Ferrari At The Essen Motor Show
by Andreas Birner
13.12.00

The Essen Motor Show in facts

The Essen Motor Show, which is held annually at the end of the year in the city of Essen in Germany's Ruhr area, is Germany's second most important exposition for the motor trade; only biannual Frankfurt's IAA is more important and does attract more visitors. 351100 visitors did attend last year's edition of the Essen Motor Show.

In 2000, the exposition was held between December 1 and 10. About 550 exhibitors from 17 mostly European countries (plus Australia, Canada, Japan and the USA) gathered in Essen, 18 halls provided at total space of 104.000 m2 for the numerous displays.

A wide variety of cars

The Essen Motor Show (or simply "EMS") is the most important exposition for the tuning trade and the motorsport industry. But all the important car manufacturers are usually present as well, as are some classic car dealers. The latter's sales stands are located in Hall 6; in recent years, the EMS has lost a part of its importance - the "Techno Classica", which is held at Essen, too, in spring has "absorbed" a remarkable contingent of classic and exotic car dealers.

However, last but not least there's always a so-called "Showcenter" where one can admire a collection of particularly interesting and / or rare classic-, show- and race-cars which are not for sale but on display to cover a particular "theme" or topic; in 2000, the Showcenter was dedicated to "50 Years of Formula One".

50 Years of Formula One

The Scuderia Ferrari is for sure the most charismatic team in the F1 circus. The World Champion's winning car from each year - or at least an example of the same type - had been arranged on a special display, and so there were - of course - a number of Ferrari to see in the Showcenter. Alberto Ascari's 1952 World Championship title - the first title for Ferrari in the then young Formula One ever - was represented by Jo Vonlanthen's 500 / 625 Monoposto s/n 54/1. In 1956, Juan Manuel Fangio took the title to Maranello in a Lancia D50 which had been taken over by the Scuderia after Lancia had stepped back from the championship. Since there are only one or two genuine examples of the D50 left in existence, one could see Robin Lodge's recreated D50 at Essen. The Swiss-based collector also loaned his Dino 246 Formula 1 Rebuild s/n 0006R to the organizers of the Essen Motor Show; in 1958, Mike Hawthorn had become World Champion in the cockpit of these machines.

Unfortunately, Enzo Ferrari considered all his outdated Formula One cars as scrap and treated them in an adequate way - they were wrecked! For this reason there is absolutely no survivor left of Phil Hill's 1961 World Championship car, the tipo 156 F1 "Sharknose". In the 1990's, musician Chris Rea had a replica made of this legendary Ferrari for the making of his movie "La Passione" - this very car was on show in Essen's exposition area. Likewise, there is no tipo 158 F1 left in existence, the Ferrari which took John Surtees to his World Championship title in 1964. So, this Ferrari type left a gap in the nice display of cars at Essen.

In 1975 and 1977, Austrian Niki Lauda took the title to Maranello again, this time in a 312 T (1975) and in a 312 T2 (1977). His victories were represented at Essen by Engelbert Stieger's 1976 312 T2 s/n 025; Lauda did drive this very car only once in 1976, in the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch. In 1979, South African Jody Scheckter became the last champion on Ferrari for a very long, not to say too long time. He won in a 312 T4, and hence one could see Engelbert Stieger's s/n 038 at Essen, the very car in which Scheckter became 2nd in both the Grand Prix of South Africa and the USA (West) in 1979.

As we all know, Michael Schumacher has finally brought the World Champion's trophy back to Maranello in 2000. Since the Scuderia Ferrari never gives out F1 cars from the current season for display purposes, Schumacher's winning car was represented at Essen by an F399 F1, s/n 197.

F1 Ferrari out in force at Essen

Michael Schumacher's 2000 World Championship title on Ferrari has pushed the already incredible enthusiasm for the driver and the marque in Germany even further. As a result of this Ferrari hype, several exhibitors had Formula One Ferrari on display as the perfect crowd stoppers. BBS wheels and Sachs clutches, both official suppliers to the Scuderia, had F399s on display. Sachs showed s/n 196, while the s/n of the car on the BBS stand was taped.

Auto Becker of Düsseldorf, the official German Ferrari-importer between 1957 and 1989, now an authorized dealer, displayed another F399. There was no s/n visible in the car's cockpit, but according the staff it was s/n 191. Since Ferrari did not have an official display at the Essen Motor Show, Auto Becker stepped in instead and presented the new 360 Spider to the public, along with a 360 Challenge car.

Various Ferrari on sale

As mentioned earlier, the Essen Motor Show is not that important any longer for the classic and exotic car trade, but nevertheless there were some Ferrari on display which could be bought as well.

A Belgian displayed a nice 365 GTB/4 Daytona, painted in Blu Scuro, a very dark blue, non-metallic paint. The car featured Borrani wire wheels. A medium metallic blue 365 GT 2+2 "Queen Mary" could be bought from a Mr. Huberti from Düsseldorf. The very original car was of French origin and was definitely in need of - at least - a lot of "detailing".

Dag von Garrel's Autodromo, a company based in Münster/Germany, shared Huberti's display and presented a very early Testarossa (s/n 56303) which had been completely converted by Koenig Specials of Munich to a KOENIG Competition, a 1000 hp twin-turbo monster which is always a perfect showcase at any tuning show.

Hidden in one corner of the hall one could see a well preserved 400i Automatic. The German seller claimed that the dark metallic blue with tan Ferrari had been supplied new to HRH King Hussein of Jordan. The serial number is 46653 - can any reader from the Middle East confirm?

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