The Forum for Vehicle History, F-kubik for short, will be honoring a personality for their many years of tireless and successful commitment to the documentation and public presentation of historic mobility at the Bremen Classic Motorshow in 2026: Dieter Lammersdorf will receive the "Golden Piston" award after more than 20 years of tirelessly building, maintaining and publishing initially German vehicle collections in a constantly updated, printed museum guide.
He also runs a web platform with information on German museums, most recently expanded to include museums in Austria and Switzerland.
Enthusiastic mechanic
Dieter Lammersdorf, born in Meppen/ Ems in 1958 and now living in Olpe in the Sauerland, has been an enthusiastic classic car mechanic since the age of 17. He is particularly passionate about post-war Heinkel vehicles, about which he has published numerous articles in magazines. He has also dedicated three specialist books to the manufacturer's products such as the scooter, the moped and the Kabine scooter-mobile from Heinkel production, for example the book "Heinkel Tourist, Perle, Kabine 1953 - 1965" as volume 107 of the Schrader Motor Chronicle. More than 20 years ago, the graduate civil engineer and special education teacher also began working in the field of classic car museums.
Lammersdorf started his professional career at the Ford plant in Cologne, but later switched careers and, after two state examinations, became a special needs teacher and head teacher at various special schools.
Heinkel fan
As the author of specialist books on post-war Heinkel vehicles, Dieter Lammersdorf himself looks after and maintains a Heinkel scooter and a cabin scooter and has restored several of these vehicles himself. Back in 2002, the classic car enthusiast from Olpe published his first printed museum guide to all car and motorcycle collections in Germany - suitable for every glove compartment. It was immediately well received. In 2014, the fifth edition was published with information on 250 classic car museums.
This was followed by several magazine publications on the subject. In the current edition of the book "Museumstouren", published by Motorbuch-Verlag Stuttgart, the 350 best automobile, motorcycle, bus, tractor, fire department, bicycle, engine and commercial vehicle exhibitions in Germany are listed in a practical museum guide after careful research.
Re-launch of the museum website
Lammersdorf proved to be tireless: in 2022, the website www.oldtimermuseen.de, which has existed since 2002, underwent a major relaunch: since then, each collection has been presented in detail with all the important information - from admission prices to the most important exhibits and special features to the website. Indexes, directions, route recommendations and a clear, regional structure provide a complete overview of the wide range on offer. With the "oldtimermuseen.de" website, Dieter Lammersdorf transferred the expert knowledge he had gathered over decades to the Internet and added many useful additional functions to what had previously only been available in print. Oldtimermuseen.de is the first database exclusively for museums of historic vehicles.
"The desire for orientation is enormous," explains Lammersdorf, "because the scene of small and large exhibitions with historic buses, two-wheelers, cars, engines, bicycles, commercial vehicles and fire engines is extremely colorful and complex - and sometimes confusing. I am particularly pleased that my offer has been accepted by so many classic car enthusiasts. Since 2022, over 500,000 people have visited the website to find out more about the museum landscape," says the award winner. An interactive map of Germany on the site provides a quick overview of locations and contact details.
Museum guide now also includes addresses in Austria and Switzerland
Most recently, Dieter Lammersdorf's collection of museum data has been expanded once again. Interested parties can now also find 130 addresses in Austria and 50 in Switzerland on oldtimermuseen.de. A total of over 500 classic car museums in three countries can therefore be quickly identified.
A separate compilation of the museums in Austria and Switzerland in book form is already being planned. So if you want to know more about what a museum has to offer, you will find all the information about the operators, their main focus, the number of vehicles on display and special objects in the carefully researched descriptions by Dieter Lammersdorf, whether in the book or on the Internet.
About the Golden Piston and its winners since 2006
The "Golden Piston" is awarded unanimously and independently by the F-kubik group to individuals and institutions. The award is intended to show the special significance of "vehicle history" to the public and to honor exceptional achievements and results. This award in the form of a polished engine piston with engraving and honorary pin has been presented annually at the Bremen Classic Motorshow since 2006.
