Against the monumental backdrop of the Alpstein, the Oldtimertreff Schwägalp took place again on June 26, 2022. After the event organized by TCS Appenzell Ausserrhoden had been cancelled for the past two years, the parking lot of the Säntis suspension railroad was once again filled with almost 200 classic cars this year. Despite a minimum age of only 20 years, the average age of the vehicles was surprisingly high. Youngtimers such as the VW Golf III GTI and Audi Coupé B3 were clearly outnumbered.
Traditionally, a guest club was also invited again. This year, 22 members of the Lancia Club Suisse presented their vehicles in the small special show, which ranged from the Artena to the Thema and also included the first Lancia Flaminia Sport ever built with a Zagato body. The gray coupé with the typical double-bubble roof is one of only three pre-production examples and differs from the later production model in many small details.
Lancia's glorious rally past was represented by the Stratos, 037, Fulvia HF and Delta Integrale. The extended Thema state limousine, the former Kappa of Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli and, of course, the Thema 8.32 with a Ferrari heart were representative in other ways.
The proportion of Porsches was conspicuously low. While hardly any classic car meeting is usually complete without a 911 from the sixties, the two decades that followed were nowhere to be found. Only a dark blue 993 from the nineties represented the famous model series. It was joined by a rare 356 B hardtop in summery yellow. In total, there were no five of the Stuttgart sports cars among the cars on the event site.
With just two Mercedes-Benz SLs, the otherwise well-represented Stuttgart sports convertibles were also surprisingly under-represented. Instead, there was a very unusual concentration of Volvo 121s: three Amazon estate cars - interestingly all beige - found their way to the Schwägalp, accompanied by a number of saloons in red, black and beige.
Also pleasing was the large number of English roadsters that found their way to the Schwägalp. After the presence of Triumph, MG and Austin-Healey at meetings had continued to decline in recent years and interest in the rugged two-seaters seemed to be waning, they made up a large proportion of the participants here. One or two roadsters were also to be found in the visitors' parking lot - quite understandable given the wonderfully winding road up to the Alp.
A three-member jury chose a 1936 Maybach SW 38 as the most beautiful car of the event, narrowly beating the pre-series Flaminia.
