Ferrari at
the Techno Classica 1998
April 2, 1998
Europe's most important
exhibition for classic cars, the "Techno
Classica", took again place at Essen in the
time between April 1 and 5, 1998. In the recent
ten years, the show has become very important for
the European classic car business and always
attracts many dealers who bring some fine
machinery to the 14 exposition halls providing
70.000 square meters to display hundreds of cars.
Ferrari have always been present at
the Techno Classica in recent years. In 1996,
Ferrari had even been the featured marque. In
1998, German sports cars were to be the special
feature, and so it is just natural that there
were not as many Ferrari on display as in the
years before.
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Not even
one competition Ferrari on display
Sold out ? |
The highlights of the show
were two 250 GT SWB Berlinettas displayed by Axel
Schütte of Oerlinghausen/Germany. One was s/n 2283GT, a dark
green car with a black stripe that had just been
imported from France where it had spent all of
its life in Avignon in the very southern part of
the country. s/n 2283GT is in completely original
condition, except a trailer coupling (!) which
had been installed by one of the three foregoing
French owners. It was reported as sold to someone
in Germany.
 
The other car was s/n 3073GT, a
Swiss-owned car in red. The asking price for this
Ferrari was about 1.300.000,-DM, which is
remarkably high for a steel-bodied example.
 
Waldemar Glasman, a specialist
dealer for cars of British provenance from
Bühlertann in Germany, brought a 250 GT Coupé
Pininfarina s/n 1935GT to Essen. The dark red car
was priced at 97.000,-DM.
Coys of Kensington were also
present, their display including a 250 TR58
Spider Scaglietti replica. This fake is based on
the chassis of a 250 GT Coupé Ellena, s/n 0877GT.
Herbert Engel, a long-time
specialist for all kind of exotic cars from
Andernach/Germany, showed up with one of three
existing 365 GT "NART" Spyders. These
cars are based on 365 GTs (Engel's one being s/n
12605) which were rebodied with a weird
spyder-body in Italy following an idea by Luigi
Chinetti, Jr. However, although the styling may
be considered as a matter of taste, the 399.000,-
German Marks necessary to buy this car are
certainly too much.
Lothar Roder, a classic car dealer
of Saarbrücken/Germany, displayed three Ferrari:
A 275 GTS s/n 07861, a Dino 246 GTS s/n 04206 and
a 512 BBi s/n 45735. The Dino had been purchased
out of the famous Dürst collection in
Switzerland during a Coys of Kensington auction
at Silverstone in July 1997.
Two 365 GTB/4s could be seen as
well, one being s/n 14131 brought by a Belgian
dealer, while the other one was displayed by Auto
Becker of Düsseldorf/Germany. The latter, dark
blue Daytona s/n 16981 has already been on offer
by Auto Becker for more than a year although it
is beautifully restored.
The only remaining Ferrari which are
worth to be mentioned separately are two other
Dino 246 GTs; one could be admired on the stand
of Top Cars Ltd., a local dealer from Essen, and
the over one had been brought to the Techno
Classica by "Casey's Classics", a
dealer based in Sliedrecht in the Netherlands.
The latter car was a very early example equipped
with knock-off wheels.
Of course, there were
several contemporary Ferrari on show as well, but
the verdict of my trip to the Techno Classica is
the following: The market for rare and high
quality Ferrari cars is obviously empty, or it is
at least not necessary for the sellers to take
special examples of the marque to expositions to
get them sold. The fact that there was not even
one competition Ferrari on display is remarkable,
and the desirable street-models like 250 GT Lusso
or 275 GTB/GTB/4 were missing as well. So, if you
wish to purchase a very special Ferrari, keep
your eyes open and do not hesitate for too long
if you finally have the occasion to hammer a
deal!
Andreas Birner
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