Anyone who gets goose bumps when looking at automotive beauties and has the often cited gasoline in their blood has to hurry to Düsseldorf. The exhibition "PS: I love you" in the Kunstpalast only runs until February 10th. So far, only two major automobile presentations have taken place in museums worldwide, in New York in 1951 and in Boston in 2005. The first European exhibition of this quality presents 29 classic sports cars from the 50s to 70s, which are among the icons of design and technology history. And in the two exhibition halls you inevitably feel the touch of an era in which designers were allowed to let their creativity run free, largely unencumbered by cost efficiency and safety requirements, and where aesthetic design was the focus. In the semi-darkness of the exhibition rooms, selected milestones of Italian, German, British, French and Japanese automobile design with a feeling for the development, perfectly illuminated and slightly raised as if on pedestals, gather. In addition to private collectors, the classic departments of Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and BMW have also added some of their rarities from this era.
"The last car to be built will be a sports car". Of course, Ferdinand Anton Ernst ("Ferry") Porsche in his credo over sixty years ago assumed that this will be a sports car from Zuffenhausen. But it was not just the Porsche 356 or 911 that set the benchmark for style and passion in the 50ern and 70ern and became an icon of seductive speed.
The streamlined simplicity of the Italian Cisitalia 202 C Berlinetta, with a body that looks as if it were cast from one piece and without detached fenders, was already considered a guide to modern times in 1946 and influenced not only the shell shape of the VW Beetle but also the first Porsche, emphasizes Paolo Tumminelli at a tour of the exhibition. The Italian design professor teaches at the University of Cologne, has written several books on car design and helped design the catalog for the Düsseldorf exhibition. Tumminelli explains that, in contrast to the Cisitalia in the Porsche 356, which is not exactly the same color opposite it here, a hand fits between the fender and the tire is due to the rear engine and the resulting teardrop shape of the Zuffenhausen-born driver. Like most Italian sports cars at the time, the Cisitalia was right-hand drive. Pure snobbery on the part of Italian customers who still adored the stylish British sports car. Since the traffic was manageable during this time, driving with the steering wheel on the wrong side did not cause any major problems, speculates Tumminelli.
It now goes by the Mercedes Benz 300 SL from the year 1954, which flaunts itself twice, once in burgundy red and once in the classic and style formative silver. No question, the color also plays a crucial role in the visual success of a car. The SL builds on a race car with wide-opening wing doors, which were more of a technical necessity than a design element. The lightweight and sturdy tubular frame helped the SL not only to its name (S) uper (L), but required due to the space requirement of the side skirts a creative solution for the doors.
Another, visually familiar to the public, legendary sports car, a Jaguar E-Type Coupe from the year 1961 with its endlessly long hood, the flat rear and its sensual vaults, is still considered a stylistic highlight of his time. No less idolized, but largely unknown is the dark green Aston Martin DB4 Zagato from the year 1960, which opened with its round rear, a new, softer design language. The Lancia Aurelia Spider by 1961 demonstrates, with its visually arranged and deceptively similar Alfa Guiletta Spider, that there were hardly any rivalries among automobile manufacturers back then. In terms of performance, however, there are worlds between these two open Italian sports cars.
On the top floor are the cult vehicles of the 60er and 70er such as the Lamborghini Miura and the Toyota GT 2000 from the year 1967, which was the only car of the exhibition not built in Europe. Somewhat out of line is the Facel Vega II by 1962, a rather unknown in Germany, sporty-elegantly drawn limousine of the French brand. Further interesting insights in design and technical terms are provided by the concept cars of Mercedes Benz (C 111 Type II) and the BMW Turbo from the seventies and a series of prototypes, such as the Giulietta SS from the year 1957, which is more like a spaceship Worlds resembles a sports car.
The Lamborghini Coutach, which was produced until 1990, is certainly the most polarizing car in the exhibition. Flat like a flounder, angular, geometric and almost martial, it stands for the development of automotive design away from round and soft shapes with round headlights and a large radiator grille. The two golden Lamborghini Miura, who look each other on the second floor, have a home advantage. Both are owned by Düsseldorf. So a unique chance to see two golden Miura at a glance!
PS I Love You. Sports car design of 1950er to 1970er years
27.09.2018 to 10.02.2019 in Dusseldorf
Ehrenhof Art Palace
Tue-Sun 10-18.00 clock
Thu: 10 a.m. - 21 p.m.
closed on Monday
Text and pictures: Solveig Grewe
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