javier romagosa
For starters, in Retro Car Barcelona, the dean of Spanish fairs, several significant changes have been made. The first and most obvious, a new advance of dates, which in this case we can judge as positive, since an important part of the room was held outdoors.
On the other hand, Hall 1 has been used for the first time of the Montjuic fairgrounds for exhibition purposes and the "Moving Show". The inclusion of this new space, which was added to the traditional Pavilion 2 and its surroundings, gave an amplitude to the room that allowed recreation in observing the classic vehicles on display.
Retro Barcelona Car in Motion
And it is that this edition has improved in some aspects with respect to the previous one. First, the various thematic exhibitions mounted by clubs and by ERMEvents in collaboration with private collectors in Hall 1. The Seat-Fiat 1400 exhibition from the collection "Seat in Filming", la Mymsa retrospective with interesting pre-series motorcycles and the delicious recently restored three-wheeled micro-van, or the stand of the Antic Car Club de Catalunya where a Maserati Mistral (registered in Barcelona) or a beautiful Seat 600 Corver Serra very well preserved shone with their own light, were the most remarkable.
The buses of Sagalés, TMB (Transportes Metropolitanos de Barcelona) and ARCA (Association for the Restoration and Conservation of Buses) or the trucks of firefighters of the city councils of Barcelona and Manresa are classic by age and usually frequent the room with new units. And as icing on the cake, in the Moving Show organized by the Expomotor company in collaboration with ERMevents, a scene from the American series was recreated The Untouchables, set in Chicago in the 30s.
At Moving show Popular classics, sports cars, the aforementioned fire trucks, military personnel from various international contests and motorcycles such as the Bultaco Cazarrácords also circulated, which also had the presence of Ricardo Quintanilla, one of the official pilots of the brand that made this prototype famous. .
Classics pre-1960 to Competition
Pavilion 2, the main one, was divided, as is tradition, into the main professional buying and selling area, the "Car corral" in one of the small side pavilions, and spare parts in the bottom pavilion. In another of the side pavilions was one of the novelties of this year: The contest of elegance, reserved for cars prior to 1960.
There was an interesting mix of 17 automobiles Among those that we could see from a Fiat 501 from 1925 to an imposing Horch 855 from 1936, through a Ford V8 from 1934 or a Maserati 3500 GT from 1959. The award was highly contested between the aforementioned Horch, a beautiful Delahaye 135 bodied in the 40s in England by Selborne and a 500 Mercedes Benz 1935 K Cabriolet, which was ultimately the overall winner.
The award for the best staging went to the Hispano Suiza T49 (1924) who paraded before the jury with a chauffeur and passengers in period clothes. All the participating vehicles paraded in motion through the Moving Show circuit to receive the evaluations of the jury, made up of professionals specialized in motorcycles and classics.
Hidden gems in the living room
In the professional space there were variations with respect to last year, highlighting the much commented reappearance -in Auto Retro- of Autostorica, with jewels such as a Ferrari 275 GTB, or the Bentley Blower –replica- and Talbot London from CarsClasicos, and some hidden gems in corners such as the BMW 2002 Turbo or the Maserati Kyalami with the original Barcelona license plate. By the way Maserati It was one of the brands that stood out in the show, because in addition to the two already mentioned there was also a perfectly restored Sebring, both Merak - one of them without an engine, and a precious Mexico with national registration in an incredible state of conservation.
For the rest, the usual number of Porsche, Ferrari or Mercedes Benz, which are always welcome, with the exception of the Artsvalua stand, an oasis that recalled the principles of Autoretro with a "Totum revolutum" of motorcycles, cars, bicycles, microcars and two pre-wars, one of them a very rare Elcar with Tenerife registration.
Car Corral and Spain Classic Raid
The adjacent pavilion, dedicated to the "car corral", was packed and there was variety. Of course, we would like to say two things: that we miss pre-1960 classics (especially veterans), and that prices, in general, were somewhat high (the well-known bubble is taking us to inadvisable levels).
Perhaps the most interesting in terms of quality / price ratio, among others, was an interesting restored Seat 600 N that changed hands for 4500 euros. A section with somewhat tighter prices for buying and selling between individuals was at the bottom of the pavilion where they were, among other things, the piece. In relation to the latter, we would like to ask the organization to bring us more spare parts and booksellers. For asking not to stay! 😉
To finish this section, the lively outdoor space, with a marquee with music and several classic “food trucks”, all surrounded by the visitor parking and activities such as the recreation of the exit of the Spain Classic Raid which took place on Friday afternoon.
Retro Car: Also motorcycles and motor stars
In Auto Retro Barcelona there was a dialogue about motor and sports with Jaime Alguersuari and Benjamín Grau; Enrique Lacalle, president of Automobile Barcelona, this year's Antic Car Club award, visited the fair; and Christian Manz, journalist and historian, recalled the origins of the electric car back in the late nineteenth century. Likewise, and on a stage, the long life of the Osona and Skualo teams was celebrated.
For its part, the world of two wheels shone thanks to a motorcycle exhibition Norton Command -which celebrates its 50th anniversary-, in which you could see two 750 JPS with multitubular chassis and monocoque designed by the pilot and engineer Peter Williams in the early seventies.
The biker presence was also especially enhanced by the Ossa 250 cc monocoque with which the legendary pilot Santiago Herrero achieved the greatest triumphs of his career. On rare occasions this motorcycle, a prodigy of design and technique, is exhibited in public and in addition to the hand of its creator, the engineer Eduardo Giró.
The exhibition proposals related to the world of motorcycles were completed with a sample of Spanish off-road motorcycles prior to 1980 and three special motocross units: an Ossa Stiletto, a Bultaco Metisse, and a Montesa Cappra 33M.
The Montjuïc Legend Series and club rallies, among others, they completed the program of activities of this edition of the Barcelona Classics Show.
