The designer and a style (car connoisseur quiz)

Bruno von Rotz
10/31/2021

Lamborghini Countach LP500 von 1971/2021 (© Daniel Reinhard)

With some cars you immediately recognize the hand that created the lines, with others you think you know. Even people who don't spend all their time looking at old cars know that the Lamborghini Countach (pictured) was designed by Marcello Gandini.

Nevertheless, an astonishing number of designers have remained in the background. And it was only when vehicle histories were reappraised that their contribution was recognized.

We have (once again) put together some interesting and well-known cars from the 1960s to 1980s for a car connoisseur quiz and we want you to name the right designer from a selection of five suggestions. Would you like to give it a try?

Click here for the car connoisseur quiz 124 ...

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The future is (presumably) automatic

Bruno von Rotz
10/30/2021

VW Corrado Automatik (© Bruno von Rotz)

We recently took an interested look at the results of a survey conducted by Innofact for Autoscout 24. The following questions were to be answered: Which type of transmission do drivers prefer? Manual or automatic?

According to the survey, 46 percent of respondents prefer automatic transmission, 40 percent prefer manual transmission and 13 percent don't care.

More interesting than the general preference for automatic transmission, however, is the fact that women have a more positive attitude towards manual transmission (43 percent compared to 38 percent of men).

The fact that 53% of young drivers under the age of 40 approve of automatic transmission compared to 42% of drivers over 40 is food for thought. In the past, this was probably the other way around.

Car manufacturers are increasingly moving towards the end of manually shifted gears via "H" anyway, soon this question will no longer even have to be asked in the new car segment and only very few of today's super sports cars can be shifted manually. Electric cars have no manual gear changes anyway.

This will also have an impact on classic cars in the medium to long term. People who have not shifted gears by hand for years are unlikely to buy a classic car where they have to learn to do so again. At the moment, however, the trend seems to be going the other way round, with manual models often selling for more than automatic versions. But the buyers are probably those over 40 today ....

P.S. And yes, the title above is not exactly innovative, as Mercedes advertisers were already writing in 1964: " The future belongs to the automatic" . They were quoting racing greats Ewy Rosqvist, Karl Kling and Hans Herrmann ...

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A mouse movie for the oldie?

Daniel Reinhard
10/29/2021

Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV 2.0 - Interieur mit neuer Ausstattung - Auto e Moto d'Epoca Padova 2021 (© Daniel Reinhard)

Some people have their old cars electrified, others give them modern technology. It seems that the installation of modern LCD displays is not far off.

One example could be seen in Padua at the Auto e Moto d'Epoca classic car fair on October 21-24, 2021.

In an Alfetta 2.0 GTV, a mouse cinema lit up, as can be seen in many premium vehicles today.

However, the main aim was probably to present a completely renewed genuine leather, as the exhibitor was a saddler. From the specialist's point of view, the new display with matching embedding was probably a good fit ... or perhaps it was simply intended to attract more attention, which it certainly did.

We hope that Alfetta GTV owners will have their interiors restored as true to the original as possible, and in our view neither a dashboard trimmed in genuine leather nor a digital instrument panel fit the bill. But, as Toyota once said? "Nothing is impossible!"

P.S. Our comprehensive review of the classic car fair Auto e Moto d'Epoca has already been published.

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Automobile wanderer between future and past

Stefan Dierkes
10/28/2021

Tesla Model 3 oder Alfa Spider - Stefan Dierkes hat die Wahl

For several decades of my automotive life, as a used and classic car driver, I felt secure in a few beliefs:

Automotive progress is a snail and nothing significant changes
I shift gears by hand better than an automatic and I enjoy it more
A new car is out of the question for me because of the high depreciation in the first few years.

But my view of the world has been shaken since I test drove a Tesla years ago and finally bought one last year. Since then, even current new vehicles seem like classic cars to me. But I still enjoy my open-top classic and vintage cars (including the Mercedes SLK and Alfa 1750 Spider). However, the change between the automotive future and past brings new challenges and insights.

