ESSEN SHOW - THE PH HIGHLIGHTS
German tuners showcase power, performance and (often) dubious taste...
The Essen Show is a fixture on the German motoring calendar that's often overlooked here in the UK, most often for reasons of good taste and decency. Yet as a window on the global tuning industry, the event is second to none. If it's got a bodykit and a ludicrous power upgrade it's here, be that a half-million pound supercar or chipped and, er, 'slammed' hot hatch.
Heavyweight suppliers to manufacturers, tuners and DIY enthusiasts alike turn up, alongside a handful of manufacturers themselves, while tuners like Brabus, Abt and 9ff, enthusiast clubs, and wheel and bodykit vendors are represented at every level.
Custom cars, classics, bikes and all manner of other oddities pack the vast Messe Essen and it's well worth the trip over for the spectacle alone - even if many of the exhibits might (how can we put this kindly?) struggle to spin the P.H. O'meter to its higher reaches...
Still, it takes all sorts, and as we've already shown you the Brabus Widestar SLS and 9ff GTurbo 1200, here's our round-up of more of the highlights:
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Carlsson Making its debut here at Essen, Carlsson has presented a seriously souped up version of the C63 AMG. Known as the CK63RS, beneath its bulged bonnet is a version of the familiar AMG 6.2-litre V8 packing 600hp and one of the best looking engine bays we've seen in a while. |
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Abt This is a serious car, the roll cage (complete with camera mount for saving those Porsche-smoking moments for posterity), harnesses and switchable exhaust pointing very much toward the track tool direction. Abt has even reconfigured the drivetrain to send 80% of the drive torque rearwards for a more rear-biased power delivery. |
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9ff The GT9-R is an absolute monster too, this mid-engined creation - reminiscent of Porsche's own GT1 - available with power outputs of 750hp, 987hp and 1120hp according to what shade of effing fast you like to stain your underpants with. In its most potent form it'll hit 257mph and 0-62mph in just 2.9 seconds. |
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Akrapovic There's also a full system for the Mercedes C63 AMG and the 911 GT3 and GT3 RS, the latter reaping significant power gains. As you'd hope for not far off £10K. If that hasn't dented your wallet enough there's also a prototype titanium roll cage for 911s, said to save 12kg. |
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BT Automotive Skoda is also at Essen, showing of RS+ styling exercises for the Fabia and Octavia first revealed at the Wöthersee VW group festival earlier this year. The grey paint/yellow wheels combo is certainly eye catching, Skoda taking the pulse of showgoers as it considers a possible production upgrade package along these lines. |
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Wind Up! Based on a quad bike and using a body from one of those Postman Pat rides usually found in shopping centres, the Wind Up is just 1.3m long and 1m high. But it'll do 40mph. |
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| JB Design Cayenne Appetite for frighteningly pig-ugly Porsche Cayennes appears yet un-sated, this beauty from JB Design one of the more restrained examples. Blame demand in Russia, the Gulf states and China, but the tuner Cayenne truly is the car that taste left behind. |
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Alfa Romeo 8C Monzas streaked with racing grime, the legendary Tipo 33 and GTA are all here in a hall that appears left over from the Techno Classica that takes place earlier in the year here at the Messe Essen. |
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Bilstein Everything from a new version of its classic B6 (now with a clicker adjuster option) to full beans retro-fittable Ride Control B16 dampers with push button adjustment are here, a Polizia liveried Fiat 500 demonstrating the mod-friendly B14 coilovers perfect for that hot hatch project car. |
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Mercedes The SLS and CLK-GTR you may have seen before. But the gullwinged C112 supercar and Vision SLR concept - prototype for the McLaren SLR - sitting alongside SSK, Gullwing and more besides are a mighty show of force from the three-pointed star. |
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