A vintage car exhibition will be held on the triangular site between the railroad lines of the former Nordostbahn and Nationalbahn from November 2025 to January 2026. The new owner of the listed site, Werner Hofmann, wants to showcase the culturally and industrially valuable history of the industrial area - and give the go-ahead for its future, partly public use.
Zurich car brand diversity
Zürcher Automobile" is about a total of 39 hitherto rather well-known companies that have been manufacturing vehicles in the canton of Zurich since the beginning of the last century - and some of which are still doing so today.
Some of them are even active on this very Gauss-Stierli site and even in the historic factory halls. The exhibition on this historically valuable site is therefore also widely supported by the relevant institutions. "We were very motivated to honor this unique and previously unknown density of Zurich vehicle manufacturers with an exhibition," says Daniel Geissmann, former exhibition manager at the Swiss Museum of Transport and President of the Swiss Historic Vehicle Federation (SHVF).
Cars also from Seebach
For example, after the end of the First World War in 1918, cars from Zurich designer Rudolph Egg (Egg & Egli), such as a four-seater with an 11 hp engine from the Zürcher company with the brand name SEMAG, were produced in these factory halls until 1924. This brand was commonly known to die-hard car enthusiasts under the name "Seebacher". However, cars were also produced elsewhere in the canton, for example in Uster near Turicum at the factory of the two car pioneers Paul Vorbrodt and Martin Fischer.
Another Zurich manufacturer was the Arbenz motor car factory, of which a single hall in Zurich-Altstetten and the former railroad access track have been preserved.
In collaboration between the Swiss Car Register, Swiss Classic World and other powerful partners, a group of enthusiasts from the vintage scene, led by Daniel Geissmann, has therefore put together a varied program for this event: In addition to the selected Zurich vehicles, there will be larger-than-life worker sculptures as well as other presentations and a catering offer at this former work site in the middle of Zurich. Admission is free, but there will be a collection for the benefit of the "young4vintage" program of the umbrella organization SHVF - Swiss Historic Vehicle Federation.
If there is a great deal of interest, the exhibition will continue into January, initially with various opening days planned between November 1 and 16 - we recommend checking the website for the exact opening times.
The publication of a book is also planned as a follow-up to the exhibition.
The exact opening hours, directions and everything else can be found here
