A glance at the weather app certainly dominated the preparation of all participants. And even though two of the planned participating vehicles had to give up in Cologne and at Tegernsee, the protagonists of a diverse field of participants turned up in Stuttgart in good spirits, including the weatherproof owners and drivers of the second-oldest vehicle, an early Mercedes 24/100/140 from 1924. Which brings us to the brand that has produced almost three out of four of the participants' vehicles over the past century, Mercedes-Benz.
Daimler's motorized carriage in front of Schneider's SLR
It may be due to the owner of the classic car dealership and organizer Carola Daimler, the great-granddaughter of Gottlieb Daimler, that the rally was opened in the early morning and even with unannounced sunshine by the oldest vehicle in the world: Daimler's motorized carriage, driven by Carola Daimler Cars Managing Director Nils Pfeifer. The laborious starting of the car caused a respectful, reverent silence among the participants; its driving off caused a smile and a lot of understanding that the car should be parked 50 meters further on and not tortured over the 247 km route. At the same time, travelers must have been much more weatherproof in the past. There is no trace of the later Maybach comfort here - but at the time, Maybach still mostly built grandfather clocks.
In 2021, 135 years later, the participating Mercedes works driver Bernd Schneider in the 1956 190 SLR received the starting number 01. He was followed at one-minute intervals by two large 300 convertibles from 1952 and 1959, several beautiful 300 SLs from the 1950s and 1980s, two Jaguar E-Types (S1 and S3) and a rare Porsche 356 Pre-A Speedster.
Only a nylon stocking would have helped faster
An almost as rare BMW 503 looked like a bright blue splash of color in the field of participants and was the first vehicle to pause at kilometer 22 with a warning triangle at the edge of the route and provided at least 30 offers of help from the other rally teams and even from uninvolved youngtimer drivers; a nice experience that is fun and should motivate everyone to move old cars completely fearlessly.
Fortunately, the 1956 eight-cylinder car for sale at Carola Daimler Cars, the somewhat well-behaved sister vehicle of the famous BMW 507 in the Graf Goertz design, only had a broken fan belt. A mobile and very competent service team from the local classic car professionals at Pemac in Filderstadt had a perfectly fitting belt on board - which was quite astonishing - and repaired the damage in exactly 7 minutes.
Unfortunately, the service vehicle was at the back of the field and it took almost an hour for it to arrive. But then the beautifully shaped BMW coupé, which at the time cost almost as much as a detached house, rolled relaxedly on its way, earning many curious glances and appreciation along the way. At the end of the day, the 503 came third in the highly competitive 50s class and is currently only available for the price of a 1.5-room apartment in Stuttgart or Berlin, i.e. for exactly 199,000 euros.
A BMW 507, on the other hand, currently costs five to eight times as much. Beyond that, the service team from Pemac had little to do; some oil loss on the 1957 300 SL and another Mercedes probably had either an imprecise fuel gauge or simply a lot of driving pleasure.
Route guidance with "Chinese characters" in the roadbook - and without sat nav
If you're not already experienced in rallying as a passenger, you'll quickly reach your limits when Google Maps doesn't help, because the route to the finish is never the shortest in a rally, but the most beautiful. This not only goes beyond the imagination of a Google programmer who usually only rides his bike in urban areas, it also confuses many a co-pilot of the Carola Daimler Classics. So it was always amusing when another participant in front of or behind you chose a different route than you did. As in real life, you first doubted the others, then your own orientation, until your doubts about the others were confirmed as correct.
The driver of a 1980 Mercedes GD was also convinced that he could reach the barbecue buffet faster on a lonely drive along increasingly narrow forest paths to Hohen Neuffen Castle, until he failed at an insurmountable wooden barrier erected by the local forester - making him a candidate for the most sumptuous dessert consumption.
It was always most enjoyable on the road when, despite the one-minute gap between you and the car in front or behind, you finally caught up with the car in front or behind and were finally driving in a convoy that was not desired by the legislator - because this is demonstrably rewarding for the eye and the soul on a classic car ride.
Wasn't that even a Mercedes event?
It wasn't just DTM legend Bernd Schneider whose anecdotes about historic Mercedes racing driver personalities made the evening feel like a successful brand and tradition-preserving event. Mercedes-Benz should have been the main sponsor of an event that was organized so perfectly and with so much passion.
However, it is hard to imagine that worried employees of a large Stuttgart-based company that currently seems rather disoriented could have managed this rally so well: Just under 40 participating teams and vehicles, six fun-filled and sometimes unconventional special stages en route with numerous helpers and a mobile breakdown team from local professionals Pemac from Filderstadt, a breakfast before the start, a barbecue buffet at Hohen Neuffen Castle at lunchtime and an evening program with aperitifs with plenty of petrol, design but also other conversations and finally a 3-course gala dinner from Daimler's first wife Emma's cookbook; that was remarkable and anything but the usual camping backdrop (which of course also has its justification elsewhere).
Between the courses, there was an award ceremony with prizes for almost all participants and a raffle, but at the end of the day, what was striking and even more important: a likeable, friendly, vaccinated or recovered and, despite the wide variety of vehicle values, in no way arrogant group of participants certainly ensured one of the most beautiful rainy days of summer 2021, not only for the author of these lines, and a sense of community that probably feels particularly pleasant even after the numerous lockdowns.
The Carola Daimler Classics is aiming to become an institution in the region and a repeat is already planned for 2022. Interested parties can find numerous photos, the entire route, contact details and all other information about the past event here on Zwischengas or pre-register for 2022 on the rally website.
