Gallery: Risenation Hall of Fame 2026

Risenation marks the unofficial start for my show season. It’s always the first taste of what the rest of the year might bring. This year was no different. Bag packed, snacks secured, I punched Mechelen, Belgium into Google Maps, fired up the car, and set off. Two and a half hours later, the Nekkerhal appeared like a giant half tube with holes in it. If you have ever been there you know what I mean.

Before I even think about taking the camera out, I make a few reconnaissance laps. This year, however, the organisers decided to funnel everyone through a vendor corridor at the entrance. Great for anyone selling stickers, detailing sprays, or T‑shirts you don’t need… but less great if you simply wanted to get on with the show. Still, minor grumble aside, the rest was brilliant. Familiar faces, new conversations, and cars that made you stop mid‑stride, this show had the full package.

Track‑Ready BMW E36 With M4 S55 Power

Walking through the Tuning Experience hall at the Essen Motor Show, you expect to see wild builds, but every now and then something stops you dead in your tracks. Did you catch my take on this year’s event? If not, you can still check it out on the Turnpike Global site.

Among the wild show cars and slammed stances sat a machine that looked like it had been teleported straight from the Nürburgring paddock: a 1996 BMW E36, reborn with the heart of an M4 and the soul of a race car.

This isn’t just an engine swap; it’s a complete transformation. Under the bonnet lies BMW’s S55B30 straight-six from the F82 M4, paired with its seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. Team Schirmer’s fingerprints are everywhere: engine mounts, transmission crossmember, and a rear axle housing a Drexler limited-slip differential with 45% lock and dedicated cooling. The numbers speak for themselves: 431 horsepower pushing just 1,270 kilograms. That’s serious firepower.

RUF SCR: Analog Fury in a Digital Age

To the untrained eye this looks like any other older Porsche. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth.This is the RUF SCR. It may wear the familiar silhouette of a classic 911, but beneath its instantly recognisable profile is something far more audacious: a supercar engineered entirely by RUF, built from the ground up on a proprietary carbon‑fiber monocoque chassis, and powered by a 4.0 liter naturally aspirated flat-six that screams its lungs out at 8,270 rpm.

RUF’s revival of the SCR name began in 2018, but the concept matured into the machine we see here. At Interclassics in Maastricht, Holland I spotted not one but two of these incredible machines. Bavaria Motors, a specialist in performance cars and official distributor of RUF, from Belgium made the trip to the event and showcased this green and silver example.

At the centre of both these cars sits that engine, a hand-built, water‑cooled 4.0‑liter flat-six developed entirely in-house. It produces 510 horsepower and has a direct electronic throttle system. Giving it a throttle response that modern turbocharged engines can only dream about. According to RUF, the engine reaches its peak power at 8,270 rpm and sends 470 Nm of torque rearwards through a six-speed manual transmission of its own design.

BMW E46 M3: Phoenix Rising

Few cars distil the joy of driving quite like the BMW E46 M3, and seeing this Phoenix Yellow example in the metal at the Essen Motor Show only reinforced its legend. Surrounded by wild show cars and modern exotica, it stood out by doing something far more difficult: being tasteful. This is OEM+ philosophy executed with restraint, confidence and a deep understanding of what made the E46 so special in the first place.

Under the bonnet sits BMW’s revered S54 straight-six, producing 333hp and mated to a six-speed manual gearbox. It remains one of the greatest naturally aspirated engines ever fitted to a road car, delivering its performance with razor-sharp throttle response and a spine-tingling soundtrack that modern turbo units can only dream of replicating. This is the beating heart of the car, and it needs no reinvention.

The stance has been subtly modernised with an Airlift Performance air suspension system using 3P management. Crucially, it’s set up with predefined pressure limits rather than extreme lowering, preserving drivability and protecting the chassis. Beneath the skin, Powerflex bushings and adjustable rear arms sharpen the handling, while a Supersprint stainless steel race system with twin 80mm tips ensures the car sounds every bit as serious as it looks.

Koenigsegg Jesko: Ultimate Hypercar Up Close

I have seen the Koenigsegg Jesko in real life before, but never from this close. Its intensity is something else. While visiting the Pace Museum I had the opportunity to spend some time with the car alone before other visitors came in. I spent a good while photographing every angle of the Koenigsegg Jesko Attack, peering into details that go way beyond just head-turning looks.

But let’s start with the facts. The Jesko’s 5.0‑litre twin‑turbocharged V8 is both brutal and refined, producing 1,280 hp on pump fuel and an astounding 1,600 hp on E85, supplemented by up to 1,500 Nm of torque at 5,100 rpm. At the heart of the car is the revolutionary nine‑speed Light Speed Transmission (LST), a marvel of engineering that uses seven multi‑disc clutches to allow instantaneous gear shifts between any ratio, no sequential lag, just seamless ferocity.

Volkswagen Brasilia: A 1974 Icon from Sweden

When you think of Brasilia, you probably picture the Copacabana, the giant Christ statue in Rio de Janeiro, and tiny bikinis. But the Volkswagen Brasilia rarely tops my list of Brazilian trivia. Yet this 1974 example flips that perception on its head. Unfortunately, I didn’t find this example on the beaches of Brazil but inside the Tuning Experience hall at the Essen Motor Show.

The VW Brasilia itself is a fascinating chapter in VW history. Born in 1973 as Volkswagen do Brasil Ltda, a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group in Brazil, answer to the Beetle’s limitations. It was designed to offer more space and modern styling while keeping the beloved air-cooled simplicity.

Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R Tuning Masterpiece

The Essen Motor Show has always been a playground for automotive dreams, but this year one car stole the spotlight. There are cars that define an era, and then there’s the Nissan Skyline GT-R R34, a machine so iconic it’s practically our halo car. But what happens when you take one of these legends and decide to tear it down to its bones, rebuild it better than new, and do it all in just fifty days? That’s the madness that unfolded inside the JP Performance workshop leading up to the Essen Motor Show.

The story begins with a car that’s seen more stamps in its passport than most people. It cruised through Tokyo, sat in an Australian shop, and then spent months in limbo before finally arriving in Europe. The plan was simple on paper: restore, repaint, and reassemble the R34 to perfection in time for the Essen Motor Show. In reality, it was a high-wire act with no safety net.

Renault Espace F1: The Ultimate Racing Van

Back in the mid-90s, Renault decided that celebrating the tenth anniversary of its Espace MPV wasn’t enough with balloons and cake. No, they wanted fireworks, so they built a minivan with the heart of a Formula One car. The result was the Espace F1, a machine so outrageous it still feels like a fever dream.

This wasn’t a tuned-up people carrier. Underneath its carbon-fiber body panels sat a bespoke monocoque chassis and, bolted in the middle, a 3.5-litre Renault RS5 V10 engine straight out of the Williams FW15C that dominated the 1993 F1 season. That meant nearly 800 horsepower screaming to 14,000 rpm, funneled through a six-speed semi-automatic gearbox to the rear wheels. Forget school runs, this thing could hit 100 km/h in under three seconds and top out at over 310 km/h. In a van.

The interior was just as mad. Four racing buckets, the engine visible through clear panels behind the rear seats, and absolutely no concessions to comfort. It was a family car only in the sense that four people could technically fit inside, if they didn’t mind sitting next to a V10 with ear plugs in…