I went to a vintage car meet in Germany - 1200 cars from all over the world were there, here's a small selection with captions

In the parking lot, next to some strange dinosaur from overseas, there was the first highlight of the day: A 356 Speedster.

Looks neat. Might be a replica, but I wouldn't know hot to tell.

An NSU Prinz.

A small economy car from Germany, built between 1958 and 1973, a direct competitor to the VW Beetle and Opel Kadett. This one is a later 4L model, made from 1964. It has a tiny air-cooled 600cc 2-cylinder 2-stroke producing 30hp in the back, but because the car only weighs 570kg, it was quite quick for its time and price.

That's a "Wackel-Dackel", a somewhat iconic accessory. The head moves on bumpy roads.

Volvo P1800. Just stunning.

Jensen 541S. What an unexpected sight.

Somewhat expected quality of wiring.

Definitely an elegant GT.

A first generation Mercury Cougar.

That's the smallest engine according to Wikipedia, a "mere" 289cu in or 4.7L. Probably one of the biggest engines at this venue though.

I love the rear tail lights.

An Opel Kadett C Targa Aero Coupe. Exceptionally rare these days.

An NSU Wankel Spider in the wild! Pretty little thing and much smaller than I imagined it to be.

This was the first production car with a wankel engine, produced from 1964-1967. Makes around 50hp. This was a successful race car in its day, easily beating cars several times as powerful at mountain races.

An Opel 1,2 Liter, built from 1931 to 1935. Makes around 22hp and was, at the time, known for being especially fuel efficient: Just 9l/100km (26 US mpg, 31 UK mpg).

Very much looks like a '20s car though.

A 1935 Adler Trumpf Junior. Front wheel drive, 25hp and just as efficient as the Opel above.

After the war, Adler stopped producing cars and switched over to motorcycles.

This was their entry level model from 1934 to 1941.

1938 BMW 320 Cabrio. Specs below.

A beautiful machine made in dark times.

This is when I noticed that the camera was adding the date to each image. I'm sorry for this oversight.

Based on a 1929 Model A, this hot rod makes 250hp out of a 5700cc V8.

Some old motorcycles. I'm sure some of you can name each and every one of them.

An M35 or M51 US Army truck. I was surprised by how huge it is.

I have no idea what this engine is, to be honest.

A Dodge Charger. Neat.

Tucked behind some trailers peddling vintage car radios and other merchandise.

It may look like a Mini at first glance, but it's in fact a Riley Elf.

This was essentially a more conservative, more upmarket variant of the Mini.

Didn't sell very well though.

VW T2s, because there's no vintage car festival in Germany without a healthy number of these.

An interesting wreck. Looks like a Fiat Topolino.

Something's missing...

There it is!

Ford Taunus coupe. Very similar to the Cortina, but the coupe was produced far longer.

These guys turn up whenever there's a larger fire or a flood.

Huh, a Ford Galaxie. Never seen one before.

I can't quite name this one. Another rare piece of American motoring, especially around these parts. Edit: It's a Cadillac Fleetwood.

An MGA. Lovely.

Bit of a wider shot. There was no vantage spot nearby, so I couldn't really show the whole festival (and my drone's broken).

Karmann Ghia. Most beautiful car ever made, but I'm not sure about the color.

Looks clean though.

A Haflinger. Named after a mountain horse, these were built for the Swiss and Austrian military and the civilian market between 1959 and 1974. Both armed forces outfitted these diminutive vehicles with all sorts of machine guns, recoilless rifles and anti-tank rockets.

600kg, can carry 500kg and pull 350kg, 27hp. Slow, but it'll get through and over anything.

The steering wheel is absolutely tiny.

A random tractor. Lots of these at the festival, this is a rural region and was quite a long drive to get to.

Some more Americana.

A Lloyd Alexander TS.

This was the car you bought in '50s Germany if a VW Beetle was too expensive.

Lovely interior, but these had a poor reputation, were derided as slow and dangerous.

A Mercedes /8. I remember when these were a common sight on the roads, although the coupe variant was always quite rare.

My first DeLorean!

I've never seen one before in the flesh. Bonus minions.

Seems like a nicely restored example.

A lovely T1, one of many.

A random Corvette appears.

A random Corvette disappears.

Mercedes Ponton. The first truly new post-war Mercedes.

An original Westfalia camper, based on the T2.

