The Jochen Rindt Show

The Jochen Rindt Show started in Vienna in 1965 and was continued by his wife Nina after his death until 1978 when it then changed its name to Motor Show Essen which still exists today. The Show was very important to him and he would have undoubtedly put even more time into it once he had stopped racing.

1965 – 1969: Vienna

1970 – 1975: Vienna and Essen

1976 – 1977: Essen and Linz

The Jochen Rindt Show

Historian Erich Walitsch

I would like to dedicate a large chapter to the Jochen Rindt Show. Since the 1950’s, there were already some significant Automobile Exhibitions, notably Paris and Geneva. They were committed to introducing street and luxury cars as well as tuning cars of the most reputable manufacturers. The only exhibition worth mentioning which also dealt with motorsport was in London. Where else if not in the home country of motorsport?

In 1965, Jochen Rindt was only 23 years old but he had already participated in his fifth racing season in different categories, like touring cars, Formula Junior, Formula 2, Prototypes, etc. He won the 24hrs of Le Mans that year and obtained a 3-year contract as a factory driver for the English Cooper Formula 1 team. He had achieved his goal to become a Formula One driver in a very short period of time.

It is then fascinating to wonder how Jochen Rindt started his own Racing Car Exhibition? He had no clue of what he was getting into, no knowledge of how to organize such an event and probably was not aware of the financial implications involved.