Robber stories, expert knowledge and youth development
Recently, I had another opportunity to reflect on what it might feel like to make your first contacts as a newcomer. On the first warm weekend of March, a friend had invited me to a more or less spontaneous get-together on Zurich's local pass, the Albis - with a mixed bunch of classic car and car enthusiasts of all ages.
Can you remember what it was like when you visited a classic car show for the first time, drove to a meeting or sat down at a club get-together? How did you feel, as a newcomer, freshly arrived on the scene or as an astonished visitor in the midst of the almost incomprehensible wealth of a classic car show?
Perhaps it was also a first encounter at the petrol station that you will never forget, the first time you had to answer questions from a - perhaps self-appointed - "expert" with your newly acquired "old car".
I can remember how a friend had to fetch water from a stream on his first trip over the St. Gotthard Pass in his 1936 Adler Trumpf. The radiator had boiled. An old gentleman stopped next to the car, looked at it and then just said that the young man obviously didn't know that people never used to drive over the pass at lunchtime: "You'll have to get up earlier next time, preferably at night, you know that!" Good advice in itself, given in a tone of conviction that we knew what we were: Beginners, greenhorns, newbies - still green behind the ears.
Yes, we have learned a lot in the meantime, have driven to the four corners of Europe and even traveled to other continents. We've treated ourselves to all kinds of cars, or at least had the opportunity to drive them. We know who's who and know who's with whom - and why - and what's good and what's not. We are in the thick of it and are perhaps a little proud of it. Or rather: we look back with proud satisfaction on what we have experienced and achieved in our many years in the scene. But, as I've noticed time and again, this can sometimes be a real killer for young people.
DriversApp meeting on the Albis near Zurich on March 8, 2025, a good opportunity for discussions
Sometimes we tend to emphasize how great and good everything used to be. We like to talk about the times when things were still done "right". And we sometimes see ourselves as the lucky ones who were still able to take part in the "good" meetings and experienced the "real" adventures on our trips. It might not be so bad to listen to the newcomers from time to time - if they dare to say anything at all. Then you would find out what drives people today to cultivate the rusty hobby, how people exchange ideas with each other today or how a new generation understands things in general.
An old car editor once said to me: "We are smart alecks and we know everything, but the reader doesn't want to have this constantly beaten around the ears...". Perhaps young people feel the same way about us - the knowledgeable ones - they are almost overwhelmed by our experience. I will therefore try to hold back a little in future and give young enthusiasts more recognition - just for daring to enter the circle of the "old" and "knowledgeable" in order to bring a breath of fresh air into it or even to cultivate a little naive ignorance and a healthy urge to explore. Back then, it was also our ignorance that got us into adventures with boiling radiators. And how pleased we were that the longer and deeper we immersed ourselves in the world of the classic car, the more connections we discovered - about things that we now take for granted. And yes, our best buddy back then was still called "Mr. Meier". All we knew about him was that he had the same hobby and drove this Volvo Amazon...
Sigrist giving a talk
Pictures: ©Ulrich Frede and Marius Egli
