Goldtsück: The Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2, built in 1986
Image: Porsche
What does someone who has never owned a car do at a classic car rally? Mental arithmetic, not least about your own CO₂ emissions. And discover that happiness can also be found under an old bonnet.
It happened at kilometer 48, just before Püscheldorf, just before the next special stage. The Pininfarina stands on the side of the road, one of the most beautiful vehicles in the classification. Light blue-turquoise livery, convertible, known as the Fiat Spider before being briefly taken over by the legendary Italian car engineer of the same name. Gerald peeks out from under the body. “Do you have tape with you?” he asks us. “The exhaust broke off.” And Harm Schumacher, who has safely steered our Mercedes 280 S up to this point, gives the reassuring answer: “We also have wire with us. I’ll leave the tool bag for you.” Gerald thanks and disappears again under the chassis.
Philip Krohn
Editor in business, responsible for “People and Business”.
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The couple’s accident in the two-seater becomes the running gag of the rest of the rally through eastern Middle Franconia. The 25th ADAC Süd-Rallye-Historic 2023 is a skill competition for motorists who like to chat around the campfire about fuel and spare parts, who have usually had petrol in their blood since childhood and who maneuver their treasures against the stopwatch on side roads that are hardly used. It’s a show of car aesthetics and a rally of inside jokes. “Fatal mistake from Turin” is what fans will later scoff at Gerald’s car – the abbreviation of this saying gives the name of the Italian manufacturer Fiat. Gerald and his wife don’t notice the mockery, but it certainly wouldn’t surprise them. They have always paid for their optical superiority with constant visits to the workshop, which our drivers practically never have to do because Daimler worked so solidly in the early seventies.