled city area of Jaipur full of monotonic cars:

Design difference between the cars of different generations:

But there was an era when the cars used to be so vastly different compared to others:

Not only in terms of designs but in sizes as well. Notice the proportions and size with such big differences:

Cars in that era used to be colorful. There was no space for the similarity. White, the most common colour in today's cars was a rare sight in those days along with the second most popular color silver which used to be chosen as exclusivity like any other color of that time.

Spotted two vintage cars with different shapes at a fuel bunk on my way to the venue:

I would have liked to cover all the cars (100+) but could manage to capture only a few out of so many who came from various parts of the country because the drive was also scheduled in the morning hours of the second and last day of the event. The rally was flagged off by the deputy chief minister of Rajasthan Diya Kumari who is also a member of the Jaipur Royal family.

Red carpet ready for the march past of the queens of the past:

I wanted to have some words with some of the participants but found a few of them already busy talking with others so did not disturb them, instead concentrated on capturing the beauty of the vintage cars. However, I am willing to record interviews of a few vintage car collectors in future exhibitions.

After observing those vintage cars so closely, I could feel a fraction of how much it takes to maintain them, it's a very demanding job, and one has to be highly dedicated towards this passion.

Let's begin with the photos of the event cars...

Bentley - Fully aluminium built car:

Stutz - Most predestined looking car, many fine details are covered in the video along with the exhaust note

Rolls Royce Phantoms:

More amazing pictures of the event continue here.

The other reason why SEMA is really hyped is because it isnt open to the public.

BHPian Nikhilb2008 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

SEMA is a show that is organised every year in Las Vegas. The hype surrounding this show is insane as every supercar owner and car collector tries to be there.

There is also a lot of hype thanks to the YouTube vloggers who make it there.

SEMA stands for Specialty Equipment Marketing Association.

The other reason why SEMA is really hyped is because it isn't open to the public. Of course, people can get in by sharing passes or by faking their IDs, but it isn't easy.

For me and my colleagues to enter, we had to upload our company documents, our personal ID, and our official ID, and then once approved by the organisers, we had to pay 120$ per person for the duration of the show.

The show also doesn't have too much for the common man, but enthusiasts can always find something to excite them.

The main difference between the European shows which I've attended in the past and this show is that the B2B brands use a lot of high-profile supercars to attract people to their booths. Much more than in Europe.

Brands like Inozetek were the cynosure of all eyes as they had a couple of really interesting supercars in their stall including that of famous YouTube Alex Choi and Daily Driven Exotics.

It won't be possible for me to give details on each of the many cars I saw in this show.

Many of them caught my eye but I didn't know what mods were under the hood.

I didn't get a chance to meet the famous Shmee, but his video actually covers most of the cars I saw with interviews with the famous owners.

You can actually use this video as a guide to all the nice cars at SEMA 2023

Video

This thread will be more of a pictorial tour of SEMA with minimum explanation.

As soon as we entered, we saw a couple of nice GTRs and a 5th Gen Supra.

Apart from slammed supercars, the other major theme of SEMA is lifted trucks.

There was also a nice 992 GT3RS with Rotiform wheels. Plenty of supercars and slammed cars were used to market and showcase alloy wheel brands.

I also took a close-up pic of the actuators for the GT3RS' DRS system

The crazy Aero around the car

There was also a nice NSX -- Not as clean and unmodified as I like, but an NSX is an NSX finally. A mid-engined Honda supercar developed by the legendary Ayrton Senna.

A surprisingly clean and what I found out later, one of the only clean, stock-looking Aventadors at the show

More pics

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This particular museum holds the Wolsely that belonged to my wife's granny!

BHPian Jeroen recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Let's be honest; nobody is going to fly across two oceans to see a small classic car collection. I did though! But there is a story to it. This particular museum holds the Wolsely that belonged to my wife's granny!!

You would be forgiven not to know where Barbados is. It is a tiny little island in the Caribbean. It is the most eastern island of the Caribean, on one side Caribean Sea, and on the other side Atlantic Ocean.

In 1982 I was sailing as the second engineer on the Motor Vessel Hector. We were on our way to New York, but due to a nearby hurricane, we made a stopover in Barbados. I was lucky as the Chief Engineer took my watch that night and I was free to go onto the island. It is where I met the future Mrs.D It took a year before we met again, that time in Edinburgh, Scotland. Four days later we decided to get married and the rest is history as they say.

