WHY APRIL
The Month That Changes Everything
The indoor season ends in April. Not gradually — it ends. The shows in Stuttgart, Maastricht, and Bremen belong to another logic: covered floors, controlled lighting, cars that don't move. Come April, the weight shifts. Concours lawns, promenade settings, open-air circuits. The driving begins.
Two routes stand out. The first runs south: Nice to Rome in a single week, with two world-class events as bookends and the Italian coast between them. The second is in western Germany: a Rhine weekend in late April that pairs a hillclimb with one of Europe's best modern car culture shows.
WEEKEND ONE — SPLIT DECISION
8–12 April: Essen and Nice
The first stretch of April offers a choice with no wrong answer, depending on which direction you point the car.
In the north: Retro Classics Essen launches its premiere edition at Messe Essen from April 8 to 12. This is the Stuttgart format arriving in the Ruhr region for the first time: up to 800 exhibitors across more than 80,000 m², vehicle sales market, specialist parts, automobilia, and special shows. A dedicated entry-level section features cars up to €10,000 — an intelligent addition that makes the fair accessible to a new generation. Wednesday opens at 13:00 until 20:00; Thursday through Sunday 10:00 to 18:00.
For anyone in Stuttgart's orbit, Essen offers the same format with a different crowd — stronger Dutch and Belgian contingent, and the industrial character of the Ruhr adding its own register.
In the south: On the same weekend, Légendes de Nice takes over the Promenade des Anglais. Around 250 vehicles across Place Masséna and the beachfront promenade, with four competition classes: elegance, condition, youngtimers, and public vote. The 2026 edition has confirmed Ferrari F80, Ferrari 849 Testarossa, and the Maserati Project24 — a track-only hypercar that rarely appears at public events — for its demonstration programme. The event includes rallies and driving experiences through the city, which means the streets around Nice are part of the show all weekend.
The Riviera add-on: The stretch from Nice toward Monaco — Basse Corniche, Eze, Cap-Ferrat — is worth a morning on its own. From Switzerland, Nice is a straightforward run south, roughly half a day depending on the pass.
THE ROUTE
Nice to Rome: One Week, One Road
Légendes de Nice closes Sunday the 12th. Anantara Concorso Roma opens Thursday the 16th. Four days, ~700 km of coast.
The route via the Italian Riviera offers no uninteresting sections. Menton, Ventimiglia, San Remo, then the Ligurian stretch toward Genoa — tight roads above the sea, cliff-face tunnels, fishing villages far below. East of Genoa: La Spezia, the Cinque Terre from above, the first views of Tuscany. From there, Rome is a half-day south.
Route note: The Via Aurelia (SS1) from Livorno to Rome follows the same alignment the Romans used — Maremma marshland, Etruscan hill towns, then the capital. Slower than the autostrada by about 90 minutes. Worth every one of them.
STOP — ROME
16–19 April: Anantara Concorso Roma
The Anantara Concorso Roma is the inaugural edition of what aims to become a permanent annual fixture — a world-class concours built entirely around Italian cars, staged in the gardens of Villa Borghese and on the grounds of Casina Valadier.
The format is strict: 70 cars, Italian manufacturers only. Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Lamborghini, Pagani — from pre-war pioneers to the early supercar era, across 16 judged classes. Three Le Mans-winning Ferraris have been confirmed: the 1963 Ferrari 275P, the 1964 Ferrari 250 LM (one of only two privateer Ferraris to win Le Mans outright), and a Ferrari 499P.
The public days are Saturday the 18th and Sunday the 19th. Day tickets from €95. On Friday the 17th, the Giro d'Anantara departs from Piazza della Repubblica — the cars driving through Rome's historic centre in convoy. That particular image is hard to replicate anywhere else on the calendar.
The event was postponed from 2025 following the death of Pope Francis. The extra year has been spent expanding the showfield and programme. Rome in mid-April is warm evenings, good light, and a city that rewards walking.
Practical note: Plan to arrive Friday to catch the Giro. The Piazza della Repubblica area is the event's base — book accommodation early, Rome in April is busy.
WEEKEND THREE — FOUR AT ONCE
25–26 April: The Crowded Finale
The last weekend of April is the densest of the month. Four events run simultaneously across three countries.
MYLE Zürich at Kemptthal — a curated gathering of modern collector cars in the Swiss Mittelland. The quality option for anyone staying close to home.
Classic Days Magny-Cours — one of the best historic racing weekends in France, on the Formula 1 circuit. 400 race cars, 800 club cars. The 2026 edition spotlights the BMW M3 E30 and Chrysler Viper GTS-R. Built as a dress rehearsal for Le Mans Classic, this draws serious racing content.
In western Germany, a pairing worth planning properly:
Ultrace Germany at Meerbusch near Düsseldorf — the German edition of Europe's premium modern car culture show. Modified, stanced, high-quality built cars. Not a classic car event. The opposite culture entirely, done with real conviction.
Pista & Piloti — Hillclimb at Bad Sobernheim in the Nahe valley — a single-day hillclimb on one of Germany's most atmospheric mountain roads. Classic and historic competition cars, timed runs.
Meerbusch to Bad Sobernheim is about 180 km south along the Rhine. Ultrace on Saturday, overnight along the river, hillclimb on Sunday. The cultural contrast is the point.
Rhine tip: The B9 between Koblenz and Bad Sobernheim follows the Nahe river. Vineyards, small market towns, the kind of road that doesn't exist on motorways. Budget an extra hour.
The Nice-to-Rome week is the version of April hardest to forget. Two events at opposite ends of the character spectrum — a beach concours on the Côte d'Azur, an Italian-only showfield in Villa Borghese — connected by the best driving coast in Europe. April is the right month for it.
