This year’s Ennstal Classic, sponsored by Tele Ring, ran from July 27th – 30th. Start and finish were, as usual, located in Gröbming, a small, picturesque town in the middle of Austria with a population of 2,500 and a very charming mayor!

The Ennstal Classic has humble beginnings. Starting with 35 cars in 1993, it has grown into a world-wide legend in just ten years. This year there were 180 cars split in four groups: 1924-1934, 1935-1949, 1951-1960 and 1962-1972. The oldest car was a 1926 Sunbeam and the newest included a Porsche, three Ferraris, a Renault Gordini R12, a Jaguar E-type and a VW Beetle! Whilst the organization of this event itself is a huge challenge, it also means a lot of effort by the participants before the cars even get to the start. Most of the cars were entered from Austria or Germany, but there were entrants from England, USA and Argentina and many were celebrities like Sir Stirling and Lady Susie Moss, John Surtees, Emerson Fittipaldi, Gerhard Berger, Christian Klien, Jochen Mass, Mike Thackwell (with an awesome Chrysler 300), Franz Wurz and Rauno Aaltonen... and this year’s special guest was Rowan Atkinson who drove his Jaguar Mark VII with John Foster as a co-driver. As a Ferrari enthusiast I certainly couldn’t complain. Last year, there were six or so Ferraris and this year, 18 were entered and 17 started.

I was taking pictures at the hairpin and it proved a popular place to spin! I’ll never forget thesights and sounds as the more powerful cars roared up the hill. There also were some “normal” cars like a Morris Mini Cooper (no…, not with Rowan Atkinson behind the wheel) and the VW Beetle (not Herbie) .

The day’s tour was over 570 km long and at the first stop at the Sölkpass (1,798 metres) I met another photographer and friends. We were expecting some nice weather, but here in the mountains of Austria you can expect all kinds of weather from bright sunshine to heavy rain, fog, snow etc. “Upstairs” it was very, very cold but the sun was shining and in the valleys it became very warm. We photographed all of the cars and then had to search for a new spot somewhere along the track, but not before a very good home-made Austrian lunch (Brettel Jause) which is all kinds of meat and bread. Next we drove to Rottenmann region and found a nice place to wait for the cars. There too we waited until the last car had passed before we returned to Gröbming for a big dinner. It was by now 21:30. You see how we poor photographers have to work to get these pictures for your website!

[roll mouse over pics for names of personalities]

After the demonstration of the classic racers, the final of the Ennstal Classic started at approx. 13:30. It meant that all the cars were lined up from the main street all the way back to the outskirts of the village, which was completely closed for all traffic that afternoon. After the start the cars turned right between safety fences on both side of the road. There were some curves to be taken and I must say, many drivers were drifting their cars like they were on a race track – of course everybody loved it and they were applauded enthusiastically . Then the cars turned sharp left and passed by the first timing checkpoint, round a roundabout and into the centre of Gröbming in the direction of the church. Afterwards many a participant drank a beer and ate a “Käse Krainer mit Semmel” or “Bratwürstel mit Sauerkraut” on a terrace just beside the road – protected behind a fence though (are those sandwiches dangerous - Ed?)

At approx. 16:00 the last car finished and the points were counted. The result after three days of fun and excitement:-

So another win for Ferrari, to add to all the GPs and GT races!

The excellently organized Ennstal Classic had nearly come to an end and for me it time to put away my photo-equipment. We had decided to stay until Sunday and that was a very good plan indeed! We ended the day with an outstanding dinner and started the evening with a cool glass of beer together with some friends. I was drained and totally exhausted, but it certainly was worth it. I began my night’s sleep thinking of the Daytona coming back down the Stöderzinken, preceded by some SWBs and I soon drifted off with a smile on my face.

© Henk J. Brouwer - 2004

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