Lots of light at the third Zurich X-Mas Drive
It soon gets dark in the evening and many people are not entirely comfortable with the run-up to Christmas anyway. There's the threat of Christmas shopping stress, the end-of-year spurt and reflecting on the year that is drawing to a close - keyword: projects that will still be relevant in the new year, despite resolutions to the contrary.
The question with all these points is whether you want to do them to yourself. So it's all the better if the answer is a definite "yes" and there's something to distract you in between. One option - and certainly not the stupidest for those of us with the notorious "old metal disease" - is to take part in an X-Mas drive. In classic German: to take part in a Christmas decoration drive with the car.
Third edition
This is the third time that Chris Wyer has organized such a drive, and the operator of the DriversApp wanted to keep the whole thing "low key", as he says. In other words: the character of a spontaneous action, a kind of rolling flash mob, should be retained. The caravan of Christmas-decorated classic cars that rolled through Zurich on December 20 was neither widely announced nor widely advertised. The announcement of this third edition only made the rounds on the DriversApp channels, on social media and in a small network of rather younger classic car enthusiasts.
Right from the start at Zurich's Utoquai, it was clear that the 2025 X-Mas Drive would be even more popular than the first two events. The event started with a coffee at Emil Frey Classic, the first opportunity to take a closer look at the participants' imaginative creations. Held at dusk for the first time, the decorations were dominated by lights both outside and inside. One resourceful participant even had a train make its rounds around a mini Christmas tree in the lavish interior of his 1964 Oldsmobile. Christmas trees in general were accompanied by illuminated reindeer, entire towers of presents or even a wobbly Santa strapped to the roof.
Eyes closed and through
After the rendezvous, the colorful procession mingled into the hustle and bustle of the pre-Christmas Stamstag evening in the city of Zurich. Thanks to the cool weather, however, no incidents were reported due to the stop-and-go traffic and engine temperatures remained within the normal range. Nevertheless, some people must have been happy when the traffic slowly cleared towards Wollishofen on the left bank of the lake. After that, a leisurely cruise along the lakeside road was the order of the day before the convoy left the shores of Lake Zurich in the direction of Horgenberg. For the first time, the X-Mas drivers were treated to a culinary finale.
Cheese at the end
The scribe's modest garage served as a shelter for the Christmas drivers to enjoy a hearty raclette. In the freshness of the unheated workshop, not only did the cold air flow in through the cracks, but the clouds of cheese also flowed out again. It was easy to find the decorated cars outside in the pitch-black night as they were parked in rows, competing with each other.
The third X-Mas Drive was therefore undoubtedly a success and a worthy end to a truly eventful classic car year. Although there is still to be a DriversApp New Year's Eve meeting on Zurich's Albis Pass, in the hopeful expectation of some snow, some people are likely to mothball their cars for the season after the drive, or perhaps not yet?
For a fourth edition of the Drive, however, something has to be thought of. Because with the annual doubling of participating cars, the limit is quickly reached. Perhaps it will become a rally in the narrower and wider sense of the word. But the next Christmas is still a long way off and now it's time to get the 2025 edition behind us.
Pictures: Marius Egli mariusegli.ch
