He couldn't tell me exactly, because some people had registered but hadn't come, but others were there who hadn't registered. But there was enough space, everyone had paid and the 125 or so starting numbers had all been allocated. For Bernhard Taeschler, OC President of the 13th International Micro Car Meeting, this is an obligation, and yet he is relaxed: "I'm just there, people know where to find me."
A stroke of luck
The school building in Meisterschwanden is to be rebuilt, so nobody needs to worry that the festival benches will be set up on the red sports field for once. The ground has been amortized and will soon be removed anyway, so it was easy for the municipality to even make the tartan pitch available for the 50th micro-car meeting - an ideal situation.
Because from May 1 to 3, the time had come again: the 13th Micro-Car Meeting brought the smallest of all cars to Lake Hallwil in Meisterschwanden and thus back to the roots of the largest meeting of its kind in Europe.
The fact that the organizers have been putting on such a large meeting every four years for the past 50 years is not a matter of course. Because: "We only have one class cash account at the bank," as Bernhard Taeschler explains to us on Saturday afternoon. The reason is simple: the organizers are neither organized in an association nor affiliated with a corresponding club. "Every time since we organized the first meeting in 1976, we've been asked when we were planning the next meeting, and every time we couldn't say in advance. We've never thought about the next one as soon as one meeting was over. Yes, we have always been careful not to promise another one. But for 50 years it has always been the same: We bring our meeting to a successful conclusion, then we organize a trip the following year, which may take us a little further afield. Then we sit together again the following year, discuss whether it should be another meeting, and then organize another meeting for the following year. It's hard to believe, but it's been the same ten people who have formed the core of the organizing committee for 50 years. So you don't have to ask me now whether there will be another Micro Car Meeting after the 13th edition, after the 50th anniversary. If everything goes well, then sure. But we never knew that in advance, and that's still the case today!" laughs Taeschler after placing his pipe on the table in front of us.
A sworn bunch of enthusiasts
A hard core of scooter riders met regularly at the Delphin, the hotel and restaurant on the lake in Meisterschwanden, back in the early 1970s, says Taeschler. The first meeting was not rocket science, and around 30 vehicles from Switzerland and neighbouring countries were easily organized. And back then, it never occurred to anyone to load their Isetta, Messerschmitt, Goggomobil or Heinkel cab onto a trailer.
The journey on the road was a matter of honor. The people were still young and all of them were regarded as mild to rather violent weirdos. At a time when things were only ever supposed to go uphill, voluntary renunciation was something rather unusual. And all too many of the small cars were no longer on the road in the 1970s. They were virtually swept off the roads during the boom period in the second half of the 1960s.
And yes, there is said to have been a time when you weren't even supposed to show your Isetta anywhere near a BMW branch. People were ashamed of their own modest past.
It was and is all the more gratifying that this group of weirdos has taken on the category of scooters, or as the definition in the commemorative publication puts it: cars with three or four wheels that have a maximum displacement of 500 cubic centimetres (exceptions prove the rule), are barely longer than three meters and were built somewhere between 1947 and 1965.
"Of course, not everyone comes on the road anymore, some people load their car onto a trailer," says Taeschler. "The reasons are relatively simple, first and foremost the traffic, which many people are afraid of. With a top speed of 85 km/h, some vehicles would even be suitable for the highway, but nobody wants to do that anymore," says the passionate FMR Tg 500 pilot.
Celebrating the renunciation
And then there is probably the age of some of the participants, although the topic of microcars is highly suitable for families. At Taeschler's, even the third generation is already eagerly involved, with a granddaughter looking after her grandfather's flea market stall. Taeschler is also pleased to see that there are no differences among microcar enthusiasts. They are peacefully united, even across brands. And even if some of the micro-cars have now reached a considerable price level, this is absolutely irrelevant here.
The important thing seems to be that you can indulge in doing without with delight and enjoy the charming shortcomings of economy mobiles. One thing is obvious: People don't take themselves, their passion and the vehicles quite as deadly seriously as is perhaps the case in other car clubs or at meetings. That is very pleasant to notice.
A place in the dry
Anyone who has strolled around the square next to the school building on Friday or Saturday may have noticed one thing that all these scooters and minibuses have in common: They look cozy. And even if they were only able to satisfy modest space requirements, it was better to sit under a roof than to be exposed to the wind and weather on a motorcycle. In many vehicles, the crews have made themselves at home. It is good to have a folding roof so that the sun can come in but the heat can go out. This is especially true for vehicles like the Messerschmitt/FMR with their Plexiglas hoods. When it rains, however, you close the roof and enjoy the cozy comfort.
Well, from May 1 to 3, the weather was definitely sunny and clear. The approximately 125 vehicles and their crews could also count on a rich program, and many of them explored the area around the Hallwiler and Baldeggersee lakes in the Seetal valley and the Sempachersee lake behind the next range of hills in the Aargau-Lucerne Alpine foothills.
On Friday, after a first rendezvous, a guided tour of the Intercantonal Police School IPH was on the program, or the course boat invited participants to take a lake cruise. Seengen and Hallwil Castle were also not far away. In any case, the center of the activities was the multi-purpose hall in Meisterschwanden, where a number of cars were always on display - in a kind of animated ad-hoc museum and with highly competent guides, namely the owners themselves.
On Saturday, the organizers sent the teams on the micro-car rally, which paused for lunch in Hitzkirch. After the second stage, the parking lot in Meisterschwanden filled up with vehicles again in the afternoon. In addition to many onlookers, the mayor of Meisterschwanden was also spotted among the guests. The good cooperation with the authorities was evident with the generous amount of space available, the easy-to-use visitor parking spaces and the infrastructure provided - an exemplary ideal case.
Thomas Good and his 1954 Kroboth all-weather scooter disappeared for a short time, only to reappear with an alphorn on the passenger seat - pure atmosphere. Only the death of former motorcycle racer and enthusiastic micro-car driver Jacques Cornu a few days before the meeting dampened the joy. A minute's silence was held for him. However, the Frenchman was anything but a child of sadness, which is why he will always be fondly remembered by the micro-car community for his extremely humorous manner.
On Sunday, the final highlight of the meeting was a show ride on the Mutschellen over lunchtime. The event ended in the afternoon back in Meisterschwanden, where the guests from further afield packed their vehicles back onto the trailers and the big farewell was the finale. The organizers did not want to tell us whether another meeting would take place. But as we now know, they have never done so in advance for 50 years. In view of the many encounters and satisfied faces, however, we can expect another international micro-car meeting to take place in about four years' time. We are looking forward to it.
