Essen Show - The PH Highlights

German tuners showcase power, performance and (often) dubious taste...

The Essen Show is a fixture on the German motoring calendar that's often overlooked here in the UK, most often for reasons of good taste and decency. Yet as a window on the global tuning industry, the event is second to none. If it's got a bodykit and a ludicrous power upgrade it's here, be that a half-million pound supercar or chipped and, er, 'slammed' hot hatch.

Heavyweight suppliers to manufacturers, tuners and DIY enthusiasts alike turn up, alongside a handful of manufacturers themselves, while tuners like Brabus, Abt and 9ff, enthusiast clubs, and wheel and bodykit vendors are represented at every level.

Custom cars, classics, bikes and all manner of other oddities pack the vast Messe Essen and it's well worth the trip over for the spectacle alone - even if many of the exhibits might (how can we put this kindly?) struggle to spin the P.H. O'meter to its higher reaches...

Still, it takes all sorts, and as we've already shown you the Brabus Widestar SLS and 9ff GTurbo 1200, here's our round-up of more of the highlights:

Carlsson
The BMW tuners seem to be taking a back seat at Essen but for the Mercedes crowd no expense has been spared. Carlsson, like Brabus, has a huge stand here with a variety of cars ranging from a Smart to the C25, the SL65-based super coupe powered by a 750hp twin-turbo V12.

Making its debut here at Essen, Carlsson has presented a seriously souped up version of the C63 AMG. Known as the CK63RS, beneath its bulged bonnet is a version of the familiar AMG 6.2-litre V8 packing 600hp and one of the best looking engine bays we've seen in a while.

Abt
Long-serving VW and Audi tuner Abt has, in the R8, finally got the foundations for a serious supercar. And this 620hp R8 GT R is just that, the standard 525hp V10 now putting out 620hp and an extensive weight-saving programme shaving 100kg out of the kerbweight.

This is a serious car, the roll cage (complete with camera mount for saving those Porsche-smoking moments for posterity), harnesses and switchable exhaust pointing very much toward the track tool direction. Abt has even reconfigured the drivetrain to send 80% of the drive torque rearwards for a more rear-biased power delivery.

9ff
The ludicrous, tiger-striped GTurbo 1200 is crazy enough to warrant a standalone story. But 9ff isn't done there, showing off the latest version of its GT9-R supercar alongside its 700hp 911 Turbo-based Speed 9.

The GT9-R is an absolute monster too, this mid-engined creation - reminiscent of Porsche's own GT1 - available with power outputs of 750hp, 987hp and 1120hp according to what shade of effing fast you like to stain your underpants with. In its most potent form it'll hit 257mph and 0-62mph in just 2.9 seconds.

Akrapovic
Better known for its boutique superbike back boxes, Akrapovic has been bringing its titanium bending expertise to four wheels for the last couple of years. Here at Essen it's showing off a new system for the 458 Italia that saves 14kg, boosts power by 11hp and increases torque by 26Nm (19lb ft).

There's also a full system for the Mercedes C63 AMG and the 911 GT3 and GT3 RS, the latter reaping significant power gains. As you'd hope for not far off £10K. If that hasn't dented your wallet enough there's also a prototype titanium roll cage for 911s, said to save 12kg.

BT Automotive
Hailing from the Czech Republic no surprise BT Automotive specialises in local produce, offering styling packages for Skodas of all hues. Including, rather bizarrely, the Yeti 4x4.

Skoda is also at Essen, showing of RS+ styling exercises for the Fabia and Octavia first revealed at the Wöthersee VW group festival earlier this year. The grey paint/yellow wheels combo is certainly eye catching, Skoda taking the pulse of showgoers as it considers a possible production upgrade package along these lines.

Wind Up!
Essen is as much about the oddities lurking between the main halls as it is the show-stopping debuts. Oddities like this Wind Up, proudly bearing its certificate signifying its status as world's smallest road legal car.

Based on a quad bike and using a body from one of those Postman Pat rides usually found in shopping centres, the Wind Up is just 1.3m long and 1m high. But it'll do 40mph.

JB Design Cayenne
Appetite for frighteningly pig-ugly Porsche Cayennes appears yet un-sated, this beauty from JB Design one of the more restrained examples. Blame demand in Russia, the Gulf states and China, but the tuner Cayenne truly is the car that taste left behind.

Alfa Romeo
Mainstream manufacturers tend to keep a low profile at Essen but Alfa Romeo is here eking out the last few drops of centenary celebrations with an admittedly magnificent display of racing Alfas from across the ages.

8C Monzas streaked with racing grime, the legendary Tipo 33 and GTA are all here in a hall that appears left over from the Techno Classica that takes place earlier in the year here at the Messe Essen.

Bilstein
Bilstein's expertise often goes uncredited - its dampers feature on the Nissan GT-R and street and road versions of the Audi R8 among many - but Essen is a chance to preach to the mod hungry tuning crowd.

Everything from a new version of its classic B6 (now with a clicker adjuster option) to full beans retro-fittable Ride Control B16 dampers with push button adjustment are here, a Polizia liveried Fiat 500 demonstrating the mod-friendly B14 coilovers perfect for that hot hatch project car.

Mercedes
With heavyweight tuners like Brabus and Carlsson and one of the biggest manufacturer stands here Mercedes is the best represented of all the major German brands, its line-up of supercars and concepts from through the ages a hugely impressive display.

The SLS and CLK-GTR you may have seen before. But the gullwinged C112 supercar and Vision SLR concept - prototype for the McLaren SLR - sitting alongside SSK, Gullwing and more besides are a mighty show of force from the three-pointed star.

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Bucket O Frogs

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