Stuttgart, March 14, 2010
The tenth Retro Classics, the Stuttgart-based trade fair for historic
and classic cars, took place at the weekend for the third time at
the new trade fair grounds at the airport. The trade fair concluded
today (Sunday, 14 March) on a record high. Last year's excellent
visitor record has been exceeded by approximately 10% with over
60,000 visitors attending. Also from an exhibitor perspective, the
trade fair registered a new record with more than 1,100
participants taking part and around 3,000 cars on display (2009:
1,050 participants and 2,500 cars). Its area requirement occupied
almost the entire trade fair grounds with 100,000 square meters.
Finally, the international character of the Stuttgart-based trade fair
for historic and classic cars is once again on the increase, which
was evident in the array of visitors and exhibitors who came from
15 different countries. New exhibitors came from Spain, Portugal
and Turkey and the event attracted visitors from neighboring
countries Switzerland, Austria, France and the Benelux countries.
Also guests from Russia, the Czech Republic, Poland, England,
Portugal and the United Arab Emirates were welcomed at the
stands in the eight trade fair halls.
"All in all it was a successful anniversary. The tenth Retro
Classics more than exceeded its high expectations", rejoiced
Roland Bleinroth, Managing Director of Messe Stuttgart, who
reviewed the event for the first time at noon on Sunday (today):
"Our historic and classic cars trade fair has once again received a
real boost in quality, quantity and international character, which
affects both exhibitors and visitors, and its excellent image as a
first-class exhibition has been confirmed." The premium
purchasing power of keen visitors, as well as the trade fair's own
structured exhibition profile, also played a role here and this is
what "distinguishes us from many other historic and classic car
trade fairs." Ultimately the visitors were not only looking forward to
viewing the many vehicles, but also, "despite the current
economic climate, were looking forward to purchasing historic and
classic cars and youngtimers". He added that the majority of the
approximately 320 vehicles for sale in Hall 6, for the most part
private vehicles, found new owners and the dealers also enjoyed
great business. "Sold" signs were already being placed on several
high-priced vehicles on Friday.
Klaus Kienle, Managing Director of Kienle Automobiltechnik
GmbH in Ditzingen and one of the world's leading Mercedes
restorers, summarized it aptly: "Retro Classics has, as expected,
become more international in character. Many visitors from
abroad, such as Romania, Russia and Qatar, were here for the
first time. It's a completely new market. Overall we are delighted
with the visitor figures, the quality of the public and the sales. The
trade fair has established itself so firmly that we are already
looking forward to the next event." Nick Aaldering, Managing
Director of "The Gallery" from the Netherlands, was also
enthusiastic: "We are extremely satisfied with how the trade fair
went. I was amazed so many visitors turned out with the current
bad weather we are experiencing. The quality of the trade fair is
continuing to increase and in fact this applies to both exhibitors
and the public. The atmosphere was super, the stress-free
organisation, Swabian style! We couldn't have wished for better.
We are now regular customers!". And Heinz-Dieter Lankes,
Managing Director of the auction house of the same name, could
not have imagined a better premiere in Stuttgart to attract new
customers: "We are really happy, a great trade fair. We sold 30-
40% of our products. It was incredibly busy. We always had our
hands full! What I found particularly remarkable was the fact that
several international visitors travelled here to the event. We are
unique to Retro Classics and will be glad to come again next
year."
Retro Classics defies the economic crisis
"The anniversary event of Retro Classics has impressively defied
the economic crisis. The trade fair has repeatedly proven itself to
be the central meeting place for the historic and classic car
scene in south Germany and its appeal has, in the meantime,
extended well beyond the country's borders", stated Ulrich
Herrmann, organiser of Retro Classics. The influx of visitors
confirms this viewpoint. And this is celebrated in the 3,000
historic and classic vehicles with two and four wheels, as well as
the special shows such as "Design Studios from Mercedes", "90
years of Mazda", "75 years of Jaguar", "E-Mobility – Back to the
past", and the unique assembly of approximately 30 Alfa Romeos
from the private collection of Lopresto for the 100th birthday of the
cult brand. Hall 4, which staged the theme of motor sport, once
again enthused fans of historic and classic fast cars, as well as
modern ones. Herrmann: "We will stick with this concept and will
further develop it in the coming year for the anniversary event,
"125 years' Cars"." The third appearance of historic and classic
tractors and agricultural machinery, as well as the special area for
commercial vehicles with the omnibus show put together by
Konrad Auwärter, went down excellently. Not to be forgotten is
the international spare parts market, whose 220 exhibitors were
overwhelmed by the number of visitors and their interest.
