Time machines

The 11th retro auto show has ended in Moscow

A vehicle that has outlived its era turns into luxury and rarity, or, in other words, into a rarity.

Last week, Muscovites had the opportunity at the Oldtimer Gallery to evaluate the results of the work of restorers and collectors who restored and presented exotic and antique cars to the modern public, many of which can be called the great-grandfathers of modern road dwellers. For example, the oldest participant in the exhibition - the French car "Millot" with a wooden body and a single-cylinder engine - was born more than a century ago, in 1901.

"Ilya Sorokin's Oldtimer Gallery" - an exhibition of the achievements of the auto restoration industry - is being held for the 11th time. According to its organizers, at the moment this exhibition is the largest of its kind not only in Russia, but also in the CIS and Eastern Europe. This time, the gallery occupied one of the largest exhibition halls of the Crocus Expo complex (its area is 8.5 thousand square meters) and gathered under its wing representatives of more than 150 restoration studios and collection bureaus from ten countries - Russia, Great Britain, Germany, Holland, Italy, USA, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Finland and France.

But still, the majority of vintage cars (which, by the way, could not only be viewed, but also bought) were presented by Russian enthusiasts. For example, through the efforts of such craftsmen, the GAZ M-415 pickup truck was found and restored - a mini-truck created on the basis of the Emka and produced for only two years - from 1939 to 1941. For a long time it was believed that not a single copy of this “indispensable machine for collective farms”, which received an approving review from Comrade Stalin himself, survived in Russia.

A contemporary of the modest Soviet pickup truck, the Cadillac Sport Roadster, born in 1932, was produced in only... four units. The only surviving copy of this masterpiece of the pre-war American automobile industry - with a 16-cylinder engine under a one and a half meter hood - arrived at the exhibition in Moscow in fully working condition.

It also houses a collection of 1938-1939 Horchs that belonged to Nazi bosses, and other legendary cars, such as the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, nicknamed the “gullwing,” and the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz.

As if to contrast with the super-expensive toys of aristocrats and movie stars (truly not a means of transportation, but a luxury), the “proletarian” Moskvich-400 was demonstrated nearby. Perhaps the first mass-produced Soviet small car in itself is not of particular interest to collectors, but it is, first and foremost, a symbol of the era. Therefore, “Moskvich” was presented in its “natural environment” - in a garage, as if transported with the help of a time machine from a typical Moscow courtyard of the 50s or 60s.

Mikhail MOSHKIN