How great must the relief have been? When, stranded on the side of the road, you spotted the large radiator grille of the Olympia Rekord in the rearview mirror, reminiscent of a fish mouth. If you saw the red and white car with the sign “AvD Verkehrs-Hilfsdienst” on the roof, you knew that everything would be fine. True to the motto: “Not a sound, not a sound – we’re coming.” Emergency call boxes on the side of the road were only gradually built from the mid-1950s onwards, and the roadside helpers did not yet have a radio on board. And so the AvD employees, dressed in white, patrol the 2,000 kilometers of highways, look out for stranded drivers and provide spontaneous breakdown assistance.
This year the Automobile Club of Germany is celebrating its 125th birthday. To mark this occasion, those responsible are bringing history to life: lovingly restored classics such as the Olympia Rekord with its characteristic fish mouth are reminiscent of the history of the traffic assistance service, which started in 1953 with half a dozen DKW express trucks. Four of the classic fleet of seven vehicles alone carry the lightning bolt. This shows: Opel and AvD – this is a proven partnership. One that has consolidated over millions of kilometers. And so next to the Olympia Rekord (1956) there is also a Kadett B Caravan (1970), followed by the Kadett C Caravan (1976) and a Rekord E2 (1983) lined up for the photo shoot in a former Opel factory hall – all in red. White.
The comfort of a limousine combined with the loading volume of a van: In 1957, AvD put the Olympia Rekord Caravan into service – it was the beginning of a long-term partnership.
Idea source: AvD President Lutz Leif Linden revived the historical fleet of the traffic assistance service to mark the 125th anniversary of the automobile club.
In 1970, the AvD moved into the “White House” in the Niederrad district of Frankfurt, with the new cadet fleet located in front of it.
In new splendor: those responsible for AvD purchased the 1970 Kadett B from Hanover and lovingly restored it.
The second post-war generation of Kadett was used as a reliable breakdown vehicle, for example to provide jump-start assistance.
“It was very important to me to have this historic fleet rolling again in new splendor.”
– AvD President Lutz Leif Linden –
Putting together this historic anniversary fleet was a matter close to the heart of AvD President Lutz Leif Linden, who saw the classics rolling through Frankfurt’s streets as a child. The AvD boss doesn’t just have petrol in his blood, his father Hans-Jürgen Linden was the AvD’s administrative director in the 1960s and 1970s. What the automobile club no longer had in its own possession was scouted and purchased on the classic car market. The 1970 B-Kadett, for example, was discovered in Hanover, the Olympic record panel van in Sweden. “The seller was a man in his late 70s. He parted with him with a heavy heart. But he is happy that the car lives on with us,” says Lutz Leif Linden.
And always Opel
And how he lives on. Of course, the restored angels no longer have to provide roadside assistance. They are a figurehead at numerous events, not just in the anniversary year. Whether racing, classic car meetings or rallies – the AvD takes part in up to 50 events every year. And a look at the history of the traffic assistance service shows that there is still a lot more lightning in it. After the Olympic record, for example, the Rekord P1 with its stylish panoramic windscreen AvD-zum Roten Engel was replaced, followed by the Kadett A. With its successor, the Kadett B, in 1972, the AvD demonstrated a knack for a visually powerful presentation: the 100 brand new ones Caravans pose, arranged in rows, at Frankfurt Airport in front of a Boeing 747.
Just in case: For a good 70 years, the AvD – here with a Cadet C – has been there if things go unplanned.
Convenient location: Today the AvD resides in a modern office building in Frankfurt-Niederrad, not far from the A5.
Partner of mobility
The traditional automobile club of Germany has been committed to the development of the automobile as a means of transport in all its facets since its beginnings in 1899. He helped launch the first motor insurance, developed the forerunner of the driving license and organized the first international automobile exhibition in Frankfurt in 1904. Motorsport in all its facets is still an important part of the club’s work today. But traffic safety is also a constant mission. The AvD is a founding member of both the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and the German Traffic Watch. The club, which was founded in Berlin, has been based in Frankfurt am Main since 1948.
