STUTTGART FÊTES COACHBUILDING
The remarkable cars of Lithuanian collector Saulius Karosas set the tone for this year’s Retro Classics Stuttgart from 22-25 March, with a mind-boggling display of coachbuilt rarities from his garage lined up with the enthusiast’s rarely-seen set of Soviet-era machines.
Among the Erdmann & Rossibodied jewels on show was a well-travelled concours favourite, the 1933 Mercedes-benz 380 Spezial Roadster, alongside an elegant and recently restored 1938 Bentley 4½ Litre Coupé Cabriolet, which is set to cause a stir when it takes to the lawns at Concorso d’eleganza Villa d’este this year.
Equally compelling was a 1934 Mercedes 500 Nürburg, which was presented in as-found condition – complete with a thick layer of dust – in stark contrast to the restored vehicles surrounding it.
Other gems from the SK Collection included a 1957 Rometsch Beeskow Volkswagen and a delightful 1935 Adler Junior Sport, while from the other side of the Iron Curtain came tin-top and soft-top GAZ Chaikas, a single-cylinder SMZ S3A-M and a deeply sinister 1978 ZIL 114 that looked as if it had come straight out of the pages of a le Carré thriller.
Porsche marked its 70th anniversary with a strong display led by a mint 356 Speedster and Rothmans-liveried 961 – the first all-wheel-drive car to compete at Le Mans. The manufacturer’s effort was backed by the German
‘The piazza was packed full of cars, but the snow made the indoor market more appealing’
Porsche clubs, which laid on a 16-car grid diorama featuring 904 Carrera GT, 924 Carrera GT and the ex-ickx Paris-dakar 953.
Not to be outdone, rival BMW marked 40 years of its M1 supercar with three immaculate roadgoing examples and a trio of competition cars, from 1979 Procar to the 1980 Le Mans entry of Dieter Quester, Didier Pironi and Marcel Mignot, which sported superb livery depicting a road map of France. All were upstaged, however, by BMW’S Art Car Number 4, which stole the show in the atrium. Andy Warhol completed the work in doublequick time, with each brush stroke and impressions of fingers clearly visible in the thick paint.
A trawl of the dealer stands turned up some rarities, including an intriguing 1955 BMW 502. The glassfibre one-off was rebodied as a two-door cabriolet by Berlin-based boatbuilder Jacobsen & Steinberg at a cost of more than DM100,000, and by Friday morning had sold for €95,000. Meanwhile, Christopher Hankus from Poland offered a 1971 Intermeccanica Italia Spider he’d found in the United States. “It was all in one piece, but had to be rebuilt,” said Hankus. “We had to make new door glass after discovering that the windows were plastic, and employed a piano specialist to create a bespoke burr-walnut dashboard and centre console.”
Retro Classics has gained a welldeserved reputation for impressive displays of farm machinery, and this year’s event cemented that further with a stunning array of behemoths that included a brace of Fowlerpluglokomobile AA4S. But even the steam-powered giants were dwarfed by a colossal 1973 Schlüter Profigant tractor, which weighed in at more than 20 tonnes.
A 1966 Fiat 643 N1 car transporter proved a highlight of the club displays. The restored truck dominated the Alfaclub stand with its 18m-plus length, while a pair of Zagato beauties – a Giulia TZ and Junior Z – sat proudly on the top deck. Local Capri clubs turned out in force, and as with previous years displayed their cars in mock flowerbeds. On show was a 1983 2.8i, Capri 3.0S and Mk1 XLR.
The popular outdoor piazza was again packed full of cars for sale, but swirling winds and snow made the indoor market a more appealing proposition. An impressive Mercedes-benz 300SL Gullwing and Roadster pair drew plenty of attention to the HK Engineering display. Both cars were finished in cream and presented in original condition; the open car was offered at €1,425,000, the coupé €1.25m. A brace of Porsche 914/6s provided intrigue, with a red example at €210k while a Ravenna Green car with non-standard 3.3-litre turbo engine was €60k cheaper.
Retro Classics has now hit its stride, having been given a boost by the newly opened Hall 10, and for next year organisers have promised to avoid the unfortunate clash with Techno-classica Essen.