[Jeroen]

Last weekend saw the 49th edition of the AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nurburgring in Germany.

From their website:

https://oldtimergrandprix.com/en/info-data/

The AvD-Oldtimer-Grand-Prix is the most traditional racing festival of historic motorsport in Central Europe and Scandinavia. Hundreds of historic racing cars line up in numerous starting fields at the Nürburgring. Pre-war sports cars can be seen as well as formula cars from different eras.
The international races of the Masters Racing Legends with the fastest single-seaters in Formula 1 such as March, Tyrrell, Lotus or Brabham and Hesketh are particularly popular.
With the HGPCA Formula I runs up to 1965, which includes classics like Fangio’s Maserati 250 F, the Ferrari Dino and whole packs of Coopers, Brabham, Lola and Lotus, as well as the extremely fast HSCC Formula II and the popular Formula Junior of the ‘Lurani Trophy” there will be 4 runs with fast monoposti every day.
There are also the Masters Sports Car Legends, whose classes are named after winners such as Bonnier, Hulme, Rodriguez, Stommelen or Siffert and contest an exciting 1-hour race.

The Gentlemen Drivers, which are open to drivers of the most important sports cars, offer an exciting GT field with Porsche, Jaguar, TVR or Cobra, as well as a race of the classic touring cars of the Gentle Drivers Trophy.

With the Aston Martin Masters Endurance Legends, other long-distance protagonists from the past that were built after 2000 and which also include the LMP2, various prototype classes and the GT1 and GT2 will be presented to the public, because as in previous years it is mid-August a big accent on the sports car and GT.

Here the alphabet of racing history ranges from the early Alfa, Maserati, Porsche 365 and the fast Lotus to the Ferrari F40 and mid-engine cars from the FCD Ferrari Racing Series and the Group C Classics with the spectacular Group C cars. But not only these ensure action. More than two dozen races in 15 racing classes and demo runs are on the program.

A special highlight is again the run for racing sports cars and GT up to 1965 with the popular evening race on Saturday, August 13, 2022.
Particularly worth mentioning are the DTM Classic Cup and the runs for vehicles from the former DRM, German Racing Championship, as the forerunner of the later DTM. Here the glory days of the “Golden Era” – the late 1980s to the early 1990s – come to life again.
The fact that the Oldtimer Grand Prix is ​​a real racing event is also shown by the four series of the FHR, which compete for important championship points – these include:

The Dunlop Gentlemen Drivers ’65,
The HTGT series for the Dunlop Trophy with the historic touring cars,
The Dunlop Historic Endurance Cup and
The CanAm & Sportscars with the strongest and fastest prototypes of the race weekend.
In all runs, things really get down to business on the track – almost like when the racers and their drivers were at their best. Only the Vintage and Sportscar Trophy, with the involvement of the traditional ASC and taking into account the technology of the pre-war cars, drives again according to a regularity mode, which nevertheless allows for exciting comparisons, because most drivers are on the limit with particularly precise lap times.

The way to the paddock is also worthwhile – if the current Corona development allows it – because there is one attraction after another and motorsport to touch. In the old paddock are the boxes for the pre-war cars, in the new paddock the series and many tents with classics and accessories. Special exhibitions and many other highlights are waiting to be discovered. In addition, numerous prominent guests and former race winners can also be met for an autograph at the classic car GP.

Whether you came to hunt for autographs, to take a photo safari or just to enjoy the most beautiful racing cars from the last decades – fans of all ages will find what they are looking for here. Young visitors in particular are particularly welcome. Admission is free for children and young people up to the age of 17 when accompanied by an adult.

For all those who cannot come to the Eifel in person, the highlight of the classics will be made available professionally as a live stream on the Internet.

I have been going to this fantastic event since the mid 90s. In those days the Dutch Alfa Romeo Spider Register used to have it on its official touring agenda. We would gather at the home of one of our members in the south of the Netherlands early Friday morning. He and his wife would serve us coffee and traditional “Limburgse blaak” a sort of local cake. Then we would set off and drive across Limburg into the Eiffel area. A very nice drive, usually some 12-15 Spiders. We would camp at the Nurburgring campsite for two nights. Great fun. My son Luc would come along with me, he was about 10-12 years old at the time. Nice memories.

This event is still going strong, although it as all event was impacted by Corona.

Its about a 300 kilometre drive from where we live currently. I decided to leave on the Friday afternoon. Took the Jaguar and drove south east. Mostly along motorways for the first two hours. The last hour is a gorgeous drive across the Eiffel, nice winding roads. I had booked a small hotel room in Dahlem, a tiny village about 40 minutes drive from the ring. You can’t find a room any nearer to the ring, it is all fully booked months in advance. I had a little stroll and went for a very nice German dinner afterwards.

The next day, Saturday, I had breakfast at 08.00am and by 09.00am parked at the ring. Always very well organised, huge parking lots in all the nearby fields.

I must admit I am not all that much into racing as such. But this event is not just about the racing. A ticket will give you entrance to nearly all the grandstands along the circuit, but also to the paddocks. And as far as I am concerned that is the most interesting part. You can roam around freely, talk to the drivers, mechanics.



In my teenage years I was a bit more interested in (F1) racing than currently. I noticed this car, known as the JPS, John Player Special. It was raced by legend Nigel Manssell.



Apart from oldtimer racing you will find just about anything related to classic and oldtimer cars on the paddocks. From club stands to classic car restorers, market stall selling carmobilia, food etc.

Ferrari is always out in force here. I do like most Ferrari’s but I must admit the Dino always stands out for me. Absolutely stunning little car!



Mind you, this ain’t bad either!!