After a long period of abstinence, as a Tesla everyday driver, every journey in a manual combustion engine feels like a journey into the automotive past. Suddenly you have to think about everything yourself again and consciously operate the technology. It starts with the fact that I have to remember to take the key with me beforehand and dig it out of my pocket to finally get into the non-air-conditioned interior of the car, which is inevitably always too warm or too cold. Only after an awkward starting procedure, which requires the now unaccustomed coordination of a turning movement with the right hand and the use of both legs, can we finally get going.

While driving, the oldies require constant intervention and the operation of all possible switches, levers and pedals. Unlike an electric car, nothing happens when you press the accelerator pedal! Then the volume increases, which can only be reduced to a certain extent by regularly moving the gearshift in an L-shape where there is only a storage compartment in the Tesla, and finally the comparatively modest acceleration sets in. I also have to get used to braking again after several months of one-pedal driving.

I soon feel a certain range anxiety, as the combustion engines are not automatically charged at home and, without the remaining mileage display, I can't estimate how far I will get with the "½" shown on the display and which filling station I might find. I had almost forgotten about the ever-increasing fuel prices, as the Tesla "refueled" with solar power is virtually free.

Things got really dicey once when a delivery van came up behind me on the highway and my classic car didn't warn me as I was used to. I also felt very unsafe in the narrow lane in a roadworks without the usual sensors, apart from the fact that it is very tiring in the long run anyway to have to keep in lane all the time without the autopilot and to have to keep checking painfully over my shoulder to make sure that there is no other vehicle in my blind spot.

Back in the countryside, I (at 1.92 m) have to make awkward contortions at traffic lights with the roof down to be able to see the traffic lights above me, as there is no display to show me what they are. Even seemingly trivial functions such as switching on the lights and manually operating the windshield wipers required my attention, even if the latter always wiped too quickly or too slowly despite my best efforts.

But open-top driving is something I still miss in the modern e-car. It gives weekend and vacation drives along winding country roads their very special charm. In return, I'm happy to accept the increased operating and attention requirements in a classic car, even if I've been more concerned with maintaining them than driving them this year. But that's also part of our hobby, which is no longer necessary with modern electric cars. At least the Tesla drivers, who are still few and far between, say hello to each other, just as I'm used to doing with classic cars.

As a wanderer between eras, I realize that I have quickly become accustomed to many of the comforts of the automotive future, but still like to take myself back to the past from time to time.

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When 5G still meant five gears

Bruno von Rotz
10/27/2021

Maserati Biturbo von 1990 (© Daniel Reinhard)

"3G" is on everyone's lips, "5G" is mainly for mobile phone users, or so it seems. But a few years ago, "5G" stood for something else. The abbreviation often appeared in used car advertisements and these usually had to be paid for per line. The abbreviation 5G for five-speed manual transmission (or similar) saved a lot of money.

Renault Fuego Turbo von 1984 (© Renault)

The five-speed gearbox already existed in the fifties, but back then it was reserved for top-class sports cars. In the sixties, it was mainly Italian mass-production manufacturers such as Fiat or Alfa Romeo that helped it to break through, but even in the seventies, a four-speed gearbox was still often fitted as standard in everyday cars. Even the Golf GTI originally came with just four gears, although an Alfa Romeo Alfasud already offered five gears for slower models at the time.

Toyota Supra von 1983 (© Daniel Reinhard)

By the 1980s, the five-speed gearbox had finally established itself and in the decades that followed, many cars had (at least) one more gear added, which today could be advertised as 6G or even 7G.

Renault R11 Turbo von 1986 (c Bruno von Rotz)

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Christo lives

Daniel Reinhard
10/26/2021

Verhüllte Porsche an der Auto e Moto d'Epoca in Padua 2021 (© Daniel Reinhard)

Christo lives on, despite his death on May 31, 2020. Bulgarian artist Christo Vladimirov Yavashev, born on June 13, 1935, became world-famous for his wrappings. He specialized in wrapping everything he could get his hands on. Cans, bottles, chairs, even the Reichstag building in Berlin and the "Pont neuf" (the oldest bridge in Paris), as well as other world-famous buildings. Even the Arc de Triomphe in Paris was recently covered for him posthumously.