Stuttgart's historic and classic cars trade fair has built up a
regular clientele. And together with the trade fair, this is more
than satisfactory. In total, 99% of visitors surveyed would
recommend Retro Classics and 98% are planning on attending
the event again in 2011, of which more than 70% were definitive.
Almost half of the visitors are also certain that Retro Classics is
continuing to increase in significance in comparison to other
events.
Longer trade fair visit
Trade fair attractions and special areas encouraged visitors to
stay longer in the halls; on average, visitors spent almost five and
a half hours at the trade fair. And with good reason too - the
special areas and new attractions were very impressive. Many
historic and classic car fans visited the two-wheel area where the
scope of motorbikes ranged from the start of the 20th century to
current, historic and classic models from brands such as Ducati,
Moto Guzzi, Heinkel, Agusta, Honda, Suzuki and Harley
Davidson. Other crowd-pullers included the "Club and Countries
Halls" with car brands from Italy, France and England. In addition,
there were special motor racing stands, where the traditional
clubs "Solitude Revival", the Hockenheimring and AMSC
Leonberg, among others, were represented.
High quality of visitors / More foreign visitors than last year
The visitors of Retro Classics displayed a high level of
competence and had distinctive knowledge; something which,
according to the comments from many exhibitors, is unheard of.
The initial evaluations of the survey results confirm this. The
proportion of specialist visitors, who came to the trade fair for
professional or business reasons, was approximately 24%
(without "Family Sunday"). Also the foreign interest did not
decline. In fact, the opposite holds true: The number of visitors
attending from abroad has risen once again. Incidentally, 41% of
foreign visitors came from Austria and another 38% travelled from
Switzerland to Stuttgart. In addition, there were some groups who
travelled by bus from Alsace, the French-speaking part of
Switzerland and the Czech Republic to Retro Classics.
Obligatory date for historic and classic cars fans
With reference to the unique atmosphere in the new trade fair
halls, Bleinroth, Managing Director of Messe Stuttgart, stated the
cornerstone of Retro Classics is being built upon by the positive
feedback of exhibitors and the influx of visitors. Ulrich Herrmann
shares the same view and added: "Retro Classics has become an
obligatory date for fans and people enthusiastic about historic and
classic cars and has developed into the central meeting place for
all historic and classic car events in south Germany.
Furthermore, its acceptance is continuing to increase in
neighboring countries so that we now find ourselves in a
remarkable position from an international perspective." He added
that the themes of the halls were well received by the public, as
was the combination of tradition, legend cars and a suitable
selection of new vehicles, which in this way documented the
development of a brand. With the two main focuses –
"Youngtimers" and "Neo Classics" (modern classic cars) –, which
were prominently positioned within the framework of this year's
Retro Classics, the spectrum of visitors expanded considerably,
he added. After the historic and classic cars, in which 80% of
visitors were primarily interested, came the Youngtimers with
50% in second place ahead of spare parts/accessories (33%) and
restoration (22%). Multiple mentions were possible here.
Catchment area expanded considerably ... Every seventh
visitor from Bavaria
The obvious need for the Stuttgart-based historic and classic cars
trade fair is reflected in the origins of its visitors. 34% of trade fair
guests surveyed did not come from Stuttgart or its surrounding
area, but in fact travelled more than 100 kilometers to the new
trade fair grounds. Indeed 9% travelled more than 300 kilometers
to the event. These guests live beside Baden-Württemberg in
Bavaria, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-
Westphalia. Every seventh visitor came from Bavaria.
Approximately two thirds of visitors were commercial individuals
between 30 and 60 years of age. In addition, almost a quarter of
visitors were there for the first time at Retro Classics in Stuttgart,
but this is certainly not their last time.
The next Retro Classics, the eleventh event, will take place
from 10 to 13 March 2011 in the new trade fair grounds at
the airport, whereby 10 March will be a special day
("Preview Day") for specialist visitors and journalists.
