The unbroken joy of classic cars
06/09/2019
Anyone who has been to one of the many Greta demonstrations or reads the reports about climate rallies in the press loses a little hope that the automobile can still have the status it once had. And with it, the enthusiasm for the mobility of yesteryear seems to be going down the drain.
However, anyone who was in Sarnen yesterday, the capital of Obwalden in central Switzerland, would certainly not have noticed this lack of enthusiasm for vintage and classic cars. An entire village and thousands of visitors celebrated the old automobile, and motorcycles, mopeds, buses and trucks were certainly not seen as troublemakers for once.
However, it was not only at the event meeting point that the 500 or so classic car drivers were met with enthusiasm, but also on the short round trip, which took them around 41 kilometers through the beautiful Obwalden countryside. Whole families sat at the side of the road with their chauffeurs, waving and clapping enthusiastically at the passing vehicles.
And it made no difference whether it was a rare Porsche, a VW Beetle or a BMW Isetta. Children's eyes shone and parents reminisced about earlier days, although the parents were still too young to remember a BMW Isetta in everyday life.
In any case, the younger generation's enjoyment of the old cars was surprising, as they had already grown up with aerodynamically optimized mass-produced vehicles. But the nostalgic shapes and pleasant noises also seem to appeal to the youngsters.
Thank you, Ruedi Müller, for organizing the O-iO (Oldtimer in Obwalden) as a folk festival every year! And thus anchoring old cars a little more firmly in our culture.
P.S. By the way, today the O-iO convoy is on its way from Sarnen to Beromünster and will then make its rendezvous in the canton of Lucerne. That's worth a Sunday outing ...