My wife grew up in Barbados, both her parents are true Bajans, born and raised. When I met her she was just graduating from Edinburgh University and had come back to the island to visit her parents, family and friends. So a lot of random factors brought us together.

We were married in 1983, in Barbados. Ever since we have been going back on a very regular basis. When the kids were small we went every year for at least 3-to 4 weeks. My wife's mother was taken ill some time ago. This meant my wife, her brother and sister went about three times a year, alternating so there was nearly always one of the children present. Unfortunately, she passed away last year.

We had arranged this visit with my wife's brother and sister and their respective partners so we could all meet up, and start cleaning up the house and the various financial affairs that needed sorting. It was a very good and pleasant visit. All of us stayed in their mum's home. A bit strange with her not being there anymore. Plenty of memories though.

Back to the Mallalieu museum.

I have met Bill, the owner on previous occasions of course. The museum is open from 08-11. Most of the time Bill will take you on a guided tour. He has managed to build quite an eclectic collection. This being a tiny island in the middle of the sea/ocean means that rust is always a real problem, always. Bill has shown my panels he had stripped to the bare metal, rust-proofed and resprayed only to have rust bubbles popping up within a couple of years.

My wife's granny lived for quite a while in the same pavilion where Bill had his office and his museum. This is a tiny island and everybody knows everybody of course. I remember having worked on Granny's car during my early years coming to the island. Granny was quite the driver, not to say quite the road hog! Until of course, due to her age, she could not drive any longer. She told the family she had donated the car to Bill's collection. Bill has a somewhat different story. He told me, she did not donate it, she wanted money! And as Bill put it she haggled quite a bit!! In all honesty, the haggling sounded much more like Granny.

So here it is The only car, as far as I am aware, of our family that ended up in a museum. It is a 1969 Wolseley Hornet MK111. When Granny had it, it was painted silver, but Bill restored it to its original colours.

According to the sign Bill put up on the car, this car is the classic "little old lady" car! 28456 were built.

Next up is the 1937 Chevrolet, Master Deluxe Sedan. It was imported into the island in 1937 for the sum of $1000! It was last used in 2011 for a wedding and has been in the same family for all that time.

A London taxi, but quite an unusual one. This is a Beardmore, 1960. Most London taxis were Austin, BMC or British Leyland-made.

Fenders are made of rubber and you will notice the typical no-left door, instead of a platform for luggage.

A couple of overview images, so you get an idea of the museum and its collection.

A 1930 American Austin Roadster.

Another very rare car. A 1953 Daimler Roadster. 6 cylinder, 2433CC. Only 44 of these cars were produced. They turned out to be too expensive and did not sell. This is one of only 35 now known to exist!!

Another very nice Wolseley 14/60, 1948

This particular model was a carryover from the prewar models starting in 1936. It was particularly popular with the English police and the war dept.

This one has the original Police Bell fitted (no sirens in those days). Bill demonstrated it, still rings!

As one would expect, Bill has some special car models too. These nicely detailed Fiats were only given to Fiat employees. I showed them to my friend Berndt who runs the Minidome car model museum. Berndt had never seen these models. That must be the first time ever, I showed Berdnt a model car that he could not identify!

Some special Porsche model cars, signed by various Porsche executives.

Continue reading BHPian Jeroen's review for more insights and information.

All the car brands that were doing business in the Kingdom had their presence at the show, especially the Chinese manufacturers!

BHPian kamilharis recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Riyadh Motor Show 2023 started on 05 Dec 2023 in the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, as part of the Riyadh Season, with the participation of more than 50 leading companies in the automotive industry. It was a 5-day event, which I attended on the 4th day.

Travelled from Dammam to Riyadh which is a 450km/3.5hr drive, to attend the event. Also, this was my first ever large-scale auto show attended.

As a part of the auto show, many related programs were also happening. Unfortunately, I could not attend any other events at the auto show due to a tight schedule.

Outlook:

Events:

I found almost all the brands doing automotive business in Saudi at the event. Starting from cars, spare parts, tires, battery suppliers, insurance providers, etc. I spent my time only in the cars section, and I will share herewith all that I saw.

All the car brands that were doing business in the Kingdom had their presence at the show, especially the Chinese manufacturers! Chinese car brands saw huge growth in the Kingdom market post covid. As per some recent news reports, more than 40% of the cars sold in FY2023 in the kingdom are Chinese!