Cars of particular interest
Adler 2.5 Litre Autobahn
AFM Formel 2 Typ 50
Alfa Romeo 1900 C Super Sprint Coupé Touring
Alfa Romeo 1900 TI Pinin Farina
Alfa Romeo 2000
Alfa Romeo 2600 Prototyp
Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint Coupé Bertone
Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 SS Zagato
Alfa Romeo 6C 1750
Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 Castagna Berlinetta
Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS
Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Corsa Spider Colli
Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Stabilimenti Farina Michelotti
Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Touring Villa d´Este
Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza
Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione
Alfa Romeo Centenario Display
Alfa Romeo Duetto 1750
Alfa Romeo Giulia 1600 Sprint Coupé Bertone
Alfa Romeo Giulia 1750 Prototyp
Alfa Romeo Giulia GT Junior
Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider Bertone
Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider Verloce Pininfarina
Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint 1600 GTA Corsa
Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTC
Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint Speziale Coupé Bertone
Alfa Romeo Giulia Super
Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider Bertone Prototyp
Alfa Romeo Montreal
Alfa Romeo Sculpture
Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale
Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/2 Daytona Coupe long tail sn.75033017
Alfa Romeo TZ1
Alfa Romeo TZ2
Alfa Romeo Z6 Zagato
Aston Martin 15/98 Short Chassis
Aston Martin International sn.S73
Audi 225 Roadster
Baur Club Display
Baur TC3
Benetton 189 / F1
Bentley 4.5 Litre Supercharged
Bentley-Badge
Berna 1UP138R1H
BMW 315
BMW 3200 CS Bertone
BMW 502 V8 Baur Cabrio
BMW Isetta 600
BMW V8 502 Jacobsen&Steinberg
Bugatti T44
Bugatti T55 Roadster
Bugatti T57 Atalante sn.57312
Bugatti T57 Atlantic Replica
Bugatti T57 Corsica
Bus Display
Delage D6 Sport Special
Duesenberg Model A
FBW Ramseier & Jenzer AN 40
Ferrari 246 GT Dino
Ferrari 250 GTE sn.3641
Ferrari 275 GTB/4 sn.10869
Ferrari 330 GT 2+2
Ferrari 365 GTC/4 sn.F101AC10015411
Ferrari 365 GTE 2+2
Ferrari 412 TI B sn.155
Ferrari 512 BB sn.36775
Floosies at the Auto Union Club Display
Footwork Porsche FA12
Hockenheim Historic Display
Junkyard Display
Koco 4/12 PS
Lagonda LG45 "Rapide"
Lagonda LG45 Rapide sn.12230/9105/R
Lagonda V12 Sports-Saloon
Lancia Astura Aerodynamico
Lancia Fulvia 1600 Sport Zagato
Lancia Fulvia Coupe Rallye 1.3 HF
Lanz Typ D2531
Lanz Typ D3506
Lanz Typ D7531
Magirus Deutz
March MKI / MKIII
Maserati 26M sn.2544
Maserati 3500 GT Vignale Spider
Maserati MC 12 Stradale
Maserati MC12 Corsa
Maybach SW 38/42 Spohn Cabriolet
McLaren SLR Stirling Moss
Mercedes-Benz 300 Cabriolet D
Mercedes-Benz 300 S
Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé
Mercedes-Benz 500 K Cabriolet C
Mercedes-Benz 540 K Sepecial Roadster
Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman
Mercedes-Benz 770 K W150 Ungepanzerte Pullman-Limousine
Mercedes-Benz Classic Center
Mercedes-Benz SEL
Mercedes-Benz SSK Replica
Mercedes-Lorry
MV Agusta Display
Opel GT
Peugeot 201 Coupe DL
Peugeot 301 D Coupe
Peugeot 402 Eclipse
Peugeot Darl´Mat
Porsche 356
Porsche 356 A Carrera
Porsche 804 F1
Porsche 908/2 Spider
Porsche 917/30
Porsche 962 sn.962-141
Porsche Tractors
Rometsch Porsche Spider
Saurer Typ 5AE
Star 12 HP
Unimog
Veritas C-90 Coupé
Veritas Meteor Formel 2
Veritas Meteor II
VW Typ 60K 10 Berlin-Rom-Wagen
Weekly market Display
Williams FW12 / F1
Images - Peter Singhof ... www.ClassicCarPhotography.de
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