Never before have we had to wait so long. More than a year has passed since the last Albisgütli Classic Cars & Bikes. Due to construction work, the other three dates in 2023 had been canceled without replacement. And it seemed as if the entire field of participants from four events had now come together on this one October 6 at the foot of the Uetliberg to make up for what they had missed.
Admission was from 9:00 am. And just one hour later, the gravel parking lot above the road traffic office had to be opened to accommodate the constant stream of classic cars.
With this mass of cars, multiple sightings are of course unavoidable: Citroën 11 Légère, Alfa Romeo GTV6 2.5 and Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk were seen twice. However, it was rather rare to come across a twin pair of Ferrari 365 GT 2+2. The two long-distance cruisers in elegant "Blu Chiaro" differed from each other only in the wheels: wire spokes here, cast light alloy there.
But even these two noble steeds are almost commonplace when you compare them with what was waiting on the lowest level. There, the equivalent of 100 ordinary classic cars were gathered in a single automobile. Far from any air-conditioned and humidity-regulated hall, a 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB had mingled with the common folk.
Less obvious was another rarity a few cars further south. There, one of only 1457 Buick Grand Nationals built was revealed to the attentive observer. With its turbocharged 3.8-liter V6, this pitch-black hulk once outpaced the Ferrari F40 and Porsche 911 Turbo in the quarter mile - and as we know, that's the only benchmark that means anything in the USA.
Americans were generally well represented, with the presence of smooth six-cylinder oddballs, such as the Kaiser Manhattan or the '54 Chevrolet 210 Club Coupe, particularly pleasing amidst all the V8 babble. It was also curious to discover that there were around four times as many Triumph TR 4 A models present as at the Triumph Day in Zihlschlacht-Sittersdorf - namely four.
"Four" is also a good keyword. Because the Albisgütli Classic Cars & Bikes 2024 has shown one thing above all: That a single edition a year is far too little. The mass of classic cars was on the move virtually all the time. Even shortly before the gates closed at 2:30 p.m., new cars were still arriving and replacing others. Hopefully it will be spread over four dates again next year. Not because the large crowds in the fall are a bad thing. But so that we don't have to wait so long again.
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