Techno Classica Essen March 26 - 30 2008.

VIP, Preview day March 26.

20th TECHNO-CLASSICA ESSEN from 26 to 30 March 2008:
The Classic Fair of the Superlatives

AUTOSTADT

"Volkswagen for Fun" is the theme of a collection of particularly individual, particularly fascinating or particularly powerful VW automobiles of the late sixties and seventies, brought in by AutoStadt in hall 7. The cars from the collection of the ZeitHaus in the AutoStadt all are fun to drive and have three things in common: They are representing today's current issue of young classic cars, they bear the VW-logo and already three or four decades ago they represented an attitude towards the automobile which today is a sensation created by Volkswagen: emotion and individualism.

At that time already, from the end of the sixties, Volkswagen AG did not any more place emphasis solely on such car buyers who selected their vehicle particularly for the sake of reason and ratio. According to the creed from Wolfsburg formerly and today, driving automobiles should also be fun and pleasure to lift the spirits. The Beetle convertible was a protagonist of this attitude towards the automobile already since the launch of the first Volkswagen - therefore of course the last variant of this classic car, a 1303 convertible from the seventies also is included in the Volkswagen bouquet of AutoStadt at the TECHNO CLASSICA.

Next to the beetle, the AutoStadt places a second fun car, which in fact is rooted in military, but in the vast majority was put into service by private buyers: this Volkswagen 181, built from 1969, is a touring car in classic style, with simple convertible top and plug-in door panes. It is an all-terrain vehicle almost as a four-wheel drive car and was first choice in the seventies not only for forest rangers and site supervisors, but also for owners of ski lodges and off-road pioneers. Of course it is great fun to drive the 181 and this was also appreciated by American automobile enthusiasts to whom the 181 was sold as "The Thing".

Even more radical in conception and design than the 181 had been the VW Porsche 914 at its debut also in 1969 - a two-seated centre-engine sports car with roll-over bar and detachable roof, and thanks to uncomplicated Volkswagen engineering as reliable and almost as economically as a Beetle. No wonder that this VW Porsche 914 was going to shape up as the globally first sports car with centre engine which was built in a six-digit quantity. Not only did it leverage this conception which before was reserved to exotic cars and racing cars only, but it also gave proof that centre engine, clearness and spaciousness could be combined. In addition the 912 as the third exhibit set the pattern in terms of passive safety.

On the other hand, the fourth showpiece of AutoStadt at the TECHNO CLASSICA established a new automotive category. By its launch in June 1976, the Golf GTI ushered in the era of compact vehicles - there was almost no European series manufacturer who did not want to gain market share from this successful species by producing a GTI competitor. But whoever said "GTI" from now on, meant the one built by Volkswagen - this never seen combination of compactness, smooth running , economy - and incredibly good driving performance.

As the GTI developed to the cult car of the yuppies, the buggies, next to the van, were the favourites of the hippies in the seventies - and expression of pure individualism. The mostly trimmed Beetle carriages could be used to attach funny, bizarre but always fancy plastic shells, creating extremely open vehicles which were good for unrestrained fun… Particularly in the USA and there at the West Coast, the buggies became the Volkswagen of the surfers and beach lovers, also participating in desert rallies and always in the front end due to low weight and best traction.

Such desert rallies, for instance the legendary Baja, were mostly leading towards Central and South America. And there in Brazil, another piece of the exhibition of AutoStadt was shaped simultaneously with the European VW Porsche. This was the VW SP 2, which was built by order of the later VW chief executive Rudolf Leiding in Brazil from the year 1972. Only approx. 50 of the 10,193 SP produced found their way to Germany - one of these pretty coupes is presented by AutoStadt at the TECHNO CLASSICA.

Convertibles, off-road vehicles and sports sedan cars, centre-engine sports cars, buggies and coupes at the exhibition space of AutoStadt in hall 7 - but this is not all: also racing fans will get their money worth here. A formula Super Vau from the year 1972 documents the history of motor sports of the Volkswagen brand, which always rendered outstanding services to the junior staff or motor sports, whether in Monoposto (formula Vau, Super Vau and formula 3) or in the scope of brand cups in a touring car.

In anticipation of the four days of the fair, AutoStadt again invites for the already traditional TECHNO CLASSICA opening party at the preview day (Wednesday, 26 March 2008) after the Volkswagen press conference at 5 p.m. This year's motto: "The Fantastic Seventies" - thus the years when many Volkswagen celebrated their premiere for fun…