Small world
06/23/2025
Let's call him Peter, OK, his real name is Peter and he's a colleague from England who moved to Scotland from the Midlands some time ago. I know him from the Lotus Seven Club. His daughter has been an English teacher at a grammar school in the Zurich Oberland since the start of the current school year. This was one reason why he contacted me in March - after a 14-year break. Unfortunately, I was at a club dinner and couldn't speak. I told him this in a text message: "Sorry, can't speak, attending JDCS club dinner". So far - so good.
During his visit, I decided to show him and his wife Einsiedeln. This was to take the focus away from the cars. Peter's wife can tell you a thing or two about the hours her husband spent talking about cars with his colleagues and friends. Peter's profession was cars (e.g. in development at Jaguar, Land-Rover) and his hobbies are... Exactly! Wait, he also drives a 1941 double-decker bus for the local friends of historic buses. Peter owns a first-series Range Rover and a Peugot 504, but I thought my Jaguar XJ12 would be an adequate means of transportation for the two of them (picture below).
The Goldapfel bakery was once again the destination of my trip to Einsiedeln - no, I really don't have any stock there. Item, Peter said that for a twelve-ender the idling was quite noticeable, some injectors were probably not quite in the same trim as their neighbors. Of course he was right. But still, even at low throttle the engine runs silky smooth. During the drive, Peter told me that he had fortunately found some trim parts for his Peugeot 504 in Switzerland. I told him the name of Fredy Vollenweider and - indeed, that's where his parts came from - what a small world. I also mentioned that I knew someone else who collected old cars and was a passionate bus driver, just like Peter with his double-decker.
We drove back to Zurich and somehow made it to the first Albisgüetli meeting at the end of April. However, there wasn't much going on when we arrived very late. Only Fredy, Peter's parts dealer, who could even remember the shipment to Scotland, and the aforementioned friend who drives a bus and collects classic cars were still there. My friend was stunned by so many coincidences and - to put it mildly - so was I. The Swiss classic car scene: one big village square!
The next day, Peter and his partner flew back to Scotland. Last week he told me that he had been allowed to inspect another V12 Jaguar at idle and that it was much smoother than mine. Yes, I knew it, mine rumbles slightly. Peter added that a gentleman had been kind enough to start up his Daimler Double-Six (pictured above) especially for him at the international Daimler-Lanchester Rally, 15 miles down the road from Peter's Scottish home - a Rolf B. from Germany, whom he had just met, 1700 kilometers away. I replied that I knew a Rolf B. with a Double-Six from Germany and my good Peter wrote back: "You're right! HE sat next to you when I tried to call you at the Club-Dinner!" or in German: That's right, Rolf and his companion were sitting next to me at the club dinner when he tried to call me! The moral of the story is: Not only Switzerland is a village, the whole classical music scene seems to be one! Which proves to me once again that the car transports much more than just straight goods and passengers. It's a wonderful vehicle for generating and maintaining friendships - even if you run the risk of being talked about in faraway Scotland - or at least about the idling rumble.
