In mid-June, the Kronprinz Wilhelm Rasanz Fahrt took place for the first time, a special kind of classic car event on the Lower Rhine. Eighty percent of the participating vehicles were built before 1918.
Traveling museum
At the first Kronprinz Wilhelm Rasanz, you could experience classic cars on the road that otherwise often spend their lives in collections and museums without ever actually being moved.
The Rasanz offered such "stationary vehicles" a welcome opportunity to become real vehicles again. An opportunity that was seized by 25 veteran motorists with their 100-year-old vehicles at the premiere.
It is not as if there are no other events for early-era vehicles, as the Bertha-Benz-Fahrt, the ASC-Schnauferl-Rallies and the Herkomer-Fahrt in southern Germany or the revived Prinz-Heinrich-Fahrt, for example, thankfully also offer the slower early vehicles opportunities to prevent damage. Nevertheless, every additional event in this environment is of course pleasing, especially if it breaks new geographical ground.
The oldest vehicle at the 2013 Rasanz was a Peugeot Type 26 built in 1899. The two-cylinder with 5.5 hp was driven by Karl Behlau and co-driver Theo Hesse.
Equally undaunted, two dozen other primeval automobiles from the so-called "brass faction" set off to cover the 80-kilometer route from Schloss Krickenbeck to Schloss Dyck and back. For an inaugural event, the field of participants (note the list of starters) was top-class.
Special challenges
Vehicles over 100 years old require a lot of attention. The driver of the 1903 Opel racing car reported that he had completely taken the car apart and put it back together again. Accordingly, he is now surprised that the car runs at all.
In any case, the conditions today are no longer optimal for their old vehicles, said another participant. Due to the excessively smooth road surface, the vibrations that used to keep some mechanics and lubrication functions running were missing.
There was generally a lot of oiling and screwing on the trip, and every stop, no matter how small, was used to top up the fluid levels and check that the vehicles were working properly. Then as now, you couldn't get by without technical knowledge.
Memories of Wilhelm Rasanz
The Rasanz was organized by Classic Days initiator Marcus Herfort, who brought automotive history back to life in the 125th year after Bertha Benz's legendary first ride in an automobile in 1888.
Herfort, himself the owner of a 1914 Premier 6-48, had to hand over the controls to someone else as the organizer, but otherwise held all the strings in his own hands. He once again demonstrated his skills as an organizer of high-class classic car events - in addition to the Classic Days, he is also the initiator of the Grossglockner Hill Climb, which took place for the first time last year.
With the Kronprinz Wilhelm Rasanz, Herfort is taking up a historically documented event: In 1907, the then Crown Prince Wilhelm drove to Düsseldorf. Like his uncle Prince Heinrich, Crown Prince Wilhelm was also an enthusiastic motorist. The Düsseldorf hosts wanted to please the dignitary, who had arrived by train, and asked Hermann Weingand, owner of the Düsseldorf Daimler and Mercedes sales outlet at the time, to provide a 70 hp Mercedes car. He himself took the opportunity to serve as chauffeur to the Emperor's motorsport enthusiast son.
Count Heinrich von Schaesberg-Tannheim heard about the Crown Prince's visit at the distant Krickenbeck Castle and set off on the 80-kilometre journey to Düsseldorf by car.
Without mountainous obstacles
The Kronprinz Wilhelm Rasanz, which started at Krickenbeck Castle on June 16 and led the historic vehicles via various stations to Schloss Dyck, the venue for the Classic Days (August 2-4, 2013), is now a reminder of this. The topographical conditions of the flat Lower Rhine suited the teams, some of whose classic cars reached their performance limits even on moderate inclines.
In any case, the chosen route was scenically beautiful, green and flat; the weather also played along with pleasant summer temperatures and no rain.
However, the organizer abandoned the original destination of Düsseldorf in the announcement due to the traffic conditions, which many participants were not unhappy to accept.
Road races over 100 years ago
Marcus Herfort, himself a fan of early automobiles, said: "As early as 1907, the year of the crown prince's visit, there were now legendary road races such as the La Turbie Berg and Gordon Bennett races. At the time, many cars regularly covered longer distances without claiming to be racing cars. In England, the London-Brighton drive is still a reminder of these early days of individual mobility."
"Today, there are far too few opportunities to drive cars from the very early years in a dedicated group of like-minded people," says the organizer. "We wanted to offer the community of drivers an enjoyable experience based on a historical model."
Tour on Saturday
On Saturday, some of the participants set off from Krickenbeck Castle on a round trip of around 87 kilometers through the Schwalm-Nette Nature Park. They included a De Dion Bouton Type E Voiturette from 1900, a Renault Type D from 1901 and an Opel Darracq from 1902.
To be continued?
After the more than successful inaugural event, in which almost the entire field reached the finish without any breakdowns, a continuation is to be expected in the coming years. Further information can be found on the event website.
Zwischengas would like to thank Petra Sagnak for the text contribution and the atmospheric pictures. Further photos can be found on Petra Sagnak's photo site.
Participating vehicles
| No. | Vehicle | Year of construction |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peugeot Type 26 | 1899 |
| 2 | De Dion Bouton Type E Voiturette | 1900 |
| 3 | Renault Type D | 1901 |
| 4 | Opel Darracq | 1902 |
| 5 | Leon Buat Monocylindrique | 1903 |
| 6 | Opel racing car | 1903 |
| 7 | Autocar | 1904 |
| 8 | Benz & Cie Mannheim | 1906 |
| 9 | Eagle 18/35 | 1906 |
| 10 | FIAT 2 Seater | 1906 |
| 11 | Renault Agathe | 1907 |
| 12 | Opel 10/18 hp | 1908 |
| 13 | Brasier | 1911 |
| 15 | Mercer Runabout | 1912 |
| 16 | Benz & Cie 8/20 double phaeton | 1913 |
| 17 | Premier 6-48 | 1914 |
| 18 | Rolls Royce Silver Ghost | 1914 |
| 19 | NSU 5/15 | 1914 |
| 20 | Locomobile M48 Speed Car | 1916 |
| 21 | Simplex Crane | 1916 |
| 22 | Opel 8/25 HP | 1920 |
| 23 | Alfa Romeo RL | 1923 |
| 24 | Minerva AC | 1925 |
| 25 | Rolls Royce Phantom I Tourer | 1927 |
| 26 | Delage | 1910 |
