60 years of Bruno
04/13/2021
Bruno von Rotz was born on April 13, 1961, shortly after the doors to the Geneva Motor Show (March 16-26, 1961) had closed and the Jaguar E-Type had been unveiled to the world.
After elementary school in Kerns, he went to grammar school in Sarnen, where he met two completely crazy classmates. Stefan Rogger and yours truly. Equipped with the knowledge of an open hard disk, his time at school was much easier than mine. To this day, it's not entirely clear whether he already had a passion for motorsport or whether he picked it up from Stefan and me.
In any case, Formula 1 brought Stefan, you and me together, the three of us became inseparable and started collecting 1/43rd scale model cars together.
After I had to give up the race at grammar school prematurely with engine damage and we no longer shared the classroom, we still met up frequently in our free time and you drove to various races with me several times. Whether at the Salzburgring in snow flurries at a motorcycle race, on the train to the F1 GP in Hockenheim, or at the roundabout on the Nürburgring at the European Touring Car Championship, we enjoyed our days together. Back in our school days, we rode our mopeds to various classic car meetings, such as the annual meeting of the Friends of Nostalgic Vehicles (FNA) and the Ferrari and Bugatti Owners Club outing.
When I was in Vienna for four years studying photography, you visited me twice. Once on two wheels with the Fantic 125 cc and once on four wheels with the Alfasud Sprint.
You then successfully completed your studies at the ETH in Zurich and from then on our paths crossed less frequently. Both of us traveled a lot in our hard professional lives and time was short, so we only had a few dinners together. We usually met in Zug, halfway between Zurich and Sachseln, in the harbor restaurant. In the meantime, our love of historic cars had been kindled and you grabbed me with your idea of creating your own internet platform.
Up until that time, you had much more experience with your countless cars, which you changed like underpants, than I did with my two, maybe three. From the Fiat 850 to the TVR and from the hybrid Toyota to the i8, you had already owned and enjoyed everything. In the process, you have acquired a huge amount of knowledge about all these cars, which you can call up quickly and accurately anytime and anywhere. There's only one thing to say about that: Chapeau!
Unlike me, you immediately shoveled yourself free professionally and put all your cards on the table for our joint project "www.zwischengas.com". You have worked tirelessly and energetically for the past almost eleven years to get the platform to where it is today.
There is a hell of a lot more work behind it than we all ever expected. But the almost daily positive comments from satisfied readers always give us the energy not only to carry on but also to go one better. It is not always easy for us to accept the challenge and we have not been spared low blows either. For example, the sudden death of our colleague and friend Reto Feurer last December threw us off course. But then, in the spirit of Reto and true to the motto of our Bernese ex-runner Anita Weyermann: "Gring ache u seckle" (put your head down and run), we picked ourselves up again and have been pulling even harder on the rope ever since.
Bruno, today you are celebrating your 60th birthday and we would like to congratulate you as a whole team with a standing ovation!
