A record number of participants at the anniversary event in 2022 has convinced those responsible for the Heidi Classic to continue investing even more time in the preparations and to extend the popular classic car event by one day. The 11th Heidi Classic next June will also include two day trips (instead of just one as in the first nine years).
Otherwise, everything remains the same: There are three categories: "Sport" (for the ambitious), "Classic" (for competitive connoisseurs) and "Relax & Drive" (without tests); the routes lead through the breathtaking mountain scenery around the Bündner Herrschaft and on Sunday, the "Prix d'Elégance" for the Heidi Classic participants and a large classic car meeting await fans from near and far in the village center of Bad Ragaz.
First beauty title for the Quattro
Last year's anniversary rally had some great stories to tell and also provided for several premieres. This included the final "Prix d'Elégance", which is always awarded as part of the big classic car meeting at the end of the Heidi Classic weekend. The expert jury chose the Audi Sport Quattro (built in 1984) of Patrick Dähler and Ursula Heggli as the winner in 2022.
The "trio", if you can call the owner couple and the vehicle that, were not competing in a Heidi Classic for the first time, but it was the first "beauty" title for the automotive gem. (Heggli/Dähler had already finished on the podium in the rally classification with their Audi).
Only 220 examples of the Sport Quattro - 32 centimetres shorter wheelbase and 24 centimetres less length overall than the original Quattro - were built, and only 21 of them were painted in "Copenhagen blue". One such rarity - with 306 hp and many parts made of low-weight GRP (glass fiber reinforced plastic) and Kevlar - impressed the public and expert jury alike at last year's "Prix d'Elégance".
"I saw the Sport Quattro at the Geneva Motor Show in 1984. I was still a teenager at the time, but I was hooked at first sight - I knew that one day I would own a car like this," says Patrick Dähler, his eyes shining. He then spent years looking for a good specimen. "This search was finally rewarded in 2003." 20 years ago, Dähler joined an illustrious line-up of prominent "Baby Quattro" owners - including rally legend Walter Rörally legend Walter Rö hrl, automobile entrepreneurs Gianni Agnelli and Ferdinand Piëch and aristocrats such as the former Spanish King Juan Carlos and the Sultan of Brunei have also enjoyed "the short one".
Will fans see the 2022 Prix d'Elégance winner again at this year's 11th Heidi Classic? In any case, the event is already well booked. Entry deadline for all categories is Sunday, May 21, 2023.
Further information on the 11th Heidi Classic 2023 can be found on the event website.
