As I sit at home in London and think about the 2024 Essen Motor Show (EMS), I’m feeling a little overwhelmed.
There are three reasons for this. Firstly, despite spending three full days at Messe Essen, I still feel like I missed many of the cars on display. Secondly, I traveled more than 1,300 kilometers in Germany, at hunting speed throughout the country. But the third reason is the most personal.
The end of EMS marks the approach of my sixth year as a Speedhunter – the dream job I ended up in by accident. No champagne is needed yet; I’ll save that for another time.
Let’s get back to work: eight halls full of some of the wildest, most outrageous, newest, oldest and fastest machines Europe has to offer.
The Essen Motor Show, now in its 56th year, was founded in 1968 by 25-year-old car enthusiast Wolfgang Schöller as the ‘International Sports and Racing Car Show Essen’. Like the SEMA Show, what started as a modest affair grew into the massive event we know today.
In the 1970s the event was renamed the ‘Essen Motor Show’, with the focus shifting from motorsport to a wider celebration that also included the aftermarket and tuning industries. A quick walk through the halls is enough to see that this is still the case today, with custom cars and aftermarket parts everywhere you look.
Several Touring and GT4 cars immediately caught my attention, especially the Risse/Send Motorsport Opel Kadett Coupé GT/E. Opel has a rich motorsport heritage across Europe, but its namesake Vauxhall is not as well regarded in Britain. Opel’s motorsport history is much more impressive than most people realize, and I’d love to dive into it at some point.
John Cleland is a legend of the British Touring Car Championship, but seeing his name on this South African Astra GSi Super Tourer shows that Opel’s racing history extends far beyond Vauxhall and the BTCC.
During my first and only other visit to EMS in 2019, several electric vehicles were on display, but nothing compared to the number of electric vehicles on display this year. Yes, there are still race cars and smaller tuners at the entrance to the show, but the first car I saw in Hall 7 was a modified Volvo EX30.
As expected at a German show, EMS had many German tuners. AC Schnitzer, a brand close to my heart, presented not only their four-wheeled offering, but also a stunning two-wheeled creation from BMW Motorrad. Further down the hall, Eisenmann Exhaust Systems displayed a G80 M3 on F1-inspired wheels, a choice that was both love and hate, judging by the crowd’s reactions.
Bilstein had World Rally Championship legend Walter Röhrl on its stand, where he signed autographs and posed for photos next to a BMW M4 and a rally-spec G-body Porsche 911. However, it was a beautiful 2.7-liter E21 BMW on the Dbilas Dynamics stand that caught my attention.
Dbilas is known for manufacturing some of the best intake manifolds, throttle bodies and carburetor setups – and when I set out to build a high-output BMW M30 engine, their ITBs were the only option I considered.
It’s impossible to talk about EMS without mentioning Jean-Pierre (JP) Kraemer and his team from JP Performance. The German tuning scene is notoriously difficult to break into due to strict TÜV standards and the high costs of obtaining parts approval.
What that does mean, however, is that if someone is bold enough to build the outrageous cars that German authorities hate, they will likely achieve fame in the industry. And JP’s bold, groundbreaking constructions have earned him a well-deserved place at the top.
Vlad previously went into details about JP’s empireand his success is clearly on display with two back-to-back stands at EMS 2024 with three outrageous builds. JP’s latest creations are a V12-swapped Mercedes-Benz SLC and the ‘Volto’ – a Volvo 850 with a spaceframe chassis and an electric drivetrain.
At Shelby American, my favorite of the ‘OEM’ booths, they showed the new GT500 and the huge Shelby Raptor. While I may be slightly biased in my preference here…
There was something for everyone at EMS 2024 – from live and competitive sim racing sessions to RC drift displays and real-life driving demos. You can easily empty your bank account whether you’re looking for memorabilia or a fur coat (yes, strangely they had a booth for that too).
I had to stop myself from buying a real poster of a BMW M3 GTR Strassen version, because the prices at shows are often outrageous, and I would never have forgiven myself. Just as I would never have forgiven myself if I forgot to include the all-E36 BMW booth, which had some incredible, unique examples on display.
The Tuning Experience hall was packed with so many show-and-shine cars that I’m working on a separate feature for them. I also have stories planned about some DTM legends and a quirky European racing series that caught my attention. There’s a lot to look forward to, I promise.
But for now, I’ll leave you with my star of the show – or should I say, mine three-pointed star of the show?
The Koenig Specials R107 Mercedes-Benz SL in metallic black/blue with gold details and a white leather interior was as beautiful as it was scandalous. Koenig Specials cars always have a special place in my heart – not only because of their bizarre appearance, but also because of their simple attitude.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: simple cars are often the best. But when something so wild happens, it’s impossible not to smile.
The 2024 Essen Motor Show 2024 was fantastic, if a little overwhelming. But if you get the chance to attend, I definitely recommend it. The show is really great – and that’s not just my nostalgia.
Mario Christou
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