On September 10, 2015, four new Swiss stamps were launched at the Emil Frey Classic Center, all of which are dedicated to automobiles developed and manufactured in Switzerland.
The Swiss classic car scene met in Safenwil for a small celebration. The event was hosted by four organizations: the Emil Frey Classic Center, the Lucerne Museum of Transport, which contributed some of the cars pictured, the Swiss Car Register and, of course, Swiss Post.
Admiring cars 1:1
Three of the four cars depicted on the stamps could be viewed on site, namely the Tribelhorn, an electric vehicle, the PicPic R2, which was on site in two examples - and there were probably not too many more - and the Martini. There was also the Dufaux racing car to admire, of which there is also a stamp. Only the fisherman was missing; the Museum of Transport had already borrowed it for another purpose.
Windston Churchill's Land Rover, which normally adorns the entrance hall of the Emil Frey Classic Center, was also conspicuous by its absence, as it was currently in Goodwood, as Walter Frey was able to tell us. And he also shared some of his father's advice, which he had not followed consistently. His father had advised him: "You have to sell new cars, not collect old ones". Today, however, it is clear that collecting old cars is not a bad thing and with the Classic Center he has now been able to give them the right setting.
Swiss cars inside and outside
Many visitors arrived for the celebration with Swiss cars, which Urs P. Ramseier categorized into three classes in his speech: those that were developed and built in Switzerland and with local components, those that were 50% Swiss-made, i.e. most of the bodywork was produced in the small country, and those that were assembled in Switzerland (in Biel or Schinznach) ("Montage Suisse").
In the parking lot between the Event Center and the new home of the Swiss Car Register, there were several bodies by Hermann Graber on display, as well as other rarities of Swiss coachbuilding.
Four stamps
Classic car enthusiasts and in particular lovers of extinct Swiss car brands can now frank their letters with stamps elegantly designed by Vito Noto. They are available in denominations of CHF 0.85, 1.00, 1.40 and 1.90. Peter Hasler said that he would be very happy if classic car enthusiasts in particular could reverse the trend of fewer and fewer letters being written (and franked) ...
Anyone who missed the presentation in Safenwil can admire at least some of the vehicles at the Lucerne Museum of Transport, not only 365 days a year, as museum director Martin Bütikofer explained, but also from time to time at night in the light of flashlights.
