To the solemn sounds of fanfare and applause of the audience, the festive program of the exhibition was opened by the actor and a great admirer of retro cars Leonid Yarmolnik. For the first time he introduced his new oldtimer - GAZ M-20V. This is the second “Victory” from the collection of the actor. The first - the GAZ-M20 cabriolet donated by the wife for the 50th anniversary - was repeatedly exhibited at past Oldtimer Galleries and is now known to the general public.
The second “Victory” by Leonid Yarmolnik is the representative of the so-called third series with a radiator lining in the form of large chrome bars and with a closed body of deep emerald color. Connoisseurs could only click their tongues at the sight of this car: the factory paintwork, like the upholstery, on the speedometer for about 4, 000 km is such a car a rarity these days. Like all Yarmolnik cars, the newly acquired Pobeda received handmade numbers “A 19-54” in the style of the 50s, corresponding to the initials and year of birth of the actor. It was this machine that became the most important at the exhibition. Under the energetic rock and roll from the leader of the Kings of Twist band Ilya Moiseenko, the “Victory” proceeded along the main avenue of the pavilion - the scope of the event allowed us to foresee this. The total area of the eleventh exhibition was more than 8500 square meters. m, it fully occupied one of the largest halls of Crocus Expo, reaffirming the status of the largest exhibition of technical antiques in Russia, the CIS and Eastern Europe.
Almost one and a half hundred companies from more than a dozen countries: Great Britain, Germany, Holland, Italy, Russia, the USA, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Finland, France became participants in the current Oldtimer Gallery. These are mainly restoration studios, collection bureaus, auction houses, museums and organizers of historical events, for example, rallies and runs on old timers. The emerging Russian automotive antiques market is very interesting to foreign representatives.
For Russian visitors, the Oldtimer Gallery provides a rare opportunity to see hundreds of unique exhibits in one hall. Several high-profile premieres took place here at once - many cars were shown to the Russian public for the first time! And every exhibit is a legend. Unfortunately, not all famous cars managed to survive to this day to become honored exhibits of museums and exhibitions. Many wonderful and illustrious machines did not survive the frenzy of a cruel age, remaining forever only in the memory of contemporaries and frames of black and white cinema. On the big screen in the center of the exhibition hall for all three days the rarest chronicle tapes filmed at the very beginning of the 20th century were shown: reports from race tracks, shooting tests and crash tests, the first, very naive advertisement of car makers - a beautiful and touching sight, which was accompanied by improvings of taper on an antique piano of the renowned Bluthner company.
The atmosphere of the past was also supported by the retrobazaar - an indispensable attribute of exhibitions of antique cars, no matter where in the world they are held. The technical “flea market” with mountains that are dear to the heart of any antiquarian is a real Klondike. All kinds of souvenirs, badges, regalia, photographs, books, albums, advertising posters, car models and old toys - all that in English is called Automobilia. Not far from the collapse of private sellers, there are luxurious stands of famous antique salons, art galleries and second-hand book dealers, offering connoisseurs and connoisseurs real treasures of bygone times - antique furniture, paintings, books, weapons, sculptures, bronzes, “industrial” paintings, propaganda china, graphics and much more another of what makes the hearts of real collectors beat faster.
