The Swiss classic car umbrella organization conflict from the perspective of the "simple" classic car driver
06/23/2014
For some months now, there has been fire under the roof at the Swiss classic car umbrella organizations. As is well known, a new umbrella organization (FSVH) was founded at the end of 2013 with the aim of replacing the previous two (Swiss Oldtimers and FSVA). While Swiss Oldtimers laid the foundations for a possible dissolution at the last delegates' meeting, the delegates of the FSVA have now spoken out against it because a new solution, namely the merger of the previous umbrella organizations, has now emerged as a feasible alternative. Until now, this perhaps most sensible option was considered impossible, as it did not seem feasible with the people at the helm.
So while the gray eminences in the associations were discussing and arguing, the man or woman in the classic car on the road noticed little of it. He or she is preoccupied with other problems, unless perhaps football or the World Ski Championships are dominating the conversation.
Only some classic car drivers are members of a club and therefore usually also indirectly members of an umbrella organization, and most of them would probably not even know which umbrella organization their own classic car club belongs to.
The concerns of "ordinary" Swiss classic car owners are pragmatic. If they could, they would, for example, like to see the abolition of the annual emissions test for vehicles of vintage car age, would have all veteran vehicles with at least 30 years on the clock (not just those up to 1970) exempted from the daytime running light requirement, would be happy about lower and perhaps also engine capacity-independent road taxes and an exemption from the highway vignette, would dream of more moderation in the registration of old vehicles at the road traffic authorities and the simplified and even tax-privileged import of historic cars from abroad, to name just a few examples. It is also important to safeguard the privileges that have already been won and to take into account the slogan that old cars should be on the road.
Yes, there is a lot of work for a united Swiss classic car umbrella organization and it would be nice from the classic car driver's point of view if its representatives could quickly come to an agreement among themselves and turn their energy back to the common goals and the problems of classic car drivers on the road.
