I make a point of it to see a least one car show a year and I never regret it. With a strong German focus, naturally, the Berlin Motorworld Classics gives the visitor the opportunity to see every day cars in showroom condition and feature one or two oddballs from car history like this W114 from coachbuilder Binz.
Apart from an odd angle at the C pillar, I find the lines work quite well. The rear lights might be from an Opel Rekord.
We continue teutonic with a first generation Jetta GLI. I’m glad VW left out a bit of the spoiler so you won’t hit your hand on it while turning the key on the trunk keylock.
Add to the theme of top of the line VW models, this Golf Rallye stands out in as-new condition. It was essentially a GTI G60 with the Jetta’s front lights with a wide body. You be the judge if this car is actually pretty.
5000 were made as a homologation model for rally use. This one is currently for sale at 40k euros.
Of the Scirrocos, the 1st generation has all but disappeared.
Question to the CC community: Can you think of any other German built pillarless hardtop sedan…
…other than the 300 Adenauer? I love the two-tone on this, though I am unsure if it was originally offered.
This BMW 1600 GT was born a Glas 1700 GT before BMW acquired its local competitor (mainly for their assembly lines and well-trained staff). Before BMW phased out the Glas models, there was an interesting twilight time-zone of Glas cars rebadged and slightly redesigned as BMWs.
Imagine climbing some Austrian mountain passes in of of those in 1968! A 105 hp M10 BMW engine in a body weighing less than 2000 lb…
While the time of super crazy Porsche conversions seems over (with the notable exception of Rauhwelt Begriff, of course), looking back on cars like this 964 Turbo based Strosek GT chop-top always makes me smile.
The best thing about it is that Strosek actually took out the manual and installed the 4-speed tiptronic from the Carrera! At second glance, this seems kind of logical what with the comic character of the entire car. Love it!
Never has a model change been more drastic. Yes, the DS is the direct successor to the Traction Avant.
No serious German car show should do without the NSU Ro80 (despite the now very unfortunate name, considering the Nazi-terrorist group NSU of late), and neither does the Berlin motorworld classics.
Imagine that Audi was actually running test mules with the Ro80-based Wankel engine in the 100/200/5000 C2! It was pumping out a healthy 180 hp, but we all know how the Wankel at Audi ended.
Volkwagen group rear quarters throughout the 70s/80s. Which one do you like best?
I know it’s weird but sometimes I feel like we really lost something by not driving cars like the Derby anymore. Cars that you can fix yourself with a screwdriver and a hammer. (Well maybe you couldn’t, as they are all gone now, this is the first one I have seen in a decade)
Ah, those Ford Mustang inspired fastbacks! The Audi 100 Coupe is one of the few historic Audis that actually sells. Plan on spending 40k on a nice one.
Or plan on spending 400k on this one. And good luck finding one!
I can’t believe I actually once saw one by the curbside. It was parked in a now parking zone by the church in the city that I grew up in. This was in 1994 and I just stood there, a nine-year old, dumbstruck, face pressed firmly to the windows, trying to read the tach to see how fast it would go.
The very tight back seats (due to the shortened wheelbase) contained a mountain of tennis gear. Then I realized which one of my famous neighbors’ cars this was: Steffi Graf’s! I wonder if she kept it and how I would hold up in Las Vegas.
Two of my favourite cars from the 80s. My best friend’s parents drove the Passat wagon, with a 1.6 liter 48 hp diesel. I remember those Autobahn rides where the tiny diesel mill kept us at a steady 85 for hours – until the slightest elevation where we dropped back to like 40….
I’m not a concours condition type of guy…
… but what are you gonna do when a race spec Alpine drives by with a new 10,000 dollar paintjob that will blind your eyes if you stare too long.
I know you are never gonna believe this but a Tatra 613 just like this – maybe this very one – drove by my house a couple of weeks before I shot this one.
Maybe you are gonna believe it if I tell you that around 11.000 were built.
