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From YourSITE.com Events Coverage As international auto shows go, the Essen Motor Show held in the northwestern German town by the same name is most closely compared to the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. Like SEMA, the show’s primary focus is the customization and the aftermarket with a strong but incomplete presence by car manufacturers. Unlike SEMA, Essen is not a professional trade show. While business is hashed out in booths around the Essen Messe, over 400,000 regular auto enthusiasts and owners also attend in droves to see that which is displayed, and even walk out of the show with parts as several halls are more market and swap meet than they are display areas.
Most of the big names are here, including a majority of automotive manufacturers primarily from Germany, France, Italy and Japan. Audi, along with most of its Volkswagen group siblings, maintains a stand at Essen with a fairly significant lineup of new models or variants. Most of the cars on display highlight what Audi’s own customization arm quattro GmbH builds. The company’s whole range was shown in either S-line trim or with some individualization options, showing a range of what Audi can do in-house. In particular, an RS 4 and new A4 TFSI, with the more powerful programming from the limited run A4 DTM Edition, both featured a new titanium-look package with dark chrome grille surrounds, titanium finish exhaust tips, anthracite wheels, chrome delete around the windows and, in the case of the A4 Avant shown, chrome delete at the rear tailgate.
Additional new model debuts featured at Essen within the Audi stand included the aforementioned A4 TFSI, the updated B7 S4 Cabriolet and the Q7 S-line. Several accessory display cars were also on hand. We’ve seen the A3 Sportback with body kit and wheels before, but a Q7 on hand showed a complete matte body kit, satin aluminum step bars and matching satin aluminum bumper inserts at both front and rear, giving Audi’s SUV a decidedly different appearance.
Spanish sister brand, SEAT had a range of things to see in their booth, from a great-looking Leon body kit and debut of the production Altea FR, to several racecars that included the latest Leon Supercopa formula racer and a previous generation race-spec Leon.
Tech Art, Abt Sportsline, Hartge, Heico Sportiv are just a few in the range of German tuning houses that make a showing. OEMs like Continental Tires, Eibach, KW and H&R all turn out as well. Audis were littered throughout the tuner area. Abt had their 2.7T-powered B7 Avant in their stand, while we spotted the Nothelle A6, an A4 Cabriolet with the new B&B body kit that includes the massive grille of the A8 W12. and the MTM TT BiMoto, fresh with new shield grille front end treatment.
Remember the blisteringly fast Audi-powered Gumpert Apollo featured several months back? A white example was displayed at Eibach, while examples of other Audi-powered specialty cars Donkervoort and Spyker were displayed. Spyker had their C8 racecar that ran at Le Mans and some events in the LMES on display, while Donkervoort shared their record-breaking Nuburghring D8. Germans have a strong love affair with Lamborghinis, so it was no surprise that the Italian marque had a strong presence at the show. In addition to its own stand with open-top versions of both Murcielago and Gallardo, tuned Gallardos were seemingly everywhere at the show. Particularly stunning was a Gallardo complete with widebody kit from tuner IMSA.
From the displays of industry exhibitors, ranges hall after hall of vendor with more aftermarket taillights, grilles, body kits and subwoofer boxes than you can shake a forest of sticks at. If new parts aren’t your bag, the halls are also populated by vendors for used vintage parts, scale model cars, automotive books and more.
We found a few new Audi parts we hadn’t seen before. Lighting manufacturer In.Pro had a new clear/red LED taillight for the current-generation 3-door A3, and replica wheel house Rondell featured 18-inch versions of the A3’s 5-spoke wheel (normally a 17-inch from Audi and standard fare on the new A3 3.2 in the USA).
If historical cars are of more interest to you than tuned showcars, there’s still something to see. Whole halls are dedicated to historically significant cars and racecars as well as upscale vintage cars offered for sale. On the edge of the vintage area, we found a mean-looking NSU TTS racecar in the Revell stand, and for sale were numerous Lamborghinis, from the Countach and Diablo to several Espadas and an LM002 SUV.
Even more breathtaking, not far from a stunning Auto Union Type C Grand Prix racecar in the vintage motorsport display could also be spotted last year’s Pebble Beach-winning Horch Cabriolet. American-owned, the car must have been shipped over for its German debut. In total, 570 exhibitors populated the Messe at Essen this year, offering several days worth of area to investigate, picking up giveaways like key chains and posters along the way, even if you’re not ready to drop some Euros on parts.
Motorsport is important to the German public, so it’s no surprise that racing represents a big part of this show. Racecar drivers and team members commonly interact with the crowd, while vintage and modern racecars are seemingly everywhere, from the newest F1, Sportscar , Rally, Touring and DTM racers to vintage Grand Prix cars like the 1930’s silver arrows from Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz. In addition to the Auto Union Type C Grand Prix car in the vintage display that sat nearby an RS 4 safety car, Audi displayed one of the A4 DTM racecars with S-line livery next to this year’s #3 Le Mans-winning R8. The two other liveries of A4 DTM could also be found elsewhere in the show, one at Abt, another at the DTM’s own stand and even one of the older TT DTM racecars in Red Bull livery elsewhere in the show. For those who prefer Avants, we also spotted a full race-spec B5 RS 4 Avant not far from the Audi display.
In the meantime, show-goers walk wide-eyed through no less than 12 show halls, some of which are two floors. If you make the trip, plan several days of attendance. If you’re in the industry, try for their press/industry day as it’s much less crowded. Sadly, this day normally falls on or very close to the American holiday of Thanksgiving. However, the show runs for about a week and a half, so if you’re ready to brave the crowds and cold weather of Northern Germany in late November or early December, this show may be for you. Full Essen Motorshow Gallery at TheCarLounge.net
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