About Oldtimer Markt

Oldtimer Markt

Oldtimer Markt is Europe's largest magazine for classic cars and motorcycles, published monthly by the VF Verlagsgesellschaft in Mainz. Founded in 1980 as "Markt für klassische Automobile und Motorräder" and renamed with the 1/1993 issue, the magazine combines editorial coverage of historic vehicles and automotive technology with an extensive classified-ads section — the marketplace that gave the title its name. With a sold circulation of 70,629 copies (IVW 4/2024), it is the undisputed leading medium of the German-speaking classic-car scene.

Overview

Oldtimer Markt is a monthly German-language special-interest magazine (ISSN 0939-9704) from the VF Verlagsgesellschaft mbH in Mainz, under editor-in-chief Dirk Ramackers. The content focus is historic vehicles and vehicle technology, complemented by the extensive classified section — the buying and selling of classic cars, motorcycles, parts and literature that remains the title's commercial heart. The magazine appears monthly at a cover price of 5.90 euros, with special editions (Oldtimer Markt Edition) at 9.90 euros. The IVW-audited sold circulation of 70,629 copies in the fourth quarter of 2024 makes it Europe's largest magazine for classic cars and motorcycles, in the publisher's words, and the leading medium for the German-speaking oldtimer scene. According to the IfD-Allensbach oldtimer study of 2021, the two top titles Oldtimer Markt and Oldtimer Praxis together regularly reach 75 percent of the regular readers of oldtimer magazines in Germany. The publisher describes itself as Europe's leading publisher of oldtimer publications, selling more than 210,000 copies a month across its journals and reaching more than two million oldtimer enthusiasts through magazines, website, marketplace and social media.

History

The magazine was founded in 1980 by Otto Walenta and Bernd Bonello as "Markt für klassische Automobile und Motorräder" — the market for classic automobiles and motorcycles — at a time when the classic-car hobby was professionalizing in Germany and a dedicated marketplace medium was missing. With issue 1/1993 the title was renamed Oldtimer Markt, the name under which it became the segment's flagship. The early issues, documented in the Zwischengas archive — issue 3/1996 with 274 pages, covering the Mercedes R/C 107, the Opel four-valve racing car, a Rover P4 buying guide and the Ford Model T success story — show the formula already in place: driving reports, buying advice, technology tips and event coverage. The circulation peaked in the 2000s (IVW II/2006: 137,080 sold copies) before settling at the current level of around 70,000, still the segment's largest. The VF Verlagsgesellschaft built a whole oldtimer publishing house around the flagship: the sister journals are Oldtimer Praxis (the workshop title), Oldtimer Traktor, British Classics/American Classics and Last & Kraft (trucks and commercial vehicles), plus two to three special publications a year — including on oldtimer and youngtimer prices — and several themed editions on special topics of the oldtimer scene.

Coverage and Content

The editorial programme serves the classic-vehicle owner, buyer, restorer and dreamer. Driving reports and model histories form the core: the October 2026 issue (10/2026, "Nicht normal! Die coolsten Sondermodelle") presented special models from the Opel Manta A Black Magic to the Mercedes 190E Azzurro/Rosso/Verde boutique editions, the VW Jeans Beetle, the Renault 5 Baccara and the Mercedes A-Class Mika Häkkinen Edition, alongside a timing-belt change guide for the Land Rover Series II, a buying guide for the retro Fiat 500 as a youngtimer, and a motorcycle portrait of the Puch Monza on its 50th birthday. The July 2026 issue covered the AMG myth from Affalterbach, 60 years of the Wartburg 353, the BMW 6/8-series duel and the Maserati Merak–Citroën SM story. Technology and practice content — welding equipment setup for restorations, instrument repairs — serves the hands-on readers, connecting to the sister title Oldtimer Praxis. The classified section remains the market's central exchange for vehicles, parts and automobilia. The magazine also operates the largest event-dates service for the scene in print, online and as an app — the calendar of rallies, concours, club meetings and fairs that structures the oldtimer year. Special editions such as the 3/2026 "Über 110 Traum-Coupés" issue dive deep into collector themes.

Organization and Ownership

Oldtimer Markt is published by the VF Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, the Mainz-based mid-sized publishing house specializing in special-interest magazines. The company describes itself as Europe's leading provider of magazines for oldtimer enthusiasts, with the flagship Oldtimer Markt as its top title. The editor-in-chief is Dirk Ramackers. The publishing house's portfolio covers the whole historic-vehicle spectrum: Oldtimer Markt (the market and magazine flagship), Oldtimer Praxis (workshop and restoration), Oldtimer Traktor (agricultural classics), American Classics/British Classics (national scenes) and Last & Kraft (historic commercial vehicles), plus the annual special publications on prices and themed editions. The commercial model is the special-interest magazine: single-copy sales (5.90 euros) and subscriptions, the classified ads that monetize the marketplace function, display advertising from the restoration, parts, insurance and auction industries, and the special editions. The publisher trains its own next generation — apprenticeships as media designers for digital and print are advertised with training across photo shoots, editorial, ad sales, the online department and page production. Distribution runs through the Bauer Vertriebs KG. The VF house's self-description as a mid-sized publisher with a special-interest focus captures the economics: no conglomerate backing, but the dominant position in a passionate niche where readers keep every issue and advertisers buy access to the most committed audience in the German car culture. The two-to-three special publications a year — the price guides for oldtimers and youngtimers, the themed editions on extraordinary topics of the scene — monetize the expertise the monthly builds, while the editions on specific collector themes give the newsstand a premium product at 9.90 euros. The IfD-Allensbach finding — 75 percent of regular oldtimer-magazine readers reached by the two top titles — is the media-planning argument that sustains the whole house.

Digital Presence

The digital home is oldtimer-markt.de, the portal carrying current articles, the media data and the newsletter registration. The OLDTIMER MARKT newsletter delivers fresh information and offers by email. The event-dates service — the largest in the scene — runs in print, online and as an app, giving the brand a year-round utility function beyond the monthly issue. Past issues are documented and traded through the enthusiast ecosystem: the Zwischengas archive catalogues issues back to the 1990s with tables of contents, and retailers such as meine-zeitschrift.de sell current issues and special editions online. The publisher's job advertisements describe the reach: more than two million oldtimer enthusiasts reached through the magazines, the website, the marketplace and social media. Between the monthly print magazine, the classified marketplace, the event-dates app, the newsletter and the special editions, Oldtimer Markt operates as the central media platform of the German-speaking classic-vehicle scene — the title that has defined the segment since 1980, from Mainz to the concours lawns of Europe. The founding idea — a market for classic automobiles and motorcycles — turned out to be the durable one: through the rename of 1993, the circulation peak of the 2000s and the digital transformation, the magazine remained what Walenta and Bonello had envisioned, the place where the scene meets to buy, to sell, to learn and to dream. With 70,000 sold copies a month, the largest event calendar in print, online and app, and the sister titles covering workshop, tractor, national scenes and trucks, the VF house in Mainz holds the complete oldtimer media system — and Oldtimer Markt remains its flagship, Europe's largest magazine for classic cars and motorcycles.