All the displayed cars were open and completely accessible to the visitors. No one blocked anyone from checking out the cars inside out. Due to the same reason, it was mostly crowded and it was difficult even to click good pics of the cars. Nevertheless, I have done my best.

(NB: Only the Mercedes Benz platform was not open to the public. They had very limited and restricted entry so I could not check it out closely!)

Entry was free but subject to booking through the app.

Reached the venue at 05 PM, with my EADO who happily cruised to the 1,54,000 km mark on the way to Riyadh.

Entrance to Riyadh Arena

The Arena

And the Riyadh Motor Show 2023!

Warm welcome by Porshe and Ferrari.

We were served hot coffee, which was a good relief in this chilled December. Also, they gave us an "M" stamp!

The Geely robot served us a bottle of water too.

Started with the Geely showroom.

Geely Auto is a leading automobile manufacturer based in Hangzhou, China, and was founded in 1997 as a subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.eely Auto is currently the seventh largest automobile manufacturer in China, with 1.328 million sales in China in 2021. Globally, the group sold over 2.2 million cars in 2021,and over 17,926 plug-in electric vehicles in January 2022.

Continue reading kamilharis' experience at the Riyadh Motor Show 2023 for BHPian comments, insights and more information.

I have always liked the Volvo 240. I had one in the late eighties as a company car. I had not realised the Belgium Cops drove them too.

BHPian Jeroen recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Last Sunday I visited the Interclassics show in Brussels, Belgium. It is probably the last major classic car show in Europe each year. In early January, the big shows start up again all over Europe.

They claimed this was the largest classic car show in the Benelux. I am not convinced. They also organise the Interclassic show in Maastricht in January. My impression has always been the latter is larger than its Brussels sibling.

Irrespective, this is always a nice classic car show, with high-quality cars on display and all the other usual things you are likely to find at a classic car show.

So early Sunday morning, I quickly ordered my ticket online and hopped into my Mini. It is just under an hour and a half drive for me. Motorway all the way.

The exhibition centre is next to one of oBrussel'sls historic landmarks, the Atomium

I just realised I don't think I have ever been inside the Atomium. Must do it next time we visit Brussels. We have seen a lot of Brussels lately. We overnighted here earlier this week to attend a Natalie Merchant concert and visit the Herge Museum or TinTin Museum as it is sometimes referred to.

These exhibitions have hundreds and hundreds of cars on display. So I will only show a very small selection. The ones I like, the ones that I think are special and the ones I know some of our members appreciate I hope.

On these high-end classic car exhibitions you will find more Ferraris than you can shake a stick at:

I had never come across this VW:

It is called the XL1. The design team was told to to come up with a fully useable car, that could be produced in series, with a fuel efficiency of 1/100 l/km.

So they came up with the XL1. It's built as a monocoque, mostly composite materials. Cw of 0.186, plug-in hybrid system with a two-cylinder TDi 48 HP engine and a 27HP motor. It also sports a DSG box.

The team exceeded the design brief as this contraption returned less than 09/l per 100 km! It weighs only 795 kg and 250 XL1s were produced.

A bit of Belgium motorcycle/moped history here. Gorgeous!

I am a member of a Facebook group called "Cut Away Cars". It is a very active group with members posting daily all kinds of cut-away drawings of cars, and or car parts. I don't have such drawings, so I tend to post-cut away real cars/engines or models.

So I am always on the lookout for cut-away cars, engines, or other car-related parts. I won't bore you with too many, but I can tell you I found over 20 items on this show!

Here is the famous VW Beetle boxer engine!

It is very nice all these classic cars, but how would I transport my valuable classic car I hear you ask? This might do:

It is called the Algema Blitzlader 2. It can carry up to 3.3 tonnes, and can pull a 3.5 tonnes trailer as well. It only takes 8 seconds to get this thing to bend itself so you can drive your valuable classic car in or out!

Have a look at this promotion video, pretty cool.

I have always liked these Volvo 240s. I had one in the late eighties as a company car. I had not realised the Belgium Cops drove them too.

It is probably one of the most iconic design details on a (classic) car that every core Petrolhead will recognize

This is an instruction model, used to teach young mechanics the basics of engine, gearbox and so on. In general, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to find young people to become car mechanics or similar jobs. This is a real problem because we are going to need a lot of people who would like to work with their hands. Apart from cars, think windmills, solar panels, heat pumps and so on. Millions of these are going to be installed and will need servicing.

The model was on display at an organisation that across Europe, recruits young people to train in the classic car world. Great initiative I think.

