Party time for the birthday boys: BMW Group Classic at Techno Classica 2013. BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce all celebrating landmark anniversaries at the world’s largest exhibition of classic cars and motorcycles.

 Munich. Hall 12 will once again play host to BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce at the Techno Classica show held in Essen from 10 – 14 April 2013. The world’s largest classic vehicle exhibition is marking its 25-year anniversary this year, and BMW Group Classic – custodian of the BMW Group heritage – will be adding extra fizz to the occasion with a handful of landmarks of its own. Indeed, the 2013 edition of Techno Classica sees the company in the midst of celebrations marking 90 years of BMW Motorrad, 50 years of the Mini Cooper S, 40 years of the BMW 3.0 CSL in motor sport and 80 years of the BMW “double-kidney” front grille. Rolls-Royce, meanwhile, is lighting the metaphorical candles for a very special birthday: Sir Frederick Henry Royce, one of the company’s co-founders, would have turned 150 this year. The luxury vehicle manufacturer is greeting visitors to Essen with both a genuine rarity from its past and a glittering example of its present. “It’s a nice coincidence that so many landmark anniversaries have come together this year,” notes Ulrich Knieps, Head of BMW Group Classic. “And it brings home to the Techno Classica visitors once again the rich and fascinating heritage of all the BMW Group brands.”

90 years of BMW Motorrad.

The history of BMW Motorrad began six years before the company built its first cars, with the unveiling in 1923 of the boxer-engined BMW R 32 developed by Max Friz. Over the decades since, BMW’s motorcycle wing has earned itself an illustrious reputation around the world thanks to a stream of pioneering innovations, success in motor sport, outstanding quality standards and distinctive design. The models on display at Techno Classica 2013 offer a far-reaching look back over the history of “sheer riding pleasure” at BMW. A further tribute to BMW’s two-wheeled machines will follow in a separate press release.

50 years of the Mini Cooper S.

Half a century has elapsed since the sportiest version of the classic Mini took the world’s roads by storm. Legendary sports car designer John Cooper had soon spotted the inherent sporting talent of the small car created by Alec Issigonis and launched by the British Motor Corporation (BMC). Front-wheel drive and a four-cylinder engine mounted transversely at the front above the gearbox were central to the blueprint of a car that maximised interior space but kept its exterior dimensions as compact as possible. Its wide track, short overhangs and a sophisticated suspension design imbued the Mini with stand-out handling properties. John Cooper convinced Issigonis of his plan to take the driving fun offered by the basic car to even higher levels – first with the 55 hp Mini Cooper and then, in 1963, in the shape of the 70 hp Mini Cooper S. That same year, Finnish driver Rauno Aaltonen posted Mini’s maiden class victory in the Monte Carlo Rally.

Innocenti Mini: 20 years after a final “ciao”.

Among the rather special models on display at Techno Classica 2013 is a Mini conceived in “bella Italia” by Milan-based company Innocenti. The Innocenti Mini was purpose-built for the Italian market from 1965 to 1975, yet its engineering and looks strayed but little from the classic Mini. A round of revisions in 1974 resulted in the Innocenti Mini 90 and Innocenti Mini 120, which remained on the menu for Italian customers until 1993. That makes it exactly 20 years since the Innocenti Mini bade a fond farewell.

Replica gearbox for the BMW 328.

The Essen show provides plentiful evidence of the wide range of parts and services available from BMW Group Classic, not least thanks to the full reconstruction of the gearbox from the BMW 328 built between 1936 and 1940. Creating a replica of the remarkable Hurth-built original – with non-synchronised first and second gears but cone synchronisation for third and fourth – represented a serious challenge for the engineers involved. BMW Group Classic handed the task to ZF Friedrichshafen, and the results underline the company’s assertion that original parts and materials can (and indeed should) be used to maintain historic cars.

40 years ago the BMW 3.0 CSL made its debut on the track.

The BMW 3.0 CSL touring car turned plenty of heads in the early 1970s – initially on the road, but then also on the race track. The CSL badge stands for “Coupe Sport Leichtbau” (Coupe Sport Lightweight). Tipping the scales at just 1,062 kilograms, but with 365 hp under the bonnet, the BMW 3.0 CSL lined up for its first taste of race action in March 1973. The new machine was race-prepared by BMW Motorsport GmbH, which had come into being the previous year. And it didn’t take long for the new team to start reaping the desired success. BMW topped the manufacturers’ standings in the European touring car championship in its first season on the grid, Dutch driver Toine Hezemans securing himself the drivers’ title in the process.

An unmistakable sight for 80 years: the BMW double-kidney grille.

It is now 80 years since the BMW double-kidney grille first glimpsed the light of day. And this famous hallmark of the brand’s cars is now enjoying another fitting tribute at Techno Classica 2013. The BMW 303 presented in 1933 was the first model to carry what was to become a stand-out brand feature. It was primarily technical considerations that prompted Fritz Fiedler to come up with the design. Looking for ways to optimise the new sedan’s cooling, he angled the heat exchanger slightly rearwards, split it into two sections and gave it lightly tapered ends. To make the arrangement a little more elegant to the eye, Fiedler rounded off the corners – and an unmistakable icon of car design was born.

Rolls-Royce: a history of exclusivity.

Rolls-Royce is bringing a blend of nostalgia and cutting-edge design to Hall 12 at the Essen show. Genuine rarity comes in the shape of the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I Drophead Coupé crafted by H.J.Mullinerin 1957. The arrival of this model series in 1955 ushered in a new era of design at Rolls-Royce. Stylistic features like its integrated front wings, flowing lines and telltale proportions continue to hold sway in 2013. The full title of the model on display at Techno Classica 2013 comes courtesy of one of the most renowned coachbuilders of the time. As a car’s frame and body still came as two separate constructions in those days, customers could commission H. J. Mulliner & Co. London – or another master of their craft – to build a special body for their car.

The 56-year-old Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud is flanked by a present-day, but no less exclusive, ambassador for the company: a Rolls-Royce Ghost, adorned with a special Lazuli Blue paint finish. A cornerstone of Rolls-Royce’s modern-day success, the Ghost can already be considered a milestone in the brand’s history. Incidentally, anyone keen to spend a little more time in the company of this and other historic Rolls-Royce models once Techno Classica has closed its doors is in luck: the BMW Museum in Munich opened a new Rolls-Royce exhibition at the end of March.