I have a week spot for a weird rear-engined car (maybe being born in Germany makes you that) and the 3.5 litre V8 in the back must give this one great traction. I wonder if it behaves as badly when I stomp on the brakes in a corner as the…
Corvair? I’m unlikely to ever find out. With all the criticism voiced at the Corvair’s at the limit roadholding, it took a couple of CC articles to really open my eyes to the beauty and place in history of…
…what might be the most beautiful and definitely is the most influential rear-engined car. Can someone identify the engine spec for me? Is is the higher compression 2.7?
German politics are being criticized for ignoring the territory once known as the GDR and that continues all the way into car shows who tend to focus at the shiny and outlandish. All the more important it seemed to include a Wartburg. I’m not sure if this a 353 or the 1.3 which was built post reunification with a Volkwagen mill. Can anyone help?
Fun fact in industrial history: The Eisenach plant where the Wartburg was built was acquired by GM after the downfall of Wartburg and then pumped out Opels at an astonishing rate, being the most productive GM plant in the world!
Quiz: What engine bay is this? Assorted green balloons? Countless kilometers of wire? Anyone? Buehler? Anyone?
Yeah, the green balloons put the hydropneumatic system under pressure in this Citroen SM super rare convertible. While the Motorclassics seems a bit nervous about getting their carpet soiled (who peed on my rug?) two questions come up:
- Is this one of the super rare Opera convertibles (unlikely, given the visibly poor execution of the soft top)
- Is this really a trailer hitch that we see (or don’t see) covered with a Dunkin Donuts cup here?
Nice Karmann Ghia right?
Only it ain’t. A guy from Poland built this thing on a VW Beetle chassis designing his own body work. Don’t you love evolution’s little culs-de-sac and little side steps?
If you and your friend don’t want to spend 18 bucks on day ticket (or pretend that you are a couple and get a family discount) then the parking lot outside the Motorworld classics is a great place to spend a Saturday in October. Get some camping chairs, a cooler and a couple o’ beers and watch the show roll by.
You may argue that an R129 isn’t all that special and I agree. But in that color, and as the super rare dog-leg five speed manual?
The homemade Ghia is BEAUTIFUL. Much better than the Type 3 Ghia.
VW should have bought his design and used it.
Always impressed with the 1st Gen Scirocco. Fine looking car.
I was in college at the time, so I had to settle for a Toyota Corolla😒😒
I’ve had both. The Corolla was a much better car when you factor in reliability, even as just 1% of the score weighting.
Probably quite true. My father bought a 1975 Scirocco new and it had a never-ending string of maladies. Some of these problems in retrospect were kind of humorous (I remember the radio shook loose and fell into the dashboard, breaking the HVAC controls which were directly beneath it). But from what Dad said, it was a mighty fun car when everything worked.
That said, I haven’t seen a 1st generation Scirocco in about a decade, and I haven’t seen a ’75 model (identifiable by having two windshield wipers) in about 30 years.
VW got the Scirroco sorted around 77-78. My 78 Scirocco with the fuel pump relay fix was very reliable until the rust around the strut towers was terminal. My 81 that replaced it was even better since the previous owner replaced the entire wiring harness. The real killer for 1st gen Sciroccos was rust.
Yes, I also had a ’78 Scirocco…still my “sentimental” favorite car and by far the best looking IMO.
I’ve had 2 other VWs since (bought the Scirocco in 1981 and have owned only VWs)…my Scirocco was generally reliable but I also had the problem with the fuel pump relay, plus the 5th injector, and also the brakes…back then I was living in an apartment and didn’t work on my cars, it seemed like I was always having the brakes worked on.
Mine was from the Northeast; I brought it with me when I moved to Texas in the early 80’s and had some minor rust work done on it when I had it repainted (which was twice; the sun here really faded the metallic paint). I had the “Champagne Edition” in a handsome metallic tan. Unfortunately it also lacked air conditioning; I endured several summers driving it here, but fortunately for me the traffic wasn’t nearly as bad as it is now, and I could tolerate being sweaty on the way home from work.
I replaced it with my ’86 GTi. Sometimes think I’d like to get another A1 Scirocco (if I could find one) but realize at my current age cars of its size are in my past..
A delightful and beautiful assortment of autos.
