In 2024, the Forum for Vehicle History, or F-kubik for short, will honor a personality for their many years of tireless and successful commitment to the preservation of historic mobility in Germany with the "Golden Piston" award: Peter Schneider receives the "Golden Piston 2024" for his selflessly idealistic commitment over decades to improving the legal and political framework conditions in the Federal Republic as well as at European level.
Since 1986, Peter Schneider has been actively involved in the interest group for veteran and classic car owners, which was founded in 1976 and developed into the federal association DEUVET Oldtimer-Youngtimer e.V. with accreditation at the Bundestag in Berlin. From the very beginning of the working group of vehicle clubs, Schneider took on the necessary tasks in the areas of finance and club support until 2003, when he was democratically elected by the scene representatives to take care of political contacts and activities.
It is also to Schneider's credit that, as a member of the interest group, he helped to shape many unresolved issues for the classic car community as a whole and to enshrine them in law, such as the "red 07 number" and the H license plate rating, combined with permission to drive in low emission zones. The dismantling of further bureaucratic restrictions such as the ban on trucks driving on Sundays for historic commercial vehicles was also initially on his extensive work list.
The Sisyphean task of political work has not prevented Peter Schneider from facing up to the daily changing parameters motivated by changing moods or new legislative proposals. Making it easier for classic car owners to drive their historic cultural assets requires an extraordinary amount of time and intensive study of the issues, constant contact management and the necessary persuasion of decision-makers and politicians. Ultimately, it takes diplomatic skills, extensive general and specialist knowledge as well as trust to achieve convincing and sustainable results.
Given the framework of differing interests, hopes and even extreme demands in and on an interest group, it takes a huge amount of motivation and perseverance. Only passion and commitment to the interests of all classic car owners can be the basis here, even if the motivation of one's own unhindered historic mobility remains the basis. Schneider has been moving mobile memories from his childhood since 1987: a 1956 Opel Rekord sedan.
Peter Schneider, born on December 7, 1954 in Hamburg, has been involved in many democratic tasks and institutions since his school and training days. He has been working as a self-employed master glazier since 1978 and is a volunteer in professional associations. When he joined the Old Opel Interest Group in 1981, Peter Schneider took on the role of club delegate in DEUVET, the working group of German veteran vehicle clubs. Schneider became a member of the board in 1986 and was appointed president in 2013. The representatives of the classic vehicle clubs are rightly proud of their long-standing association head, as they know that the diverse tasks in the political environment of Berlin and Brussels are in good hands with him. Peter Schneider performs his duties in fair and trusting cooperation with all political partners in the Bundestag and state parliaments. As a member of the FDP's Federal Transport Committee, his positions are frequently called upon and discussed.
In 2024, F-kubik honors Peter Schneider with the Golden Plunger for his many years of personal commitment in public to improving the framework conditions for the German veteran and classic car industry and thus for the visible preservation of vehicle history. He is the 19th recipient of this award, which has been highly regarded since 2006.
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 reviving and organizing 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
Austro-Classic magazine.
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 preserve 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 automobile
past in the Automobil Revue and in the magazine auto exclusiv.
2016:
Karl Ludvigsen as manager of 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 vehicle museum in Melle.
2019:
Jürgen Book as the initiator of the Glasurit Classic Car Colors program, the largest color tone database in the world, 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 vivid, entertaining and experience-worthy designs of automotive history exhibitions and specialist books.
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.com" to digitally process and communicate up-to-date historical information on vehicle history.
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. The group includes Eckhart Bartels, Lars Döhmann, Horst-Dieter Görg, Dr. Wolfgang Kaese, Ulrich Knaack, 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 in 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 are held at various locations and the contributions of renowned speakers are published in a limited edition in the book series "Archiv zur Fahrzeuggeschichte".
Further information can be found on the f-kubik website.