In the 1980s – the motorway network had grown to 7,500 kilometers – the Opel Rekord first found its way into the AvD fleet and offered employees increased comfort, loading space and payload. The Kadett E – equipped with an exhaust gas catalytic converter – also proved its worth in the everyday life of helpers from 1984 onwards. In daily use, the individual emergency service vehicles travel more than 350,000 kilometers annually. Reason enough to switch vehicle procurement from purchase to leasing in the early 1990s when the Astra F was put into service. Today, over 2,000 roadside assistance vehicles from around 600 AvD partner companies nationwide guarantee fast, comprehensive assistance. Seven days a week, around the clock.
Sport in the genes
But the history doesn’t just cover seven decades of traffic assistance – it goes back much further: The AvD began its history 125 years ago, first as the German (DAC) and later the Imperial Automobile Club (KAC). But why was such an association founded in Germany in 1899? In any case, a year before the turn of the century, “self-drivers” were hardly ever on public roads. At this point in time, Opel had only manufactured eleven “System Lutzmann” patent motor cars in Rüsselsheim. The trigger is rather the fascination with motorsport. These are publishing houses that announce racing events at the time. Your calculation that reporting on the spectacular races will increase circulation is working. What is missing are regulations for these races. This is where the newly founded automobile clubs come into play.
And again and again Kadett: The Kadett C, designed as a “world car”, entered its AvD service in the second half of the 1970s – also in the caravan version.
Set in red and white: While the drivers wore white overalls in the early years, they changed into red outfits in 1970 with the launch of the Kadett B Caravan.
Clearly designed body with plenty of loading space: there is space for tools, spare parts, spare canisters and locking utensils for quick help at the scene of a breakdown or accident.
Photo shoot at Frankfurt Airport: In the background there is a Boeing 747, in front of it 100 new Kadett B Caravans – the AvD is significantly increasing its fleet for the 1972 Olympic year.
Family ties: In 1975 the next generation of cadets was handed over. You can see in the photo: the then AvD managing director Hans-Jürgen Linden, the father of Lutz Leif Linden.
The “cultivation of sport” is also the first goal of the DAC, which was founded in Berlin. In 1904 the club was able to host the 5th Gordon Bennett Cup – it was the first international race on German soil. Drivers from seven nations race through the Taunus, a million spectators line the circuit. Also present: Fritz Opel; he starts with a 100 hp four-cylinder racing car. This international performance comparison with three racing cars per nation is considered the birth of Grand Prix motorsport. And so the AvD is also one of the 13 co-founders of the FIA, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, the governing body of global motorsport. Today, the AvD is still an active organizer of motorsport events such as the German Grand Prix, the AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix, the Saxony Rally and the AvD Histo Tour.
From IAA to driving license
But the AvD also actively promoted and shaped many things that are taken for granted today in the early phase of automobiles: the club helped launch the first motor insurance, ran one of the first driving schools in Berlin, helped develop the forerunner of the driving license and established it in 1904 the first international automobile exhibition, or IAA for short, in Frankfurt. “The AvD is not just any club,” emphasizes Lutz Leif Linden. The Automobile Club of Germany has long been a modern service provider that not only meets the requirements of its members. “We also meet the needs of industrial customers, we work politically, get involved in important committees and do lobbying work.” This means that the club also plays an important role in transport and tax policy.
And of course, today no one has to hope to see a red-and-white broken-down vehicle patrolling in their rearview mirror. The 1.4 million AvD members can use the app to send their current location, the cause of the breakdown and information about the vehicle to request help. And so it still applies today: “Not a sound, not a sound – we’re coming.”
Lots of space, robust, well motorized: the Opel Rekord, which entered the AvD fleet in the 1980s, is a whole class above the Kadett.
For the employees of the traffic assistance service, the three-door Rekord Caravan offers increased comfort, loading space and payload.
November 2024
Photos: Automobile Club of Germany