Oliver! (Sorry, had to.)

An Audi 100 Coupé S. Looks beautiful in the flesh.

Just the right size.

More Americana.

Surprisingly few Porsches around. I'm assuming it's quite a hassle to liberate them from all the bubble wrap.

A Kadett C GT/E, successful as a rally car. The paint was a factory option, the wheels are not.

A more upmarket Opel Coupe, the Manta A, built from 1970 to 1975. I've always preferred the confident styling of the first Manta over the later models.

A Trabant or "Trabbi", the East German car (because there was no alternative to ordinary citizens). The tiny two stroke engine drove just one of the front wheels.

Imagine seeing this thing in the desert.

Seems like it really got around.

Notice the crane for the spare tires.

A Fiat Abarth 1300/124 OT Coupé, built from 1966 - 1970.

This one is a late 1970 model.

That's the "it's hot out there" position of the engine cover.

Fiat-Abarth 850TC, a wild little 51hp race car that outbreaked and outcornered many much more powerful race cars of the era. And no, you can't close the engine cover.

The cavalry has arrived!

Fiat Topolino, Italia's people's car and predecessor of the 500, built between 1936 and 1955. 16 lively little horses. The tiny engine is all the way up front, which means that half of the hood is covering the area where the front passengers put their feet.

Fiat 850 Spider (1964 1973). 49hp, designed by Bertone. Looks a bit dorky, but I love it.

The vents give it away: The engine is in the rear. There were all sorts of variants of this little car, from a small city car to a minivan.

Wartburg 311 Campinglimousine (1956 - 1965). Bicolor socialist goodness.

This was one of the most luxurious cars ever produced and sold in East Germany.

Yet it still only had a noisy 3-cylinder two-stroke engine, producing between 40 and 45hp.

Always nice to see a Citroen DS.

Especially one as well maintained as this one.

Its competition at the time: The legendary tail-fin Mercedes W110.

This car brimmed with innovative safety features, like crumple zones, safety cage, doors that stayed closed during an accident, padded interior, optional seatbelts, etc.

Here's one of many historic campers.

Peugeot 404, built for decades, known for its legendary reliability.

Cadillac Eldorado doing its thing: Dwarfing other cars.

A Bentley Continental. This car has presence.

Air intakes and hand-formed body panels.

DKW F12 roadster, produced in 1964 only. 45hp. DKW was at this point already part of Auto Union, which became Audi.

A Lotus 7. Haven't seen an original in ages.

Lloyd Arabella, 1959 - 1963. It was always overshadowed by the more expensive, more beautiful Isabella.

A random beach buggy, because why not?

Auto Union 1000 Estate. The 1000 was the last West-German car with a two-stroke engine, making 50hp in this version. Production lasted from 1958 to 1963.

This car was still largely based on a DKW constructed in 1940.

Porsche 550 Spyder, likely not an original.

Toyota Sports 800, the first sports car made by Toyota.

This is one of only 300 with left hand drive.

45hp, but just 580kg. Production lasted from 1965 to 1969.

A Steyr Typ 80 tractor.

VW Type 3, 1961-1973. Like the Beetle, it had a rear engine layout.

Bonus T1 reflection.

A VW Type 147 "Fridolin". These were almost exclusively built for the West German postal service between 1964 and 1974. Today, only around two dozen in drivable condition remain.

Sliding doors...

... and sliding windows.

BMW 1602 Baur Cabriolet.

Obligatory Samba Bus.

That's one way to add a crumple zone.

Another beautiful Karmann Ghia.

Citroen Traction Avant, also known as the "gangster Citroen", because these were excellent at outrunning the French police. A fast, sophisticated front wheel drive monocoque sedan with a huge interior space.

Neither fast nor sophisticated, the little BMW Isetta is just cute.

Austin Healey Sprite, also known as the happiest car ever made.

A rare BMW 507.

The second most beautiful car in history, after the Karmann Ghia.

Alfa Romeo 115. Who doesn't love these?

Opel GT. I've heard these have quite a following in the US.

This may look like a Mercedes G at first glance, but it's in fact a licensed French copy, the Peugeot P4.

An original Renault Alpine.

Tiny.

An MAN KAT I, next to a Barkas (left, East German van) and a Mercedes Ponton.

Last but not least, a V12 E-Type. That's where my camera overheated and this is where this gallery ends. Thanks for making it this far!