Being way far away, my exposure to the bulk of these in minimal to nonexistent. That said, I have periodically seen a first generation Scirroco at a local home improvement store and just yesterday saw a boy of around 16 or 17 driving a second generation Corvair convertible.
And the Tatra? Spotted in Memphis a few years ago.
I was sure you were going to say that the little silver car was a coach-built FIAT 850, as it looks very much like the 850 coupe or SPORT?
An I agree, that VW should have bought that design instead of producing that odd (to me, anyway) variant of the K-G that they did produce.
Gorgeous cars, as a big fan of 70’s/80’s VW/Audi stuff especially this was right up my alley.
That little Derby (Polo with a trunk) is a dead ringer for the one my friend Vera’s mom got around 1979 or so, for some reason I still remember it well.
The Audi 100 (200?) Avant in red with the white wheels speaks to me as well. That red over white color combo was quite the thing for a while there, inspired no doubt by the SportQuattro with the same look, the actual wheels in competition usually being offered in white. Hard to believe that aero wagon shape is over 35yrs old now.
And the C2 100CD is gorgeous too. Shame there’s no interior pic, that full width ventilation grille styling on the dash gets better looking every time I see it. So modern.
Steffi Graf’s SQ would likely be just fine over here. Not in typical LV traffic on the strip, but there are more than a few genuine ones in private hands over here, and there are various specialists that can/do work on them. I’m not aware of any used for daily chores of course but they were/are certainly tracked. Every year at least one comes up at auction somewhere and you are right, the prices show no sign of slowing down.
http://www.curbsideclassic.com/auto-biography/classic-drive-1984-audi-sport-quattro-i-drove-my-hero/
What a wonderful show that seems to be spread out over lovely grounds as well as some portion being indoors without everything just being jammed together. Very nice.
I didn’t think to include it because of some glare. But I’m gonna have to agree with you on the C2 interior. It’s really quite something. And not just because I spent the better part of my childhood in one.
Is the Derby related to the Brazilian VW Fox sold in the US? A Fox sedan drove by my house last week. First one I’d seen in years.
The Derby was a sedan version of the Polo, in the same way that the Jetta was a sedan version of the Golf. They had transverse engines.
The VW Fox was built on a shortened version of the chassis underpinning the VW Dasher and the Audi, um, Fox. They had longitudinal engines.
I hope you’re confused by now. I know I am.
Volkswagen Gol/Fox is based on BX platform, heavily derived from Audi 80/5000 B1 platform, that has longitudinal-mounted air-cooled flat-four engine derived from Beetle. Eventually, Volkswagen do Brasil switched to water-cooled 1.6 and 1.8 litre four-inline engines coming from Brazilian-built Passat and Santana. The latter engine is fitted to the US-bound Fox.
Polo and its sedan version, Derby, started their lives as Audi 50 (A01 platform) with transverse-mounted engine and gearbox.
Ok, now I feel a tiny degree less odd for once, as I too love the C2 100 interior, and always just assumed everyone else would find it a boxy non-event. There, that feels better.
Add to the theme of top of the line VW models, this Golf Ralley stands out in as-new condition. It was essentally a GTI G60 with the Jetta’s front lights with a wide body.
No, the headlamps with projector lenses is exclusive to Rallye Golf. None of other Volkswagen models has same headlamps. Jetta headlamps are single parabolic type that is taller than the ones fitted to Rallye Golf (see the photo of Jetta below). Additionally, Rallye Golf isn’t just a GTI G60 with fender flares. It has Syncho all-wheel-drive system, which GTI G60 lacks.
Rallye Golf was supposed to be introduced in the United States and Canada. Volkswagen of America vice president, James Fuller, was very active in bringing Rallye Golf to the American and Canadian markets. Unfortunately, in December 1988, he took the ill-fated Pan Am Flight 103 that exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland. The tragedy had eliminated any chance of importing Rallye Gold. VoA eventually decided that the retail price of 50,000 Deutsche Mark (about the twice of GTI G60 and at $28,300) did not fit Volkswagen’s low-cost image in the United States.