The smallest car on display, and we talking teeny tiny here, was this Brutch Microcar. Yours for only Euro 25000.

As always lots and lots of car models are on display as well. From brand new to second-hand and anything in between.

Although it is unlikely I would ever own one of these sorts of cars, I love looking at them. These are real racing machines. Nothing like today's F1 cars. Which, when all is said and done, just looks like props from a Star Wars movie.

This is what I would consider a real engine!!

Look at this! Never seen anything like it before. The whole valve train sticks out of the bonnet. Makes for easy adjusting of course.

A few more cut-away engines

There is a pretty sizeable market for these types of petrol pumps too. Purely for display purposes. I like them, but I don't think Mrs D is going to allow me to put one in our yard.

Continue reading Jeroen's experience at the Interclassics show for BHPian comments, insights and more information.

In terms of logistics - it is very far and you would spend more money on commute than on the ticket itself also the food arrangements are pathetic

BHPian h3mnzu recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

This thread shall be the watercooler area, where besides auto, we discuss the experience of the expo. The good, the not so impressive and the extravagant with one rule: Do not post new car launches, components or car photos here. Photos indicative of the stalls, booths and experience zones are allowed to support the posts and replies.

We may discuss people to people connections, meet-ups, finding old friends at the expo and things which get carried away in the routine ho-hum of the event.

A lot of hype is generated at the time of Delhi/India AutoExpo. A lot of new car launches and media posts overshadow the participatory spirit of the visitors and the interactions among auto industry professionals and enthusiasts on topics besides cars and automotive.

History of Auto Expo in India (Part 1):

100 Years after the first car was invented by Karl Frederich Benz, India hosted it’s first Auto Expo in New Delhi. The number of car purchases were doubling over the previous year. Promising sales numbers renewed the spirits of truck and bus manufacturers to team up with their foreign counterparts to showcase cars. The major stalls set up by automotive and engineering conglomerates saw the crowds thronging to following models:

• Telco’s AC Buses, Trucks and Army Vehicles (by Telco)
• Bajaj Tempo – 8 Seater Limousine (By Bajaj)
• Chatelec Van (By Chatelec)
• Citroen 2 CV (in partnership with Escorts)
• Citroen 600 cc (in partnership with Escorts)
• Honda Accord sedan (in partnership with Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company (TELCO)
• Isuzu Gemini (in partnership with Hindustan Motors)
• Izusu Trooper Car-Jeep (in partnership with Hindustan Motors)
• Mayura (a prototype by All Tools Ltd)
• Nissan Sunny (in partnership with Premier Automobiles)
• Toyota Crown (by DCM-Toyota)

The Automotive Component part was in limelight due to Heal Transport Equipment’s Computerised Vehicle Scanning Equipment and Jakatdar Associates’ Car-Jeep prototype.

The Auto Expo 1986 was a turning point for the Indian automotive industry. At the time, Ambassador and Fiat cars and Bajaj scooters were the dominant players, and Maruti, which had launched just three years prior, was still a young company.

The expo focused on technology transfers and promoting indigenous research and development to absorb new technologies in India. Several companies participated in the event, including Escorts, DCM Toyota, Nissan, AP Scooters, HMT, Jawa, Kinetic, Kelvinator, Majestic Auto, Standard Motors, and Shree Chamundi Mopeds.

Auto enthusiasts had to wait for 6 years for the next auto expo.

History of Auto Expo in India (Part 2):

Here, a summary of the highlights of the expo is mentioned as a chronology:

1986:

1st Auto Expo: Debut year. Bus and Truck manufacturers made their foreign counterparts showcase Jeep-Car models.

1993:

2nd Auto Expo: Platform for dialogue between industry, dealers, consumers and government. Participation of 7 countries on the theme ‘To Make The Future Happen.’ Component makers were convinced with the JV’s and technology transfer.

1996:

3rd Auto Expo: Launch of new vehicles by Daewoo, Hyundai, Ford, and Honda along with EU-India Business Forum. Market capabilities were realised by foreign players.

1998:

4th Auto Expo: Over 50 overseas participants and nearly 150,000 daily visitors. Announced to be held as a biennial, termed the biggest auto expo. Small cars triumphed the launch arenas, as well as modern sedans.

2000:

5th Auto Expo: More than a 1000 exhibitors participated. Green Pavilion to focus on environment and the first Asian Two Wheeler Conference. Most number of new car launches than previous expos.