His immortality could now also be felt at the Auto e Moto d'Epoca in Padua. There he seems to have found his way back to his beginnings and simply covered a few cars.

Whether it is due to the shape of the cars or the incredible art of wrapping that the vehicles are quickly recognized is left open here.

P.S. We have already published an extensive review of the Auto e Moto d'Epoca classic car fair in Padua.

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A very special racing driver and person

Daniel Reinhard
10/25/2021

Bäume über dem Grab von Jo Siffert (© Daniel Reinhard)

A man has been buried under these trees for 50 years, and around 500 people still make a pilgrimage to his final resting place today. On October 29, 1971, as many as 50,000 people bid farewell to one of their own in Fribourg. When, after such a long time, all those who are still alive and still healthy stand together at his grave, it shows a great deal of loyalty, fairness and friendship.

Teilnehmer Grabfeier Jo Siffert am 24.10.2021 (© Daniel Reinhard)

His name was Jo Siffert and he fell victim to a terrible fire accident at Brands Hatch exactly 50 years ago yesterday on October 24, 1971.

But to still have this incredible attention on his side after half a century does not come from sporting success alone. It takes more, much more. Only very few people, even globally, are destined to have such an aura and it is no coincidence. Siffert came from a very poor background and laboriously worked his way to the top. Unfortunately, he was torn from life at his peak, but what he achieved in his years with nothing is unparalleled. He was a passionate racing driver and he knew exactly what sacrifices he had to make to achieve this, which is why he was deeply indebted to all his sponsors, big or small, and never left them out in the cold throughout his career.

Philippe Siffert hält die Grabrede für Jo Siffert (© Daniel Reinhard)

For example, he did not switch to Ferrari, even though he would have had F1 and sports cars under one roof, because he felt obliged to Porsche, as the Stuttgart-based company supported him even before he had reached the top. One of the very small supporters was my father, who financed his return journey after he failed to qualify in Monaco (in the past, all those who qualified received an entry fee). This help was never forgotten.

Former Porsche racing mechanic Klaus Bischof puts it in a nutshell: "There was only one driver that we mechanics carried on our shoulders to the award ceremony - that was Seppi Siffert at the 1000km race at the Nürburgring in 1969.

That's the big difference between someone who is only successful in sport and someone who is successful in sport with their heart in the right place.

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Classic car scene will shrink (Question of the week)

Bruno von Rotz
10/25/2021

Frage der Woche 193: Wie wird die Oldtimerszene im Jahr 2050 aussehen?

There is currently much discussion about the future of classic cars and enthusiasts who are interested in historic vehicles. Opinions are often diametrically opposed.

We defined four scenarios for how the classic car scene could develop by 2050 and asked Zwischengas readers which scenario they thought was most likely to happen.

Opinions also diverged among the 300 or so respondents.

Around a third of readers are really optimistic, while two thirds were more in favor of a more or less shrinking development.

The scenario with the highest approval rate (24.1%) was the one in which the classic car scene in 2050 is reminiscent of that of the 1970s to 1980s. Smaller events, more manageable numbers of participants and an overall lower number of earlier classic cars, offset by those from the 1960s to 1990s. More self-help and exchange among enthusiasts is the order of the day in this scenario.

The graphic analysis of the survey shows more:

Frage der Woche 193 - Ergebnis

Of course, the next question of the week has already been asked, this time about whether classic car owners put stickers on their paintwork or not.

And of course you can still read the results of all previous questions of the week in the corresponding topic channel.

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Philippe Siffert thinks about his father Jo

Thomas Suter
10/24/2021

Philippe Siffert (© Daniel Reinhard)

There are events when time stands still. And everyone can still remember the exact moment later. October 24, 1971 was such a date. The (Swiss) racing world held its breath and fell silent: on Sunday afternoon, Jo "Seppi" Siffert died in a fatal accident in a non-championship Formula 1 race at Brands Hatch - on the very circuit where he had celebrated his first major victory three years earlier.

