2023, Sid between journeys. Essen by train and the Techno-Classica car show.

In which Sid takes you by train to one of the world’s largest car shows.

Last year Dave and Sid went to Paris Retro. This year Sid was off to Techno Classica Essen to catch up with Joe, Betka and quite a lot of classic cars. You can fly to Koln (Cologne) from Heathrow and then take the train.  Sid fancied going by train, all the way.

The first train was the 8.17 Stortford to Liverpool Street train that Sid leaves at Tottenham Hale to catch the Victoria Line to St Pancras International. 

The Victoria line could run without drivers, and could have since 1968 but London Transport never bothered to face down the unions.

St Pancras station was built by Midland Railway after the Victorian rail network experienced congestion during the Great Exhibition. The terminus survived plans for its demolition in the 1960s. It is now Grade 1 listed  and after an £800m refurbishment is the London terminus for Eurostar with direct trains to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.

That is one single span arch over the platforms  and underneath is an enormous undercroft which was once where MR brought trains of beer from the Burton Breweries. Now the area is full of cafes and shops, but you could find a beer in M&S. The picture shows the TGVs on the upper level. Even the UK end of the line allows for 300kmh under the Thames and through Kent. Sid has 20 minutes to change trains at Brussels, which is easier than feared. Hurrah for Schengen.

 

 

This is the Trans Europe Express from Brussels Zud to Koln. You could look up Kraftwerk’s album. It all looks dead modern but runs on the route of the world’s first international railway (France – Belgium) built by the Rhenish Railway Company in 1841. Remember that Cologne and Aachen (Aix la Chapelle) have sometimes been French. From 1801 to 1815, French. Then Prussian. Post WW1 occupied by the Allies until 1930, then German. It was the first big German city taken in October 1944, the Americans greeted as liberators apparently, though by that time there were only 4,000 people in the city which was all a bit Bakhmut.

 

At Düsseldorf (where Kraftwerk recorded TEE) there were just nine minutes to make the change and by this time Sid is getting pretty confident. This orange nosed device went to Essen Hbf from where it was just a tube ride out to the Messe. So, about eight hours, seven different trains and no connection missed. The return trip was equally smooth with just six trains and a rather dull change at Aachen. Trans Europe Express. No one is going to write an album about a flight from London to Koln.

Many of the very few people who read this are car experts. So, before you read any further please look at this red car. Red car. Just what an expert would say.

Sid had Saturday to recce all the halls and thousands of cars to find the best things to show Joe and Betka on Sunday. The plan was not to look at familiar cars that can be seen at every Cars and Coffee in Europe and America.

This orange one is the same model, with Sid tucked under the gull wing there. Lotus Europa-alike? Matra Djet? Maybe Italian … Abarth? No, it is an East German Melkus RS1000, built in fibre glass on a Wartburg chassis with 992cc of throbbing mid-mounted two stroke triple with about 68bhp. To get this out of the Wartburg 353 engine they upped the compression and put a bike carb on each cylinder. Brakes were drums all round but then it only weighed 690 kgs (or 1520 lbs). Even so, 165 kph must feel quite bold, and there is still a race series for them.

They built 101 between 1969 and 1979, permitted by the authorities because they would glorify
the peoples’ GDR. Well, authorities have a weakness for gull wing doors: step forward Northern Ireland and that 1,981 engineering marvel, the DeLorean.

Not far away was a Mini Marcos. No sign of a Clan or GTM, though there was an Alpine and while talking fibre glass cars with small engines we saw a Deutsch Bonnet, famed for winning the smallest classes at Le Mans. And used on the Mille Miglia, so anyone who had one could join in the modern recreation.

So, what next? If you zoom in on the badge you will find this is Dottore Fabio Lamborghini who button-holed Sid and tried to sell him this elegant tractor.

The three wheels are so you can drive out of the yard and up the road then jack the whole thing up, remove the wheels and set off on the tracks. The whole thing is very charming and the persuasive Doctor says they are jolly rare, they made ten. It is another triple, and also built in the 1960s though I can’t find a race series for them.

Those of you who know Adventure Headquarters will know the gardens could barely support a rabbit. The price was coming down all the time. About 37,500 Euros on Saturday afternoon. Sid did once come home with a surprise Opel Kadett Coupe but felt even Doris might find the Lamborghini a step too far. Still, if you had to have a Lamborghini then this might be the one.

A feature of the Techno-Classica is that a very high proportion of the ‘exhibits’ are for sale. A lot of the stock carried special show prices and word had it that there weren’t a lot of sales being made. The prices on American cars were far above what a US classic stockist would ask. For non-Americans see www.gatewayclassiccars.com and see what you can get.

So, what’s happening on this splendidly low key stand? That there is a supercharged Bugatti 35 from the early ‘20s. It is a straight eight with a four speed straight cut ‘box and weighs about 1800lbs or 820kgs. They came with a needle bearing crank (good for about 6,000 miles before rebuild) and put out 140bhp.

The dudes are Argentinian from Pur Sang who are building replicas. The 1920s cars are now going for $3,000,000. This one from the early 2020s will be less than one tenth of that and (unless you specifically ask for a car that breaks down) will come with a distributor rather than magneto and a plain bearing crank, which combined with modern engineering tolerances and a changed firing order will give 180bhp. Jay Leno, a well minted American talk show host, has a rather good car collection including three real Bugattis and one of these. What a good idea. Form an orderly queue.

 

This is a stand Sid had recced for Joe and Betka. The bug is for sale, or can be hired for the Dakar Classic or Moroccan Pionniers rally. To do the Dakar Classic, with all documentation, service, accommodation and two days tuition and testing at Chateau Lastours (where Citroen go) would be rather over 150,000 euros. A bit rich for Sid. Cheaper than Le Mans. More expensive than the Roger Albert Clark.  There are probably cheaper ways to do the Dakar Classic (Ian?). Anyone got an old Lada Niva?

There were probably 3,000 cars, spread across 12 halls. Sid types slowly so has missed some of them out. Even if you subtract all the 1980s BMWs, Mercedes and VW group cars this is still a pretty good show. If you fancy going next year do let Sid know and we’ll think of a fun way to make the journey.

Next instalment with Hermann, Doris, Joe and Betka on the Atlantic Wall in Nordwijk and wandering around Amsterdam. Sid and Doris are now off to Spain for the Bespoke Pyrenees 1,000 kilometres with the mighty Teal on the Bilbao ferry. They are vairy busy.