The February issue of Oldtimer Markt is here, as always with a colorful bouquet of topics from the VW GTI, which turns 40 this year, to the Benz Patent-Motorwagen Velo, the oldest registered car in Germany, to exciting hill climbs and a safari in a Trabi.
Fixed and forty
Even a GTI turns 40 at some point - the sports car with the image of eternal youth, which in 1976 dragged VW out of the plains of staid reason. A direct hit, but initially neither desired nor intended by the Group. Test engineers put it together after work.
Germany's oldest registered automobile is 120 years old, restored - and more winter-proof than Wolfgang Blaube, as a tour around Lake Chiemsee in the Benz Patent-Motorwagen Velo from 1896 shows.
Relationship box
Sometimes we see more than the obvious in things - like Franz Böck, who took over the Citroën Méhari five years ago from a lady friend who was a world star in the 1950s. He treats the car like the diva's automotive legacy.
Supercharged eight-cylinder among themselves: Alfa Romeo 8C and Triumph Dolomite Straight Eight compete in a duel in the south of England - two sports car icons of the thirties that are almost identical twins. But only almost.
Trabi on safari
Safari actually means journey. In motor sport, however, the term stands for meter-deep potholes, thick dust and impenetrable mud. In short: for the absolute endurance test that only the very strongest survive - or a Trabant P601.
How did the Hillman Minx end up in the GDR? When the Dresden Transport Museum set about restoring the British car, the team was initially at a loss. The iron curtain was probably more permeable than generally assumed...
No pony farm
The first generation of the Ford Mustang is a popular entry-level oldie. But the range is large and difficult to keep track of. If you're not sure of yourself, you'll quickly be knocked to the ground ...
Well done instead of just well-intentioned: Get to know the biggest enemies of stored spare parts, how to fight them as well as possible - and why some battles are lost from the outset ...
Fast on the mountain
"The first time, I got really scared." As a young amateur racer in the late 1960s, his friend Franz from Rosenheim was full of ambition when he drove to the Rossfeld mountain race. Today, the classic car market is on the road in a BMW 2002tii on the former mountain track ...
With the Alfa Romeo Bertone Coupé, you can really get quite a few road users wet. And not just in the rain. The Alfa in the advertisement check ...