Several reports on Jo Siffert have already been published on zwischengas.com, shedding light on his life and achievements:

The year of birth and the year of death are identical, with just nine months between them: Philippe and Jo Siffert. The racing driver's son was born on January 28, 1971. At the end of October, he was still too young to understand what had happened when his father had a fatal accident in a Formula 1 race at Brands Hatch.

Jo Siffert im March

"I have no real memory of my father. I only ever heard a lot of stories about him. For many years, a photo of the Formula 1 March Cosworth adorned my childhood bedroom. And at school, people always said 'ah, the son of Siffert' when it came to me," Philippe recalls. Within the family, people didn't talk too often about his father, who had been killed in an accident. Over the years, he wanted to find out more "about Jo Siffert as a person - everything is known about the racing driver anyway," he explains.

At the age of 19 ("far too late", as he says), he launched his own racing career. He was fascinated by the technology of cars and racing cars from an early age, so it was almost logical that his path led to motor racing. He puts the fact that he ended up in a technical profession and also raced down to his DNA. "If my father had been a concert pianist, I might have become a pianist too," he philosophizes. Formula Ford, Formula 3, touring cars and a stint in a Porsche 911 at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans were his stations in a career spanning almost ten years.

"The name Siffert certainly helped me to open a few doors. But it was often the case that everyone thought they were facing a millionaire - which was far from the case," he recalls. Like his father at the start of his career, Philippe was chronically underfunded. "There were years when I could only just afford one race financially," he sums up. Not a good starting point for a great career. "And right from the start, the pressure to be immediately successful was gigantic," he recalls and continues: "I neglected to set up professional structures, one of the prerequisites for success". He pulled the ripcord at the age of 32. "I became a father at the time and my priorities shifted," he explains.

Today, the fifty-year-old works successfully in the automotive industry. At the same time, he has built up a watch and clothing label called "Jo Siffert". And this is where the business acumen that he probably inherited from both his grandmother and his father is evident.

Philippe Siffert im Porsche 917

After the short photo shoot with the Porsche 917, he asks with a disarming smile to take photos of him in his "shop-in-shop" - where the watches and clothing of the 'Jo Siffert' label are presented. His grandmother used to comment on her son's successful business negotiations with "he learned that from me"... Philippe Siffert has been building up a second mainstay here for 15 years now. "It's not about making a bit of business in a hurry. I want to bring high-quality and carefully designed watches and clothes onto the market with the 'Jo Siffert' label," he explains.

As part of the celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Jo Siffert's death, the Swiss Viper Museum in Givisiez near Fribourg is showing a permanent exhibition of cars driven by Jo Siffert. Philippe Siffert realizes that his father's legend is unbroken. He is amazed: "Two thirds of the visitors are under 65 years old, one third is over that age. We actually initially assumed that the ratio must be the other way around and that it was mainly older people who still remember my father.

And he is delighted to report over 4,000 visitors to the carefully curated exhibition: "That's a lot; if we didn't have coronavirus measures, there would be many more". He attributes the myth of his father to the tragic accident at Brands Hatch. "To achieve such a status among the population, you have to die first," he says sarcastically. His father combines important criteria for an idol. "He was young when he died, very successful, at the peak of his career, very charismatic and yet always remained modest," says Philippe.

He is still in contact with Derek Bell and his son Justin and Heini Mader from his father's circle. Then the conversations mainly revolve around his father - where the last word has still not been spoken. The fact that Philippe Siffert has moved out of his father's shadow and into his own life is illustrated by a sentence from his son Jeremy. When asked about his grandfather's idol character, the youngster answered "I have my father as a role model, I don't know my grandfather...".