- 2006: Günther Krön for the revival and organization of the historic drive "2000 km through Germany".
- 2007: Karl-August Almstadt for early journalistic achievements in vehicle history as a TV presenter and publicist for the establishment and publication of the specialist magazine AutoBild Klassik.
- 2008: Winfried A. Seidel as initiator and operator of Veterama and the Dr. Carl Benz Automuseum in Ladenburg.
- 2009: Prof. Dr. Peter Kirchberg (+) for his many years of work at the University of Dresden and documentation on the history of the Auto Union.
- 2010: Dipl.-Ing. Mag. phil. Wolfgang M. Buchta as publisher and editor-in-chief of the trade journal Austro-Classic.
- 2011: Karl Reese (+) as an expert and one of the first publicists of motorcycle history in a previously unknown variety.
- 2012: Michael Graf Wolff Metternich (+) as an interpreter of Maybach history and corresponding documentation and publications.
- 2013: Erika Kübler for her commitment to preserving the life's work of the artist and designer Louis L. Lepoix from Baden-Baden.
- 2014: Ivan Mahy for his tireless efforts to keep a unique vehicle collection in Belgium as accessible to the public as possible.
- 2015: Roger Gloor from Switzerland for his many years of in-depth coverage of the automotive past in Automobil Revue and auto exclusiv magazine.
- 2016: Karl Ludvigsen as a manager in the automotive industry with the skills of systematic research, processing and worldwide publication of automotive history topics.
- 2017: Johannes Th. Hübner as an automotive expert, publicist and designer who can convincingly convey his knowledge of vehicle history to an interested public.
- 2018: Heiner Rössler for his outstanding commitment to a lively presentation and documentation of vehicle history to the public through the operation of the museum in Melle.
- 2019: Jürgen Book as the initiator of the Glasurit Classic Car Colors program, the world's largest paint database for historic vehicles, an exemplary contribution to the preservation of historical monuments.
- 2020: Dieter Dressel for setting up the "Central Garage" museum in Bad Homburg v.d.H. with the organization and implementation of exemplary exhibitions on vehicle history.
- 2021: Matthias Kaluza for the vivid, entertaining and exciting design of automotive history exhibitions and specialist books for various clients.
- 2022: The team from the IFA Museum in Nordhausen for setting up a museum on the history of diesel developments and documenting the history of technology at the site.
- 2023: Bruno von Rotz as initiator and content provider of the internet platform "zwischengas" to digitally process and communicate up-to-date historical information on vehicle history.
- 2024: Peter Schneider for his selfless and idealistic commitment over decades to improving the legal and political framework conditions in Germany and at European level for the operation of historic vehicles on public roads.
- 2025: Dipl.-Ing. Matthias Doht as co-founder of the "Automobile Museum Eisenach" association, initiator, private founding donor and managing director of the Automobile World Eisenach Foundation and as long-time director of the Eisenach Automobile Museum.
About F-kubik
The "Forum for Vehicle History", or F-kubik for short, is a group of vehicle historians, motoring journalists and publishers that has been active since 2001 to strengthen the importance of vehicle history in the public eye. Its members include Lars Döhmann, Horst-Dieter Görg, Dr. Wolfgang Kaese, Ulrich Knaack, Christian Ludewig, Rainer Manthey, Gerhard Placke, Burkhard Schäfer, Halwart Schrader and Hans-Joachim Weise.
In addition to their own recognized publications or expert reports on historic vehicles, they pool their specialist knowledge of vehicle history by working on projects for industry, public institutions and private collections as well as at classic car events and trade fairs such as the Bremen Classic Motorshow. For the interested public, symposia on vehicle history have been held at various locations and the contributions of renowned speakers have been published in a limited edition in the book series "Archiv zur Fahrzeuggeschichte".
Further information can be found on the forum's website.
