As well as the cars, the number of people we knew from the U.K. who had made it to Germany was great. Even better was the number of new people we got to know from all over the world. The organizers estimated there were 27 nationalities represented. We identified Poles, Germans, Brits, French, Swedes, Brazilians, Dutch, Americans, Australians, Austrians, Danes, Italians, Spanish, Portuguese, Belgians, Indonesians, Japanese, Philippines, Canadians and Irish. We had just the best time in the hotel on Saturday night talking and drinking with three ex-pat. Philippinos. Jack had his laptop and showed us his shots from the show that day. Then he went on to another folder and showed us some shots of his garage back home in California--just a small matter of a '51, a '52 and a '79 cab. Then there was the '56 Samba. Oh, and the red one in the background--just the daily driver Ferrari!
Had there been a prize for the most-travelled contingent it would undoubtedly have gone to the Australians. Ray Black and his mates turned up with a mint Country Buggy (only made in Oz and there are under 200 left) and the only Beetle to have driven in the Antarctic. Ray was adamant that they were not taking the cars back with them. So where did they end up?
There was a comprehensive selection of trade stands, as you'd expect at an event of this stature. What was utterly gob smacking were the prices gear was going for. I watched someone hand over 500 Euros [U.S. $568] for a pair of NOS semaphores and Shaun saw a pair of original steel fender skirts up for 2000 Euros [U.S. $2270]. Altogether scary but maybe it just reflects the increasing rarity of these parts.
Not everything was true vintage, like the lowered '55 with Porsche-cooled Type IV engine and genuine BRMs but it was still very cool. My top car of the show was a black '55 with a 356 engine both of which were immaculately presented. This was fired up and the sound was pure poetry. A close second was another Oval with a perfect Judson conversion. Not forgetting the two Dove Blue panel vans, one of which also sported a Judson supercharger. Then there was Carsten Reeder's heavily accessorised daily driver Oval--the list just goes on and on.
The most adrenalin producing moment, for me at least, was the trip up the BBT ladder truck to get the full panorama shots. Sometimes these things just have to happen but the last ten feet was decidedly wobbly!