Düsseldorf, 5th - 7th of August, 2022

Over the last two years a lot of events were cancelled and they had to find a way to keep their sponsors and getting set up the event this year. Some of them struggled more than others but the Classic Days even had more challenges to master as they lost their original event location, the Castle Dyck near Neuss. For many years the picturesque water castle was a perfect backdrop for the German garden party with the Orangery for the concours, an alley for a recognizable round course and the gardens for the camping and pick-nick. When we went to the first Classic Days the garden were just refurbished for the Bundesgartenschau but the castle was still in a sorry state. Over the years the foundation was able to resurrect the historical buildings and the proceeds of the Classic Days certainly helped. But the more “finished” the project was the more tension arose between the foundation and the organizers of the Classic Days apparently as the name Schloß Dyck already disappeared from the Classic Days a few years before showing that a divorce seemed inevitable.

So, this year it finally happened, the Classic Days moved to the Green Park in Düsseldorf as an agreement could not be found between the two parties. We went up to Düsseldorf on Friday with suspense as we did not know what to expect. First the parking of the trade fair center in Düsseldorf did not sound to appealing but to every-bodies surprise the location was far better than expected. First of all, the parking did not really look like a parking as it is mainly grass and there are a lot of tries making this optical less wide than it actually is. Plenty of room did not only allow the single exhibition themes to be well presented but also to solve the lasting parking problem the old venue always had. Located at the Arena and the exhibition center the park also had the advantage to be reachable by public transport and this was certainly well used by the public. To be near to the city most likely attracted a lot of people who might not have taken the journey to Dyck in the past.

We mentioned the Concours earlier. Part of the Classic Days was always a concours in the Orangery, a place just made for this sort of events. Unfortunately, the Concours lost a lot of its appearance at the new venue as the cars were simply parked in the middle of the others without a real separation to show that they are an own program part. At the end the concours did not really happen as there was no jury and no prices given for the cars. This might have been a lost opportunity as those owners might not be back in the future so unfortunately it is likely that the concours might not be part of the event any more over the next years.

Friday was the opening day when the participants of the different classes arrived. As in the past the key activities were the racing legends with different classes of cars and bikes on the round course ranging from vintage race and sports cars, bike and 1950 racers to the special runs from the Autostadt of VW or the Mercedes run as those again were the sponsoring car manufacturers of the event. Highlights on the track were the reconstruction of the Avus winning Mercedes-Benz SSK driven originally by von Brauchitsch, the huge Isotta Fraschini that already graced the vintage races at Goodwood, the Porsche 917 formerly built by David Piper largely from original parts as well as a Ferrari 512 BBLM. This car was just sold from the Guikas collection and is a proper Le Mans veteran with proven race history. Furthermore, the Benjafield Racing Club again made his way down from the UK in the numerous Cricklewood Bentleys.

On the static side there are always the cars from the German Wirtschaftswunder from the 1950s that attract a lot of people as people have a strong connection and memories of these cars, much more than to a lot of the exotics seen elsewhere. The Charme&Style area once again showcased people that added to the appearance of their car by being dressed up and setting up lovely pick-nick tables matching the period of their vehicle. Apart from the Concours they might have suffered the most from the location change as they were usually in a lovely spot in the back of the park.

The historic camping shows the holiday transport of the time when people drove down to Italy in their first caravan and now, they are a great way to spend the days on the festival area.

But there were plenty of other highlights to be seen and to be enjoyed by the families and fans. First there is always the Stars&Stripes area for American cars. One has to say that most of the time the American car owners are on their own when organizing events, rarely do they mix with the British, German or Italian car community as their approach to the car is a little bit different. Normally it is not only the Ford or Chevy that attracts them but more the entire life style of petticoat and Rock’n roll. Unfortunately, Germany is very strict concerning the Gema fees for music and with this number of spectators the fees are getting unreasonable making it almost impossible to play music on the festival unless one finds a band playing own songs without the fees. Many Rock’n roll bands are cover bands though and so the park remained quiet apart from the frequent planes starting from the nearby airport bringing people into holiday.

Another feature was the meeting of the DeLorean. These stainless-steel bodied cars became very popular by the movie series “Back to the Future” and after having seen one of the movie cars a few years ago in Dyck this time numerous of the “normal” versions very on display, although some of them certainly had a reference to the movies.

Festivals are not only about cars but also about the people and the atmosphere. There are always known drivers at the Classic Days and both Jochen Mass and Derek Bell can be certainly called friends of the event as they visited several time in the past.

But apart from that there was also plenty to do that day, especially for the kids. With a historic bumper car arena, a puppet theatre or a bobby car race for the young visitors this was also a family event having a good time on the weekend. Furthermore, there seemed to be more and different food and drink places around with several cocktail lounges or coffee places that allowed for a short-relaxed break in the shadow of the trees.

So, what would be the conclusion of the Classic Days and the new venue. The Green Park both has restrictions and also provides new opportunities. With the castle as a background the Classic Days always had a little bit of a noble character but probably the new venue seems to be a little bit closer to the people. The driving round course is easier to access and despite having more space the paths are shorter. The venue seems to be more family friendly and so I think this will be the character for the future. We certainly hope that it will be also a success on the financial side as it would be a shame if we lose one of the last German classic car events that attracts people even from further away.

Report & images ... Peter Singhof
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de