There are actually two Rallye Golfs in the US, one belongs to a reader of this site, both have been here since new. Both of them were actually built as US spec prototypes (so they have the US mirrors with the “Objects are closer etc…” as well as other US-specific parts.) by VW when they were considering bringing the model over as you referenced above. One ended up in Washington state, the other in California. Of course in the meantime it’s likely a few others have made their way stateside, but those are the only two “official” ones.
one belongs to a reader of this site
Perhaps this reader could contribute to this site about how he ended up with US-specified Rallye Golf prototype and about his driving and ownership experience?
My understanding is that the prototypes brought to the US by the manufacturers are not to be sold to the public in any way or be registered as a private vehicles. It’s due to the product liability laws that could make the lawyers seeing green and rolling in dough…
I’d love it if he did. My info is that the two cars went into storage after the program got scrapped after Fuller passed. Eventually the the VWoA Motorsport division sold them both, one went to Tim O’Neil, who ended up turning it into a rally car, i.e. heavily modified beyond its “stock” US appearance. The other sold to an individual in Massachusetts, registered there, and when it came up for sale again was sold to the individual who owns it now and re-registered in his state. It gets driven regularly, displayed at shows etc. It’s modified a bit beyond stock but can be easily returned to stock as/if needed/desired. I have a standing invite to check it out when/if I’m in his area and certainly will should the opportunity present itself.
In the meantime I’d love it if he’d want to write about it, but obviously won’t intrude on his privacy beyond mentioning the car. But it is fully street legal without any strange shenanigans or loopholes from what I understand.
On the subject of VW Mk2 lighting, the European ones look odd without the characteristic long, skinny sidemarkers that manage to look tacked-on and designed-in at the same time. Seen here with sealed-beam square headlights found only on 1985-86 non-GTI Golfs.
No, this Golf with long side running lamps and markers along with 200mm rectangular sealed beam headlamps is US specifications.
Americans associated the round headlamps as cheap while rectangular ones as more opulent. Their perception is due to the long history of being stuck with two larger round headlamps that had been virtually unchanged since 1940 with just four updates over the decades: 1957 to include four smaller round ones,1974 for four smaller rectangular ones, then 1977 for two larger rectangular ones before it was liberated to allow replaceable bulbs and free
forming shapes in 1983.
For 1987 model year, the US-spec Golf Mk2 used the same headlamps from Jetta, which was introduced in the US two years after the massive changes to the US FMVSS 108 that governs lighting system.
Great collection of pictures. In my opinion, the red Audi 100 Avant represents one of the best-looking station wagons ever. The red BMW right after the BMW/Glas 1600 is an early ’60s 3200CS coupe – the last of the old V8 line that nearly drove BMW to bankruptcy. This car had 160 hp and was one of the very first cars styled by Giugiaro.
I stand corrected. Account it to my first time writing a CC post on my phone and selecting pictures from tiny thumbnails. I checked again and apparently failed to snap a frontal of the 1600 GT. Here’s a Glas 1304 from the same show though for your convenience 😉
Imagine climbing some Austrian mountain passes in of of those in 1968! A 105 hp M10 BMW engine in a body waying less than 2000 lb…
I think you’ve mixed up two red BMW coupes. The rear shot is of a BMW1600GT, but the shot of the front of the other coupe is a BMW 3200CS, built from 1962-1965, with a 3.2L V8. And it weighed 3300 lbs.
Can someone identify the (Corvair’s) engine spec for me? Is is the higher compression 2.7?
Hard to say without seeing the label on the air cleaner, as they both looked the same externally. In any case, it had 2.4 liters (145 cid); the 2.7 (164 cid) arrived in 1964.
That’s some variety there, good job. I especially like the old, mundane, bread-and-butter cars, to see them in such a showroom condition is just great! Examples are the Derby and the Passat Variant. The Derby was the last B-segment sedan that you saw frequently on our roads, together with the contemporary Opel Corsa A sedan. After those, it was basically over and out for the B-segment sedan in northwestern Europe. A good thing, the more recent models look horrible, with all the wrong dimensions (prime example, the Ford Fiesta sedan).
The Alpine is quite a looker, as is the new A110. I shot this one at a recent Renault event:
Do these look good in the flesh? They’re unconvincing in photos, looking like some sort of Porsche/Nissan 350Z/Toyota 6th gen mash-up.
