For the 27th time, cars were driven in the last paradise from July 24 to 27, 2019. With the vehicles of yesteryear on the roads of today: this is the Ennstal-Classic, which has truly taken off in a way that could not have been foreseen at the first edition in 1993 with 35 cars.
Since the premiere, Gröbming in Ennstal has been the "wheel hub" around which everything revolves. Walter Röhrl was the first winner and those who came to Ennstal in his "slipstream" were world stars such as Sir Stirling Moss, Sir Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Sebastian Vettel, Mario Andretti, Rowan Atkinson, Patrick Dempsey and Brian Johnson.
Pure nostalgia
For the participants, the Ennstal-Classic is a return ticket to their youth, it stands for pure motoring with classic cars on the most beautiful Alpine roads in Austria in an atmosphere of like-minded people characterized by passion.
"A fantastic route through a true natural paradise," enthused ex-Formula 1 driver Jochen Mass. "This is one of the most beautiful classic car rallies there is," agreed actor Peter Kraus. "It's wonderful how warmly we are welcomed here every year," said Rapid President Michael Krammer.
Without youngtimers and neoclassics
The Ennstal-Classic is a regularity drive for real classic cars. The oldest car to take on the long route in 2019 was a Bugatti 37A built in 1928 with 70 hp, driven by Andrea Daum-Hübner and Astrid Stüger-Hübner.
The youngest and most powerful car at the start was a 1972 Jaguar E-Type V12 with 272 hp, driven by Camillo Dessulemoustier and Joe Ofenböck.
Challenging conditions
The extreme heat of over 35 degrees Celsius was hard on man and machine.
While the Fiaker horses in Vienna were rightly given a break from the heat, steam bubbles formed in the carburetors and fuel lines of the old cars or other heat problems arose, which made it difficult for the engines and often prevented them from continuing their journey as planned.
Rain at the end
A few drops fell on the Sölk Pass, which could be driven on again this year, on Thursday evening and the muffled rumble of thunder could be heard from afar. But the heavy rain only came on the last day during the presentation of the racing cars in Gröbming.
As the cars lined up for the last special stage with the seven light barriers, large, heavy raindrops fell from the sky. The pre-war crews protected themselves as best they could with umbrellas, not all of them had a roof with them.
The little one was the biggest
In the end, the "mini team" with starting number 214 came out on top. The duo Friedrich Radinger/Thomas Wagner won the Ennstal-Classic 2019. It was the third overall victory for the two of them, having already stood at the top of the podium in 2015 and 2016.
"We improved more and more over the course of the race. But the big question was whether the car would hold out. Today on the Stoderzinken we only had one and a half bar of oil pressure, we were really close to going out. But thank God it worked out with the last seven light barriers in Gröbming," said the overjoyed, newly crowned three-time winner of the Ennstal-Classic ... and immediately passed on the congratulations to his co-driver: "Thomas is not only my favorite son-in-law, he is also the perfect co-driver who makes absolutely no mistakes. For the driver, that gives him incredible confidence to concentrate on driving."
Erich and Roswitha Volk completed the podium with the Ford Mustang Fastback Coupé. They were less than 100 points behind the winners at the finish, that's how close the race was. Peter Schöggl and Wolfgang Artacker took third place in an Alfa Romeo Spider.
Only class wins for the older cars
Erich and Alexandra Hemmelmayer in a Ford 5 Window de Luxe Coupé took first place in Era 1 for vehicles built up to 1934. Kurt Menhofer and Gerald Gegenpart were victorious with their Healey Silverstone in Era 2 for cars built between 1935 and 1950. Florian Kunz/Otmar Schlager triumphed in Era 3 for the 1951 to 1960 model years in their Aston Martin DB4. In category 4 up to 1972, the overall winners Radinger/Wagner logically took victory.
Always interesting
Despite being held 27 times a year, you never really get the feeling that it's getting repetitive. The route changes and new routes always help. The region of Styria and the surrounding countryside offer so many great opportunities that new roads and landscapes can be discovered time and time again.
The Ennstal-Classic began 26 times with the special stage on the Stoderzinken. This year it was moved back in the schedule and was therefore scheduled early on Saturday, before the finale in Gröbming. In fact, the Stoder stage had to be briefly interrupted for the first time after an Alfa-Romeo driver tried to punch a hole in the mighty rock face for inexplicable reasons, but thankfully "only" slightly deformed his Alfa in the process.
Without the Racecar Trophy
The Racecar Trophy no longer took place in 2019. The effort for the participants with the constant loading and unloading of the racing cars was simply too great and the kilometers driven during the event were far too short.
Honoring Abarth
The show event in Gröbming, traditionally held shortly before the last special stage, was of course part of the event. It commemorated the 70th anniversary of the Austrian Carlo Abarth, and a correspondingly large number of cars with scorpions could be spotted.
A large number of different Abarths drove a few show laps through Gröbming. Arturo Merzario was the most famous driver in the cockpit and enjoyed his fame as a Styrian cowboy. Of course, as is typical for him, he drove with his trademark on his head.
Siffert also remembered
From a Swiss perspective, the freshly restored Porsche 908/02 Spyder with the name "Siffert" on the cockpit was of course of great interest.
The fast and light 908/02 landed a quadruple victory in 1969 in what is probably the toughest road race in the world, the Targa Florio in Sicily. Rudi Lins from Vorarlberg, who finished 21st at the time, drove the 908/2 through Gröbming in 2019.
For Siffert, our former F1 driver at Williams, Jo Vonlanthen, showed off his former GRD F2 from 1973, waving as always.
Symphony of six cylinders
Egon Hofer also did a few laps in the Ferrari 212E. The unrestored bodywork that secured Peter Schetty the European Hillclimb Championship 50 years ago now sits on a different chassis and the rear is not powered by a twelve-cylinder engine, but by a six-cylinder engine from the Dino 206S.
Despite only half the number of cylinders, Hofer certainly won the prize for the absolute best sound.
Perfect organization
All in all, the 27th edition of the Ennstal-Classic was, as always, perfectly organized and an absolute success.
It was a pity that a fatal accident involving a motorcyclist and a classic car far away from the event was so widely reported in the Austrian media that it seemed as if it had happened to a participant. However, apart from a few engine failures and major heat exhaustion of man and machine, there were no special incidents at the Ennstal-Classic itself.
