This year’s motto of the world’s largest vintage and classical car show – the Techno Classica in Essen, Germany – was “Fascination”, and it was fascinating indeed for the approximately 200,000 visitors, old and young alike who attended the show.
As in past years, the MBMC (Mercedes-Benz ModellAuto-Club) was well represented at the Mercedes-Benz stand, with the club’s display cases presenting seven different areas of the scale model world (variety of scales, mechanicals, special bodies, detailing, objects of exception, miniatures, and special MBMC models). For the duration of the Techno Classica, the MBMC stand was manned on a rotating basis by most of the members of the MBMC-Region Rhine-Ruhr, headed by Thomas Kaufmann, Heinz Nowack, and Roland Rittmann, as well as by Ad and Marij Dankers from the MBMC Netherlands Region, who support their Club-friends in Germany.
A new Mercedes-Benz L406D by Norev
Describing Norev’s Mercedes-Benz L406D as new may be somewhat of an exaggeration, as the company’s 1:43 scale L406D panel van was first been seen in 2008 in the livery of a “Mercedes-Benz Service” van; now, however, Norev has released a new variant in the form of a French Fire Department command car, or “fire chief” car. For approximately 40 Euros, you get a few added gadgets like a siren, a revolving light, three antennas, a couple of darkened side window representations and a few additional lights and features.
1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K “Innenlenker” Model
Back in the 1970’s the now defunct Italian firm Idea3 made among others a 1:43 scale model (available finished or as a kit) of a streamlined 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K “Innenlenker”, which was somewhat different in shape from the 500K “Autobahn-Kurier”. Rumors have it that this car went to the Netherlands after WWII, but no-one really knows its whereabouts. The model Idea3 made in its time was rather crude, to say the least. Unfortunately, since then, no model maker large or small has ever shown any interest in producing a new and better model, even though with today’s technology, the result could be extremely popular. There was, a couple of years ago, an attempt made to produce one in the Ukraine, but regrettably, once he had made the first prototype, the artisan model maker lost interest and backed out of his commitment. Recently, at the beginning of April, a kit of the admittedly quite rare Idea3 model surfaced on a popular auction website, and sold for 257 Euros – especially interesting considering the EURO 95 price tag clearly visible on the advertisement’s picture.