2002:

6th Auto Expo: Road safety pavilion and focus on safety technology, road engineering, and enforcement. First time an F1 car was on display, Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari F2001. Suv’s were also launched.

2004:

7th Auto Expo: 840 Indian and 120 overseas companies participated. Many manufacturers started creating experience zones and thematic stalls. Safety, Design and next generation technologies were the focus.

2006:

8th Auto Expo: Thematic pavilions focusing on commercial vehicles, two wheelers, alternate fuels, design and styling. First time vehicle simulators were installed. First time some automakers opted-out.

2008:

9th Auto Expo: Theme of "Mobility for All." Exclusive pavilion dedicated to Diesel technologies. Trend of launching facelift models of current production cars.

2010:

10th Auto Expo: Record attendance with over 2 million visitors, 72 product launches including 10 global launches, largest overseas participation with 30 countries and 2100 exhibitors. Exhibition became synonymous with India’s foothold in the auto industry.

2012:

11th Auto Expo: Around 1500 participants from 23 countries and 50 car launches, including 10 global launches and 20 two-wheeler launches, first appearance in India by Ferrari and Peugeot. The trend of concept vehicles gained prominence.

2014:

12th Auto Expo: Bifurcated into two events: Auto Expo (Components) and Auto Expo (The Motor Show). Over 105 stalls, with 47 overseas manufacturers. Globally successful models as well as Indian concepts were showcased.

2016:

13th Auto Expo: Biggest automotive show in India and second largest auto show of the world, bifurcated into two events: Auto Expo (Components) and Auto Expo (The Motor Show). Concepts closer to production were shown to public. Popularity of video shows and car reviews made the event a staple of auto enthusiasts all over the world. Entry to event was made easier for general public.

2018:

14th Auto Expo: Dominated by EV’s and Concept SUV’s.Participation of 12 Startups. Most number of launches on the opening day. Many automakers cite their reasons to pull out of expo. Showcase of armoured vehicles. The nearby hotels cashed-in on the opportunity of scarcity of keys around the expo, with skyrocketing prices.

2020:

15th Auto Expo: A peek into the future of mobility and transportation. EV buses and trucks exhibited. The metro line of NMRC made it’s way to Knowledge Park II, connecting the venue with rest of Delhi.

2023:

16th Auto Expo: Expo to be held from 13th to 18th January 2023 after 3 years.

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

Perks of the job, the Team-BHP Crew is lucky enough to experience the Auto Expo on Media Days. Only media & journalists allowed in on the preview days, before the expo opens to the public. It's a lot of fun roaming around the emptier expo, checking out the cars up close and interacting with executives & engineers from the auto industry.

Crowds only there at the time of press conferences, but we usually avoid going there at the press conference time.

This time though, a lot of manufacturers bunked the Auto Expo. At one time, participation was mandatory, but the event is losing its sheen due to high costs, the internet & social media. Manufacturers are instead spending the same or lesser money on their own events. Example, BMW JoyTown in Bombay.

This is what some Mods had to say about the general sentiment at the ground level:

• Lack of enthusiasm overall is noticeable, especially brands that have done multiple expos over the years.
• Maruti, of all brands, would get no visitors if they hadn't brought the Jimny. Heard a lot of non-media visitors today commenting 'bhai ye toh bas bada Nexa showroom lag raha hai' (it just looks like a big Nexa showroom).
• Some pavilions are well done aesthetically: Toyota/Lexus, MG, Tata.
• A lot are terribly low-effort.
• Didn't feel exciting...only Tata yesterday and Jimny today. Everything else was regular fare.

Here's what BHPian SJ1211 had to say on the matter:

Extremely disappointing auto expo this time around. I have never missed an Auto Expo in the last 12 years and wasn't going to miss it this time but this time around I don't have adjectives to describe how bad it was:

• Disappointing products (barring a few ) from Hyundai & Kia - waste of space & money for sure.
• Maruti only had two products which generated interest - rest all was showroom stuff.
• Tata - probably created a whole lot of buzz but seriously? What is going to transpire in the reality? Sierra & Harrier EV? When? In 2028? Also - curvv against Creta / Seltos? Who is driving this decision??.
• 2W space was dead! No big players.
• You would be surprised to know but Commercial Vehicle space was far better compared to PV!
• In terms of logistics - it is very far and you would spend more money on commute than on the ticket itself also the food arrangements are pathetic! Sure there is the Haldiram brand in there but food quality is low grade and super expensive!!

