To us car buffs the German city of Essen located on the Ruhr River is like Vegas for the gambling fanatic. Most prominently, Essen is home to the world’s largest tuning show, similar in scope to the SEMA auto show in Las Vegas. Then there’s also the lesser known Techno-Classica which aims to bring together all of the world’s most desirable vintage cars. It’s one of those shows that you could easily lose yourself in for an entire weekend. Needless to say, it’s no easy feat trying to squeeze the magic of the Techno Classica in one simple blog post. But here goes.

While all German car manufacturers had pavilions at the show, BMW absolutely blew the competition out of the water with its vast and priceless collection of automobiles on hand. One of the highlights was the “Imposing Icons: BMW Touring Cars” display which celebrated BMW’s return to DTM after an 18 year leave of absence.

Another highlight was the vast display of pristinely kept BMWs from generations past. BMW made sure a lot of classics were on hand as they announced that BMW Group Classic now has a much awaited online shop for replacement parts. From an E30 Baur conversion to a flash Alpina B12 and from the very first Z1 produced to an ubercool 1994 V8 540i Touring, no BMW car was spared for the Techno Classica.

Then just when you thought you’d seen it all, you’ll walk into another hall and spot the very last BMW Z8 ever produced, a perfectly kept gorgeous BMW 507, a bright blue 1937 BMW 328, a quirky boxer-engined BMW 700 RS, a 2002 Convertible, and loads of legendary BMW Motorsport race cars.
Hopefully today’s blog post will have slightly made up for the fact we weren’t at this year’s Techno Classica.

[Hat tip to Bimmerpost forum member Dackelone who posted hundreds of pictures from the show. ]