Jo Sifferts Garage und Alfa-Vertretung im Jahr 1969

Profile of Philippe Siffert

This year, the father of two sons (Jeremy and Julien) and a daughter (Michelle) turned 50. He lives in a suburb of Fribourg, has been married to Silvie for 20 years and works in the automotive industry. He was fascinated by all things technical from an early age. His original career aspirations were to become a mechanical or automotive engineer. After completing a mechanical apprenticeship, he now also supervises the production of Jo Siffert watches and clothing. Siffert has continued his education in marketing and IT. He considers his family "the most important thing in my life" and is looking forward to actively accompanying his children into the age of adulthood. Of course, he still has an affinity for cars. His first car, an Alfa Romeo 33, has long since been replaced; today he drives an Alfa Romeo Stelvio and proudly points out that his father ran a dealership for the Milanese brand in Fribourg.

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Edi Wyss remembers Jo Siffert

Thomas Suter
10/24/2021

Several reports on Jo Siffert have already been published on zwischengas.com, shedding light on his life and achievements:

Sunday morning on October 24, 1971 in Culver City, a district of Los Angeles - the CanAm home base of Jo Siffert with Edi Wyss and Hugo Schibler. The phone rings at the Holiday Inn where they are both staying. Wyss picks up the receiver and hears the impassive voice of Vince Granatelli, the son of STP boss Andy, through the receiver: "Jo had a serious accident at Brands Hatch, he didn't survive". 50 years later, Wyss still remembers that exact moment - as if it were only yesterday!

Within seconds, all the plans and projects that Wyss had agreed with Siffert for the coming period were shattered: the conversion of the Porsche 917/10 CanAm Spider for the 9-hour race in Kyalami was halted, as were preparations for the 1972 season. In shock, Siffert's manager Paul Blancpain (1943 - 2019) calls Edi Wyss and confirms Granatelli's phone call. "It's like this, take an inventory of everything, then come back to Switzerland," he instructs the two of them.

After Bruce McLaren, Wyss experienced Siffert's death as a racing driver for the second time in 16 months. "It was a wild time with unbelievable 'safety standards'. There was nothing, no safe fuel tanks, fragile chassis, unsafe tracks without crash barriers - usually still lined with trees, marshals whose fire extinguishers certainly didn't work when it mattered! It's hard to imagine it all today," says Edi Wyss, looking back. And yet he would not want to miss this time: "They were crazy and intense times, in a fascinating sport, constantly at the limit," is how he characterizes this period of his life.

The Zurich native had followed Siffert's career from afar right from the start. The young automotive engineer Edi Wyss really noticed Jo Siffert in 1968 at the "Daily Express Trophy", a Formula 1 race in Silverstone that was not part of the World Championship: "After completing my engineering degree, I went to England to learn English, went to this race and was completely fascinated. It was my key experience, it was clear to me - that's where I want to stay". He dropped by Siffert's team in the paddock and expressed his interest in a job in the Formula 1 scene. The Fribourg racing driver was unable to offer him anything and advised him "like a sturgeon shoemaker", as Wyss recalls, to go from team to team and ask for a job. He finally ended up at McLaren six months later via Joakim Bonnier's private team.

"I met Siffert again at the two Grand Prix in Canada and the USA in 1968," says Wyss. A small Swiss colony formed at the races with the journalists Adriano Cimarosti, Ernst Graf and Siffert - who was always accompanied by his mechanic Jean-Pierre Oberson and the artist Jean Tinguely - and Edi Wyss. The encounters intensified.

Jo Siffert im CanAm-Porsche 917 im Jahr 1969

Siffert drove several CanAm races overseas for Porsche in the 1969 and 1970 seasons, while Wyss helped look after the McLaren CanAm cars for Bruce McLaren, Denis Hulme and Peter Revson. At the Targa Florio in May 1971, Siffert asked the Zurich car engineer, who was now driving the Lola T210 and David Weir's Ferrari 512 M, if he would like to come to the USA with him in the summer to race his new Porsche 917/10 in the CanAm. They agreed to talk about this topic again at Le Mans in June. There, Siffert revealed his deal with Porsche to Wyss: he had negotiated a preliminary contract with Ferdinand Piech. If he was not at fault for a possible retirement at Le Mans, he could purchase a Porsche 917/10 (rolling chassis) for 65,000 US dollars and enter it in the CanAm. He would have to pay for the entry himself, Porsche-Audi USA would cover the team's expenses. He then promptly dropped out "innocently" with crankshaft damage to his 917 - the deal with Porsche was perfect!

