With twinkling lights and angel hair for the Xmas drive
Every year, the question arises as to whether a salt-free road wouldn't be a good reason to bring the classic out of hibernation and have some fun?
The weekend of December 14 and 15 was ideal in terms of salt conditions. Plenty of rain washed away the ominous de-icing agent for old sheet metal in the lowlands, so there was little reason to stay away from the second Xmas Drive, to which Chris Wyer had invited via his DriversApp.
One of the highlights of the Xmas Drive 2024: Studebaker GT Hawk with Swiss first registration, one of only 947 examples exported.
The meeting point was Motorworld in Kemptthal. The two dozen or so intrepid people who arrived early on Saturday morning at the former Maggi soup cube factory between Zurich and Winterthur left no doubt as to what exactly the purpose of this ride was: to have fun!
The police feared that the angels on Eugen Küng's Rolls-Royce might fly off, which was successfully prevented by cable ties.
Captured for eternity, the decorated cars drove in front of the photo wall, making the lights flash or the moose - sorry, the reindeer - roar or the angels' chimes ring out, or was it the built-in chimes of an old American car from the 1960s? Eugen Küng took the cake with his two fanfare-blowing papier-mâché cherubs in front of the classicist radiator of his Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. "On Friday evening, I hadn't gone five hundred meters when two friendly uniformed men told me that I'd better take the two angels down, as they were afraid they might spread their wings and fly away unexpectedly - at least that's how I interpreted the warning, so I fastened them with cable ties for this morning," the well-to-do gentleman in the Christmas suit laughed at us.
One-two: Santa Claus (the Swiss Santa Claus) with us!- on the Lancia Fulvia and Daniela Rüttimann's BMW E46.
There was no lack of humor. Daniela Rüttimann had a Playmobil Santa Claus in XXL format ride in a sleigh on her BMW E46 and also packed a small sidecar, a bobby car, on the luggage rack for safety.
Andy and Maggie Ernst, on the other hand, told us that they got up extra early in the morning and decorated their Jaguar XK 150 Fixed Head, the tinsel on the rear-view mirrors fluttering in the wind.
Andy and Maggie Ernst with the Jaguar XK 150 FHC: "got up extra early to decorate!"
Geri and Ingrid Gysi from VW parts dealer Cagero brought along a perfect winter car: "What heating? It's freezing cold in the Beetle, somehow it drafts through all the holes!" What was the saying back then? "Air doesn't boil, air doesn't freeze - and air doesn't heat!" Well, I made the same observation with the T1 - but be that as it may, wrapped up thickly and with the prospect of a warm coffee at my destination, the Emil Frey Classics showroom on Zurich's Utoquai, it was perfectly bearable in the Bulli cabin.
"Saukalt", but iconic, the VW Ovali of Geri and Ingrid Gysi.
Two other lady drivers were able to enjoy considerably more comfort: Liv Haefeli was able to get hold of the Jaguar Drivers' Club President's Safari XJ for the drive. The 3.4-liter Series 2 currently shines with tires from the construction machinery sector and generated a lot of goodwill and thumbs up from the roadside: "A really comfortable car and surprisingly good-natured despite the rough tires!"
The XJ6 3.4 Series 2 (1976) "Safari" by video blogger Liv Haefeli.
Laura Erismann experienced the same with her partner Leon Ladiges in the Studebaker Gran Tourismo Hawk. The six-cylinder with manual gearbox is an ideal cruiser. In metallic gold, decorated with a large red velvet loop on the radiator grille, the Studebaker looked like THE promotional vehicle for the whole idea of a Christmas drive.
Laura Erismann with her perfect promotional vehicle for the Xmas Drive: a Studebaker GT Hawk (1963).
For organizer Chris Wyer, who himself arrived in his Daimler Sovereign Series 1 with manual transmission, the event was proof that lasting memories and "good vibes" can be generated with a small budget, a digital platform - on which events can be easily advertised - and an original idea. The fact that so many young drivers took part in the Xmas Drive shows that new, digital methods work perfectly to mobilize the next generation of classic car enthusiasts.
"I think it was the right thing to do: A short drive from Kemptthal via Gockhausen to the Utoquai to Emil Frey Classic, an aperitif and then around lunchtime it's good for most people. That obviously worked!" Wyer was visibly satisfied!
At the finish line at Emil Frey Classics on Utoquai.
The next such event is the New Year's Eve meeting on the Albis. Canceled at short notice last year, around 25 undaunted, mostly younger classic car fans nevertheless turned up in the biting cold in the parking lot just before the top of the pass. It seems that the next generation of classical music enthusiasts is well versed in digital technology, always up for some not entirely serious fun and far tougher than some old hands would sometimes expect.
The classic car scene can take an example from the Xmas Drive's mix of generations and genders.
We would like to thank Jürg Rohr ( Rallye Rohr) for the photos for this article.
