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Showcase

White prewar Mercedes SSK with outside exhausts, front three-quarter in the street

Outside exhausts

Cream paint, exposed pipes, spoked wheels: nothing on this car forgives a knock.

Rear of a white prewar Mercedes SSK with two spare wheels mounted on the tail

Two spares on the tail

Everything that sticks out is a corner to protect. There are more of them than on a modern car.

Classic motorcycles lined up on the lower deck of a transporter

Vintage motorcycles

Each machine on its own cradle, strapped by the fork and never by the bars.

Crew member lashing a Lamborghini inside an enclosed transporter

Lashing down

Securing takes longer than loading, and that is deliberate.

Blue Bugatti Veyron inside the enclosed transporter, side doors open at the museum

Veyron, museum bound

Straight from the trailer to the exhibition floor, without a lap of the block.

Red Ferrari 296 on the lower deck, Porsche GT3 RS above

296 and GT3 RS

Two new cars on two decks, never seeing each other for the whole trip.

White prewar Mercedes SSK on the ramp of an enclosed transporter in front of a church

Onto the ramp

Long wheelbase, hard springs, no synchromesh. It goes aboard at the pace of the slowest hand.

Formula One car lifted by a crane truck in a Brussels street, crew guiding it

Over the pavement

A single-seater cannot climb a kerb. It goes over it, in slings, with the street closed.

Race cars being loaded from a city street with rooftops and a dome behind

The street as a dock

City-centre work has no yard and no room to turn. The plan is made before the trucks arrive.

Rear of a Ford Mustang art car inside an enclosed transporter

Mustang art car

A hand-painted body: what it fears most is being brushed against.

Red Ferrari Testarossa unloaded in a circuit paddock, transporter ramps down

Delivered trackside

Unloaded at the pit lane, ready to be driven the moment the track opens.

Lancia 037 in Martini Racing livery beside the transporter ramps

Lancia 037

A Group B rally car at the foot of the ramps, ready for the exhibition.

Chrome-grilled classic Mercedes saloon loaded nose first on a transporter deck

Chrome and vertical headlamps

The bumpers of this era are steel and stand proud. They meet the deck before the tyres do.

Classic Mercedes coupé on the lower deck of an open-sided transporter

Lower deck

The low deck is for the low car. Which one goes where is decided before anything moves.

Two men shaking hands in front of an open transporter loaded with a classic car

The handover

The job ends here, in front of the truck, with the owner. Not with a signature at a gate.

Wing of a Porsche 911 GT3 RS inside an enclosed transporter

GT3 RS wing

The wing clears: height is checked at loading, not on arrival.

Rear of a Porsche 993 Turbo inside an enclosed transporter

993 Turbo

A sought-after youngtimer travels like a new car.

Rear wing of a Porsche 911 GT3 RS under the roof of the enclosed transporter

The wing fits

That rear wing sets the height of the load, and it clears the roof.

Two white Lamborghinis in an enclosed transporter outside a dealership

Two Lamborghinis

Two cars for one client delivered on the same truck, a deck apart.

Rear of a classic Mercedes saloon inside a transporter, street visible behind

Seen from the ramp

Half a metre either side. The mirrors come in before the car does.

Two men beside a loaded transporter with a dark classic car on the deck

Before setting off

The last look is taken together. Anything noticed now costs nothing to fix.

Enclosed transporter loaded with classic Mercedes cars, seen from the front

Loaded and closed

Four cars, one truck, one driver who does not hand over at a border.

Black hypercar in an enclosed trailer on a private driveway

Private collection

A hypercar collected from a private driveway, with no crowd and no waiting in the street.

Open double-deck transporter loaded with four modern cars outside a garage

Four cars, open deck

Open transport is the right answer when the car is new and the run routine.

Photographs 25–48 of 238