Wyss was looking forward to the races with the Swiss driver. "Siffert was already a star in those years. He was certainly one of the absolute 'top five racing drivers' in the world - this after he had made incredible personal sacrifices to get this far in the first place," recalls Wyss and continues: "He was a racer, always fast, no matter which car he was in. If something wasn't working properly or there was a lack of engine power, he would sometimes drive with a knife between his teeth...".

Wyss got to know the Swiss racing driver really well in Siffert's small CanAm team. One week after the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Siffert and Wyss signed the employment contract for the 1971 CanAm season. The plan was to test a Porsche 917/10 Spyder at Hockenheim, then the first race at the second or third race of the season at Mont Tremblant or Road Atlanta. Siffert had prepared in advance, signed sponsorship contracts and set up two bases in Kansas City with Art Bunker and later in Los Angeles with Richie Ginther, so that there were no longer distances to cover in the USA. Everything was very professionally prepared and organized!

At the end of June 1971, Siffert sent Edi Wyss to Stuttgart with the task of "picking up the CanAm Porsche". When he arrived there, there was no sign of a racing car! He had the noble task of assembling the Porsche himself and doing it as quickly as possible! "Three weeks of hard work awaited me and the Porsche helpers until the tubular frame chassis was welded together. Then the 917/10, still white and provisionally covered with the stickers of the sponsoring companies, was ready for test drives in Hockenheim - after a delay of a few weeks it was shipped overseas. Instead of entering the CanAm at the second race of the season, the team only made its debut at the fourth race in Watkins Glen," says Wyss.

However, Siffert, Schibler and Wyss had to wait until then. "We waited for days at the hotel pool in Boston for the Porsche to finally arrive. It wasn't until the afternoon before the first practice session for what was now the fourth race that the time had come. We picked up the race car, drove all night and arrived at Watkins Glen in the morning, exhausted but in time for the first practice session," says Wyss, describing the Swiss team's CanAm debut. Not everything worked out yet, Siffert complained about the handling, it was only enough for ninth place on the grid, to the surprise of the McLaren crew, who were used to success, Jackie Stewart was at the front with the Lola-Chevrolet of the Haas team.

Together with Porsche engineer Helmut Flegl, whom Siffert had hired especially for the opening race, a remedy was found. Flegl and Wyss looked for a mechanical workshop in Watkins Glen on Saturday afternoon (!) after the final practice session and found what they were looking for. "The inventory of 'Frost Engineering' was more reminiscent of a museum than a serviceable workshop. Flegl found an ancient lathe, 'Frosty' - the owner, skillfully centered the shock absorbers, made the groove - and was done. It would have taken me much, much longer," says Wyss, still admiring the craftsmanship of the old company owner, while he was shortening the titanium springs with a cutting torch. Siffert reacted positively to the changes. McLaren drivers Revson and Hulme celebrated the expected one-two victory, with Siffert joining them on the podium in third place!

Siffert had another problem to solve at Watkins Glen: his white CanAm Porsche was to be given the special STP bright red livery of his main sponsor between practice and the race. "We never believed it would work," laughs Wyss. None of them had reckoned with Nat Reeder's cool-headedness. The STP man collected the body parts for the Porsche 917/10 on Saturday evening, looked for a paint shop in Watkins Glen and actually turned up at the race track the next morning with the bright red parts! Siffert personally made sure that all the sponsor lettering was applied in the right size and in the right place.

Porsche 917/10 im STP-Look

The continuous, bright red was then occasionally supplemented with blue at other races. "We only had one hood. If Siffert damaged the hood during small excursions, we couldn't fall back on the original STP red. This was reserved for the official STP man Nat Reeder. So we had to use the blue from the best available color pot," smiles Wyss.

