Jüchen, 4th - 6th of August, 2017

Every first August weekend the placid gardens of the water castle in North Rhine-Westphalia transforms into the biggest garden party in Germany. Even the goose seem to know the date as after dominating the scene a few weeks earlier at the Masterpieces at the same location they left in time to leave the gardens to the human crowds. Founded 11 years ago the Classic Days soon became the most popular event in Germany and so it is neither a surprise that they won the annual price for the best national classic car event given by the German classic car magazine Motor Klassik in the previous years nor that the event is very well visited. With a lot of different program points there is something for anybody, be it the regularity trial on the closed of round course, the demonstration runs, the concours and the displays in the Orangerie, the very popular displays of the commercial and private cars from the German economic miracle as well as the historic camping or picnic display at the charm & style lawn. Furthermore the countless classic cars of the visitors form one of the biggest outdoor line-ups of cars in the miscanthus field. Last but not least a special section is dedicated to the American lifestyle with the Stars & Stripes display including authentic diner and Bonneville display.

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... While watching the images listen to the great soundtrack from Chris Rea’s movie “La Passione”


Many of these things are annual features so the demonstration runs by the manufacturers or themed displays are usually the highlights both admired by the public and reported by the press. Over the last years the Classic Days featured countless international special guests including Sir Stirling Moss who had to pass this year due to his recovery from a recent disease, the late John Surtees or Derek Bell but with all those famous British drivers one almost forgets that one of the true greats is a local hero. Walter Röhrl was celebrating his 70th anniversary in style with a special display of some of his most important rally cars, demonstration runs showing that he did not lose any of his abilities and the closeness to the public in several autograph sessions throughout the weekend. Few former race drivers can claim to become even more popular with the time after leaving the sport but looking at the amount of people of every age waiting in line for his autograph one does see that even those who never saw him in his active career admire the brilliance and versatility of the tall Regensburger. In a time of the most powerful rally cars of the Group B era with the sensational Audi Quattro Röhrl dominated the rally scene sometimes even with underpowered cars like the Fiat 131 Abarth or even more the Opel Ascona against the superior 4wd armada. After an intermezzo on the Lancia 037 Röhrl finally joined the Audi Quattro team not only winning again his favorite Rally Monte Carlo but most famously the infamous Pikes Peak hill climb where he broke the record in the wild winged Audi S1 E2 taming 600 hp on a gravel track with insane slopes. The Autoworld of VW in Wolfsburg brought a selection of cars including the Pikes Peak monster and Röhrl had a lot of fun with his former navigator Christian Geistdörfer.

But certainly there was also some international flair with the Italian Arturo Merzario driving the Ferrari 156 Shark nose. Just as Röhrl Merzario started his career on Fiat Abarth but became popular in sports car racing. After first success Arturo joined the Scuderia Ferrari to drive both in the sports car championship winning both the Spa 1000km and the Targa Florio in the 312 PB as well as in F1. Merzario once again proved to be a much uncomplicated guest and with his warm smile and his typical hat he even delighted those who might not be familiar with his career. When Merzario started for Ferrari in F1 the Scuderia was already famous winning several Championship with drivers like Phil Hill who drove the famous 156 F1 “Shark nose” named after its unusual air intake at the front. The shark nose was both used in GP racing as well as in sports cars but unfortunately none of the championship winning 1.5 litre V6 engined GP cars survived. Thanks to the authentic recreations as used in Chris Rea’s movie “La Passione” one can both see and hear the V6 driving again and Merzario braved the rain on Saturday to drive the open wheeler in the spray of the very wet track.

10 cylinder more could be seen on the Auto Union C-Type brought by Audi Tradition and driven by Frank Biela. Just as the Ferrari none of the original cars survived but unlike the prancing horses written off by its creator itself the Silver Arrows were lost after the war when going behind the iron curtain as reparation for the Soviets who tried to learn from the technology by taking them apart. None of the original C-Types survived but today a superb recreation featuring the twin rear wheels as used on the hill climbs driven by Hans Stuck brings back the glorious sound of the legendary engine designed by Ferdinand Porsche. With the engine in the rear the car was certainly very advanced for its time but with the brutal power of the 6 litre V16 it was very difficult to drive. Bernd Rosemeyer was the one who managed the new concept the best and became the role model of his era living a celebrity life with his famous wife Elly Beinhorn.

But the Auto Union was not the only brutal car in Dyck as another was even named “The Beast of Turin”, the Fiat S76. The 28.5 Litre engined record car was designed to beat the land speed record held by the Blitzen Benz at the time and with an impressive 290 hp the car succeeded with more than 200 km/h, an unbelievable speed looking at the archaic car spitting fire directly from the combustion chamber. With a very high center of gravity one can see that the car was only meant to be driven on a straight line so heave the car around the corner before the starting line was quite a challenge but once pointing into the right direction on could hear the engine fire around the entire track.

Further highlights included the special displays for the 70th anniversary of Ferrari as well as a superb line-up of Bizzarrini whose history is linked to the marque from Maranello. After developing the famous 250 GTO Giotto Bizzarrini and Enzo Ferrari parted in contention leaving Giotto founding his own company after working for ATS and Iso Rivolta.

Fortunately the weather improved over the weekend and after a very wet start finally the sun was out on Sunday to give the Classic Days the ambience they deserve. After another great edition one would not be surprised if the SDCD would win another price for the best German event next year and after more than a decade on can say that they have emancipated from the ever returning comparison with the Goodwood events. Certainly the location offers everything for a great garden party and we are sure that most of the visitors are annual guest who will return to the Classic Days in 2018 as we will.

Report & images … Peter Singhof
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de