I like them, they’re low and compact (so am I…). It’s in the same segment as a Porsche Cayman.
There was another one, in the field.
Justy Baum, I was skeptical as well when I saw the new Alpine in the car magazines – yet another retro sports car? But then I saw one parked by my gas station and I have to say it looked pretty amazing – and I’m hard to impress.
Danke for taking us along, Hannes. I really enjoy posts like this with shows from other countries, especially when there is so much I would never see otherwise. Great to see the one-offs and cars from the former DDR; they may not have been very good (like some Western cars!) but they are undeniably a part of history.
I’m wondering how much room there is between the engine and the bumper in that Tatra as it seems to be mounted quite far forward. Waste space for styling reasons?
Tatra 613 engine is mounted much further inward than 603 and sits atop the axle. Front half of V8 motor is ahead of axle and rear half behind. This layout is theoretically to improve the handling for the rear-engined cars. The disadvantage of this configuration is higher centre of gravity which might have nullified the advantage of pushing the engine further inward.
If the bumper and rear end had been mounted closer to the engine, 613 would look more like Volkswagen Passat B1. Thus, ‘stretching’ the rear end to make 613 look a proper saloon.
I recalled from seeing one in person a long time ago was roughly two feet of distance between the engine and bumper.
Thought so, but wasn’t sure from the pictures I’ve seen. Thanks, Oliver.
Wow, would love to own that Alpine, it’s always been a particular favorite of the less famous exotics, and I wouldn’t care about the paint. The new one is cool but to me doesn’t hold a candle to the original!
In a similar French car vein, fellow we know recently sold his good running (really!) but cosmetically so-so Matra Djet. It was really tempting, such a fun little car, but where would one get parts, especially in a severe shunt. It’s a great autocross car, and has been used as such, but so vulnerable, and not exactly a sensible street machine! And at 6-1 and 235 I’m not sure I could get in-and-out of it with any degree of grace!
What a great variety of rare and beautiful cars. I’m a simple (minded?) guy. I’ll take the Scirocco. Those are still very cool to me.
The spheres all over the engine bay of the Citroen are for its braking steering and suspension systems all run from the same engine driven pump, it looks more complicated than it actually is.
Oh, I dunno bryce. I remember the French repair car guy nearest to me saying even he hated changing just starters on a DS, as it was a two day job. The SM, with snap-prone camshaft chains in the middle – the middle! – of the camshafts (and engine), potentially with early fuel injection, and a driveshaft forward to the pump you mention (which can break if it also has aircon and you switch it on at speed), I’d say it’s pretty fiendish.
For a true idea of complexity, I once read an entire blog (with photos) about the process of converting SM’s to RHD, and I’ve never seen anything like it. The car was just reduced to rubble before they could start! Apparently not done anymore, because of the gigantic expense and the fact that the cars are likely worth more as originals now.
It’s not a genuine SM convertible, which was officially known as the Citroen SM Mylord, a name either comically unctuous or flip, depending how you read it. Regardless, it’s something you’re likely to utter on spying the car. The original convertibles are arguably prettier than the coupe. This one has an awful letterbox lid for a bootlid, and as pointed out, a top which looks like a tent fell over on it. Not a $700,000 proposition, then.
I refuse to believe that that SWB Quattro actually works, despite evidence of overwhelming rally dominance to the contrary. I mean come on, half a car and five iron-blocked inline cylinders starting somewhere past the front strut tops, very noticeable in the angle of the photograph above. I reckon the “please don’t touch” signs are for fear of it falling on it’s nose.
The 220D is an intriguing effort, but clumsy. In fact, it’s almost messy enough that it could have been titled the Garbage Binz.
I’m with a number of others here in loving the shape of the ’80’s 100 (5000) wagon. Quite timeless, and now very rare out here.
Gut Arbeit, Hannes. Danke.
“Apart from an odd angle at the C pillar ……”
Not odd at all ……. if you’re a 1965 Rambler Classic.
Simca 1100 Van bootlid on the Binz?
I’ll take the Golf Rallye for the weekends and the 1st gen Scirocco for the weekdays.