"Siffert trusted Hugo Schibler, with whom I looked after the Porsche, and me with everything. The man from Fribourg received an Audi saloon or a Porsche 911 from Porsche-Audi USA. When he arrived at the racetrack, he wanted to know exactly what we had prepared and whether everything was in order. He had an absolutely professional attitude and demanded the same from those around him," Wyss sums up. He rarely lost his composure. Wyss can only remember one incident where he of all people was to blame: "During the race in Minneapolis, I didn't calculate the fuel consumption correctly. Shortly before the end of the race, Siffert was in third place behind the unbeatable McLaren of Revson and Hulme. Hugo and I were already looking forward to the prize money. On the last lap, Siffert ran out of gas and third place ultimately turned into fifth place. Siffert came into the pits after crossing the finish line, swearing "Nom de Dieu, M...rde, eh bien, j'ai dit!". After a short time, the anger was gone...".

Edi Wyss also experienced Jo Siffert's business acumen at first hand: "At the race in Elkhart Lake, Siffert took second place ahead of all the other McLaren drivers behind Peter Revson, he had sponsorship negotiations with oil companies. Porsche stipulated that Shell was to be used. Whether another company stuck its badge on the racing car didn't matter to the Stuttgart-based company. In his camper, Seppi received company representatives from two different oil manufacturers at the same time. He made it clear to them: 'I'll close the deal with whoever is prepared to pay more!

The mood of the small Swiss delegation, which was visited by Siffert fans at several CanAm races, was excellent. "Siffert was a racer. Always trying to get the maximum out of it and win. He was brave, but never cocky. He had a great technical understanding, perhaps not as extremely great as Bruce McLaren at the time, but he was absolutely 'out-standing'. Siffert demanded professional, serious work from everyone, just as he gave his all in the cockpit. And he was always sociable and correct. We would all have gone through fire for him!" says Wyss.

Jo Siffert drove his last CanAm race at Laguna Seca on October 17. He finished in fifth place. They said their goodbyes and looked forward to the last championship race on October 29 in Riverside, a home race so to speak and only 60 miles away from home base. The fateful Formula 1 race at Brands Hatch on October 24 was scheduled between the CanAm races. Instead of Riverside, Edi Wyss was one of the pallbearers at the funeral of his driver Jo "Seppi" Siffert in Fribourg on October 29...

During these days, Wyss received a telephone call from Tyler Alexander of McLaren - the Swiss was returning to the Indy Car circuits in North America with the Kiwis the following year.

Nobody suspected that the farewell at Laguna Seca on October 17, 1971 would be a farewell for ever.

Profile Edi Wyss

You can't tell by looking at him: In 2022, Edi Wyss will be 80 years old: fit, slim and steeled by countless kilometers on his racing bike every year, usually accompanied by Mary, his partner. After an apprenticeship as a precision mechanic, he studied in Biel and graduated as a qualified automotive engineer. At the age of 25, after a short detour via Joakim Bonnier's private team, he docked with his dream team McLaren. There he looked after Denny Hulme's Formula 1 racing car in 1969 and then had to switch to Andrea de Adamich's McLaren Alfa Romeo a year later. "You are continental and your tools are metric," explained Bruce McLaren. "I also spoke Italian," smiles Wyss.

He looked after the Porsche 917/10 for Jo Siffert for one season in 1971, returned to McLaren, built a Formula 1 car for Tecno, gave a brief guest appearance with Herbert Müller to convert the Ferrari 512 into a CanAm Ferrari Spider, designed the first Sauber with a monocoque chassis for Peter Sauber with the C4 and then had enough of racing.

He concentrated on restoring Ferraris, initially as an insider tip in the scene. Today he is the specialist for the brand with the prancing horse. He has sold his company in Hermatswil (Pfäffikon ZH), but can still be found there regularly - after all, the workshop is only a stone's throw away from his home.

At the moment, he is concentrating on his Abarths (one of his "life loves") and making sure that the Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2 for his Mary finally gets back on the road.

If you would like to find out more about Edi Wyss, please refer to the exciting book "The Swiss Wiz: Edi Wyss - A life with racing and sports cars " .

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