Last Saturday evening, November 13, the Swiss Classic Award was presented for the fourth time at the "Autobau-Erlebniswelt" in Romanshorn.
Main prize for Michel Zumbrunn
The main prize, the "Lifetime Award", is awarded each year to an individual or group that has made an above-average contribution to the cause of the historic vehicle and has distinguished itself through outstanding achievements. An important aspect of this is also the sustainability of their activities beyond their temporal and geographical sphere of influence.
The jury was unanimous in its recognition of automotive photographer Michel Zumbrunn, who has literally put countless classic vehicles in the right light over the course of his long career. The uniqueness of his pictures is that the 700 or so cars photographed over the years appear in the same light, so that even pictures taken several years apart can be combined in books without violating the visual language or causing wild leaps in the light composition.
For Zumbrunn, cars are works of art, and that is exactly what he wants to show in his pictures. Only design and form come into play, without any other components such as landscape, architecture or dynamics. The automobile as an art object has led him to travel around the world with his mobile studio, where he has photographed entire collections or even entire museums. Even at the Concorso d'Eleganza at the Villa d'Este, he spent years photographing the participating vehicles shortly after their arrival in a hidden studio.
In his pictures, Zumbrunn models the shape of a car using only indirect light from a white artificial sky stretched over the object, thus focusing on the sculptural beauty of the bodywork. The black background in no way distracts from the automobile. Michel Zumbrunn is therefore an extremely deserving winner of this award.
Open doors in Obwalden
The "Swiss Classic Door Opener Award" honors campaigns and achievements that bring the topic of historic vehicles closer to a wider target group. These can be events and exhibitions as well as journalistic activities. The "Memorial 50 Years of Jo Siffert", the "ACE Café" in Lucerne and the classic car meeting "OiO" (Oldtimer in Obwalden) were nominated for this award. The award went to the OiO, which has been held every Whitsun weekend in Sarnen since 2000 and has since developed into a small folk festival.
Around 550 vintage and classic cars meet every year in the closed-off Sarnen and also offer passenger rides for carless visitors. A soapbox race was created for all future vehicle enthusiasts. In 2019, organizer Ruedi Müller also received the first-ever cultural sponsorship award from the municipality of Sarnen for communication on the topic of classic cars and the environment. The popularity of the Whitsun meeting in Sarnen was also demonstrated by the more than one hundred classic cars that spontaneously arrived in 2020, the year of the pandemic - even though the OiO was officially canceled.
Innovative car rental company
The "Swiss Classic Innovations Award", which recognizes technical, organizational and publicity achievements, went to "Rent a Classic". The Swiss classic car rental system came out on top against "Porsche E-Fuels" and the spare parts dealer "Cagero". Founded in 2017 with ten rental vehicles, the company has since expanded its fleet to 24 classic cars.
From the VW Beetle to the Jaguar E-Type, there is plenty on offer for a weekend getaway. The innovation in the classic car rental segment is the booking platform, where you can book the desired car immediately at any time of day or night, provided it is available. If you book by 11:00 a.m., you can collect your classic car from 4:00 p.m. on the same day.
Father-son project
Last but not least, there is the "Swiss Classic Rookie Award", which rewards efforts that contribute to the promotion of young talent and the rejuvenation of the community. The TCS's new drive-in movie "Drive in Movies" and the "Passione Engadina" driving event competed for this award.
Paolo Spalluto was able to bring the award to the Engadin for the rally and Concours d'Élégance he organized for 100 Italian classic cars. The reason for the award was an idea that Spalluto introduced five years ago: Those who bring their offspring as co-drivers pay no entry fee for them.
Even though Porsche's research into synthetic fuels came away empty-handed that evening, there was still a presentation on the potential use of e-fuels in Switzerland at the start of the event. So that the automotive past can continue to have a future.
