The car fair on the rise – Classic Expo Salzburg 2023

For the first time, we as the Elferspot team have ventured to a car show with our own booth. For our debut we chose the Classic Expo in Salzburg. What impressions we were able to gather and why it was certainly not our last trade fair appearance, we reveal to you in this very subjective review.

Classic Expo Salzburg 2023: Significantly more visitors than last year

Our partners from Drehwerk built a great booth at the entrance to Hall 9 of the Salzburg Exhibition Center. With black walls, white accents and cool lounge furniture, Andreas Kirchmayr and Peter Christian Mayr unceremoniously created an offline-Elferspot at the Austrian classic car fair. The booths of our customers Boxer Motor, Ecurie Vienne – Johannes Huber and R&H Automobile were also located in the immediate vicinity. 

Already on Friday, the first day of the Expo, the Elferspot booth was visited in large numbers. Especially on Saturday, it became apparent what the organizers also confirmed later: The number of visitors was significantly higher than last year. Classic Expo reported a whopping fifteen percent increase. In total, there are said to have been 23,000 visitors. The entire Elferspot team is still impressed by how many people visited us at the stand.

The offline Elferspot developed into a meeting place for numerous enthusiasts

It was great to see so many Porsche enthusiasts from all age groups stopping by, talking to us about our mutual passion and giving us interesting feedback on Elferspot. Seeing the joy in a fan’s eyes, beaming as they talk about their passion, just doesn’t wear thin. And we will certainly be able to incorporate the input on our platform well into future considerations.

Especially the petrolblue Porsche 911 SC of Elferspot founder Markus Klimesch quickly became a crowd favorite. Parked under a huge playful chandelier, the 911 G-Model was probably one of the most photographed cars at the entire show. With nice regularity, we had to put off interested parties that this particular car was not for sale.

Quite in contrast to our numerous items from the shop, which we were allowed to present. Among them, for example, a selection of clothing items from the “Key on the Left”-series or the current Type 7 book “Artifacts”. It was nice to see how the Elferspot booth became a pop-up store for shirts and hoodies in all the hustle and bustle or a cozy reading corner for a short time.

Knowledgable visitors, numerous sales talks – interest in classic cars continues unabated

Admittedly, more than just classics were represented at the Classic Expo Salzburg. Numerous Porsche 991s and 992s were also in attendance. The stands of Automobile Pühringer, Autosalon Isartal, Dr. Georg Konradsheim, Meistermacher and RR Motors in Hall 11 were also bursting with interesting exhibits. This colorful mix made the fair extremely varied. It had everything from pre-war cars to modern supercars like the Porsche Carrera GT.

Same was true of the Classic Expo audience. Everything from young to old was represented, and there were a conspicuously large number of women among the knowledgeable visitors. As we learned from dealer circles, many visitors used the fair to take a closer look at several potential purchases. The interest in buying classic cars seems, despite economic uncertainties, unbroken.

Organization, exhibition, weather – everything was just right at the Classic Expo in Salzburg

Our conclusion to the Classic Expo Salzburg could hardly be better. Together with our partners from Drehwerk, we were able to welcome countless enthusiasts at our booth. The spectrum ranged from long-time fans to new users and brought plenty of interesting contacts.

The organization was also exemplary. Everything ran smoothly and everything was thought of, both for us exhibitors and the visitors. Easy online ticket purchase, quick admission, more than enough parking spaces directly in front of the door and even the weather played along. For us it’s clear: It will certainly not have been our last visit to the Expo.

For us, the Classic Expo Salzburg was a great experience. We were particularly surprised by the extremely diverse audience. We will take the visitors’ feedback on our platform with us as impetus into the new year.

Markus Klimesch, Elferspot founder

It’s just fun to get to know you, our users, personally. Many of you even told us how you found your car on Elferspot. But even explaining our platform to those who didn’t know it before was a very interesting experience. Ultimately, this in turn provides us with valuable input on what we should focus working in the future, so that we can continue to be the leading marketplace for used and classic Porsche sports cars.

Thank you, Classic Expo 2023!

© title image: MZS / Drehwerk