Power, status and fascination – cars arouse emotions

At the beginning of the 20th century, the 'powers that be' would arrive by car. Especially after 1945, the photo media transported this connection between power and the car into people's minds. Just as the car became a symbol of power, it also developed into a social status symbol by which the man or woman at the wheel wished to demonstrate economic success, arouse certain emotions and make some kind of statement about his or her personality.

In much the same way as the car fascinated the world of adults, it also became king in the world of toys. This story is told by millions and millions of Matchbox cars, the shining eyes of children in front of the shelves in the toy departments of the big stores and proudly posing at the wheel of a Bobby-Car or pedal car. So it was that the little ones gained their first 'experiences at the wheel' and imitated the adults. The daring adventures of children who were no longer quite so young in soapboxes – soapbox derbies – are almost forgotten now.

As adults, these former children then bought 'proper' cars. That in turn reminded them of the cars of their childhood. From the 1980s onwards, i.e. a certain period after the beginning of mass motorisation, the car, as a kind of memento, then created a fascination for old, rusty sheet metal that has persisted to this very day. Especially in a model like the one their fathers had had, they felt able to relive their childhood. When they subsequently purchased that model as an antique car, it became a kind of time machine.