Don't think it is worth to travel to Greater Noida to see the showroom or never to be launched products!

Here's what BHPian ledmedico had to say on the matter:

I'll pen down my review of the 2020 auto expo. I was working in Delhi at the time and Greater Noida didn't seem distant. Passes were made free of cost through a personal link.

However it was a total waste of day. Greater Noida isn't near even for Delhites. Parking was very far from the centre in a dusty ground. No rickshaws to transport us to the gates. Shoes and lungs were ruined walking out of the parking, made us pretty tired too!

Inside the pavilion, all I remember was a pretty grand affair by Haval, one of the only displays that were allowing a touch/feel/sit down of their cars. Everything else was locked. Slight interest in the Creta which was then due for its facelift reveal right before Covid hit.

Food and drink was terrible, both quality and pricing. Didn't bother with it. Overall, not a fun day out for the seasoned car enthusiast. It's ok for the more young and social media uploaders who'd have plenty of fodder to click selfies with.

Here's what BHPian sajivkk had to say on the matter:

I like many others here on TeamBHP living in NCR have never given Auto Expo a miss. Following are things that I noticed about expo:

• Greater Noida is a bit far from Delhi but I do not mind it at all. I love a drive to the place and think Pragati Maidan was too ancient for this type of event.
• Entry: One word for this HORROR. People who buy pass from app or site (bookmyshow), I bought Business pass and then had to stand in a row with over 200 people which was extremely slow. Their staff was saying that 'sir server is slow' the regular excuse with every support staff. Whats the point in today's age to buy a ticket online which has QR code on it, then collect ticket from a counter which again has a QR code in it, to validate and enter the facility. There were people shouting at their staff about sheer bad management of supposedly a world class event. This was the same experience that I had 8-10 years ago that I had at last Pragati Maidan event.
• Exhibitors: Best was MG with their venue design and layout, they really put in a lot of efforts there. Maruti, Toyota, Kia, Hyundai with their jawdropping Ionic 5 and all the other participants should be appreciated for their efforts.
• Two wheeler: what two wheelers, seriously felt very disappointed that no real player was present their.

The venue is great, all the attendants gave a good show, what is disappointing is really companies which decided to pass the event. I consider Mahindra as a great player at our country level, they should have never missed an event like this.

Also new brands like Citroen, Isuzu, etc. should use this venue to really promote their brand awareness.

I really worry, going by this level there will be really a time soon when the event would be probably be canceled altogether. I think its a national shame to have this event organized with this little participation from main Indian players. There was ample crowd there, but mismanagement need to be looking into. In today's age where QR code and UPI are so prevalent, how can an international level event be managed like this.

Here's what BHPian MC@1986 had to say on the matter:

I had visited Auto Expo on 16th Jan 2023, been to the component expo on 15th Jan too, that was my business and I have to be there.

Coming to the Auto Expo, my observation was passenger car OEMs who are in EV space/getting in-to EV space had displayed their products for testing the waters. However the buzz was mainly at Maruti's pavilion for the Jimny and @Tata's pavilion for Curvy, Harrier EV and Sierra. MG's pavilion is a big attraction though, good to see so-many products being displayed. BYD stall is also quite worthy to visit. I personally got a chance to touch and feel the Jimny as I desperately wanted to know about the cabin size and feel with two adults in the front seats. One more key observation is the Korean, Japanese and Chinese (barring MG) OEMs had "Models" alongside their cars which was not there for Tata. Observed fellow visitors commenting that Tata's are saving the cost, but I rather feel it's the Tata's respect towards women, I personally feel that Models are not needed in these Expo's as they were obstructing the photo sessions of the cars.

Commercial Vehicle OEMs who are working on alternative Fuels like LNG, Hydrogen Fuel Cells have displayed the products barring the Tata ACE and Ashok Leyland Dost EVs. Unfortunately I haven't noticed the interest from these OEM's explaining/demonstrating the products except VECV who at-least deployed a resource to brief their Engine which runs on Hydrogen. Company like Bharath Benz giving a miss in this space is bit surprising.

Coming to the two-wheeler companies, no main stream company barring Beneli and Suzuki (only premium bikes) have their products for display. Majority are the new start-ups in the EV space and few regular products in the Ethanol pavilion.

So with this experience will I be visiting the next Auto Expo? may be not. Rather I will follow the T-Bhp's Auto Expo articles for the individual OEMs, which is good enough. Hoping the Expo will improve on the participation from OEMs and more engagement with end consumers.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.