ESSEN MOTOR SHOW 2012 Essen Motor Show 2012 Christmas just isn’t what it was when you were a kid. Writing letters to Father Christmas has been replaced by shopping for presents. Crowded shops. Any idea what to get Auntie Mary? Whooo! That’s doubled in price since last year. My credit card’s melted.... and it’s started to rain again. Christmas itself might be great but the run up to it is just one big hassle. Never mind. Early December is time for the annual Essen Motor Show. All of a sudden the glass is half full, not half empty. A bright spot in the midst of the grey industrial Rhur valley locked in constant drizzle. So what makes Essen different from other motor shows? Well it’s like coparing a zoo to a circus. Sure you’ll find the big name motor manufacturers here, but the’ll have their most dynamic models on show, not the boring shopping cars, and the rest of the show is devoted to show what the specialist tuners, the aftermarket manufacturers and the owners themselves can do with them. At Essen you will find everything from a heavily modified X6 to a Rat Rod, a hydraulic suspension equipped low rider that dances on its wheels to a multi seat motorcycle made up of every Harley Davidson produced from 1949! It’s mad, it’s weird, and it’s a lot of fun. Enjoy! The Lure of the Rhur BMW Car Club Magazine Words and Photography by John Paulding It’s more than a motor show. It’s a circus. John Paulding investigates...