Whilst one race is ongoing, they will be preparing the next race. At the far end of the paddocks they have a sort of staging area. Cars will be lined up prior to going onto the circuit. It is one of the busiest places here, cars coming and going. Mechanics doing some last minute preparation / adjustment. I can watch it all for hours.





All very relaxed and pleasant. So much to see!

Brabus Classic has a large presence here as well. Those of you who have followed my posts over the years know I am particularly fond of the Mercedes Pagoda.



This is a 1969, 280 version. I love the dark blue body! This one has matching chassis/engine numbers in accordance with the original MB data card. It comes with a 2 year full warranty. It has been painstakingly restored. Everything has been taken apart, fully restored or replaced by new original MB parts. It does come at a price though. It costs a whopping Euro 329.000,-- That is the price of a decent home!

Brabus does quite a bit in classic cars these days. I visited one of their dealerships in Dusseldorf last year. Got to learn a lot about them. Very impressive what they do.



You can find just about anything (classic) car related at this event. How about some special “oldtimer” socks for instance?



You will also be able to find and admire some pretty special cars. How about a Jaguar XJ220?



Or, still one of my favourite, the Ford GT40. This is of course the modern version of that legendary car. Jeremy Clarksson owned one. It features in one of their European road trips.





And now for something quite special. As far as I could tell the most expensive car on display and for sale for a mere 1.6 million Euro! 1954 Mercedes Gullwing 300 SL.



I was too late for this Porsche 356, already reserved, about 700K Euro.



On the whole I am not that interest in BMW, be it new ones, or even classic ones. Even so, this was a magnificent one, absolutely perfect.



Back to some of the racing. Endless of these tents where teams prepare their cars. I am always amazed how much work these car needs on the circuit prior to or after the race.



There are at least a dozen or so grandstands to which a general ticket will give you access, all along the circuit. This is always a popular spot, with a good view of the chicane.



Now here is something I had never ever seen or heard of before. How about a watch, with a face made out of piece of Nurburgring asphalt?



I had a little chat with the guy. It is a limited edition, 5000 pieces. Cost Euro 5500 each!.



At the rear is an image with the circuit lay out. If you look very closely you will see a red dot. That is the position where the asphalt came from!



At the far end of the circuit these is an area known as "Historisches Fahrerlager” which means as much as historic pits. It is one of my favourite area on the circuit. They have a permanent collection of some of the most epic historical racing cars. The owners rent a garage box and keep their cars in it.





They dont make racing cars like these anymore.

[Jeroen]

Listen to this! this is how an F1 engine should sound!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCCY3sBBM98

At this historic pits area there is also a nice little museum:





An interesting collection of all kinds of carmobilia.



Some very interesting old Bosch measuring equipment. Puts my little collection to shame. I have been on the lookout for an original Bosch L-Jetronic tester for as long as I have had my Spider. Never ever come across one.



From an era where petrol pumps were true pieces of art!



Would love to have something like this ‘oil station’ in my garage.





look at some of the details on these old classic racing cars. Yes a modern F1 cars is the epitome of high tech. But this looks so much better!!









Nice little Riley.



Of course, when there is a gathering of classic racing cars in Germany you will always see of few of these!



A lot of spannering going on here as well.



I dont think this came factory fitted? An old MG with a super charger!



Back to the race staging area again. I keep coming back to this place multiple times during the day. Every half hour another set of cars will be gathering here for their respective race.



What do you do when you go faster. you bolt on a turbo, if you want to go even faster than that, you just bolt on another turbo.





Brand new Ferrari. Must be owned by a drug dealer or some Youtube influencer.



Lotus was out here with its full collection of current cars. Here the Evija. How does 1470kW sound. Will get you 0-300 km/h in 9.1s!



Or how about this Lotus Elitre. A mere 905HP, but still pretty fast. 0-100km/h in 2.9s.



The Lotus Emira. Probably positioned as the poor mans Lotus with just 298kW and a 4.3s 0-100km/h.



Also a very special Lotus Esprit on display. This is the so called Collin Chapman Esprit S2. Build ini 1979 only two were made in this particular version.



Lots of books for sale as well. You can say what you want about the Germans. But when it comes to engineering and publishing technical documents and books they are extremely thorough. I can read German, but I must admit, much prefer English. Some very interesting books!!

[Jeroen]

For as long as I can remember, this guy is present every year, selling “classic"watches with some car theme. Some of them are quite nice.



During the day, various award ceremonies for the winners of the different races / categories.



Endless preparation ongoing all day.







Classic car racing is considered to be an amateur sport. Be that as it may, it takes serious money and recourse. Look at some of these trucks. Most of these are dedicated and completely kitted out for moving and supporting these cars all around Europe.



Another well known name in racing, Andretti



The Ferrari club is always out in force. In previous year I have seen them attending with hundreds of cars. This year there was a little less space, so fewer member Ferrari’s. Still makes quite the sight!





The chances of spotting a Maserati in real anywhere in the world anywhere are next to zilch. I maintain that Maserati is not a real brand, but a PR stunt. However, the few cars that do exist come to the ring every year!!





The famous Mercedes Grandstand. You won’t be able to get in it with your general ticket. You will need to shell out for a VIP arrangement. Mind you, the general ticket for the Saturday is already Euro 59 (INR4800) plus another euro 10 (INR800) for parking.



Alfa Romeo’s a plenty here. Both on the track, the paddocks but also in the areas around the circuit and parking places. There are probably 1000-1500 cars inside the paddock area. But there are thousands and thousands of classic and special cars scattered all over the parking places. You could easily spend the day looking at parked cars.



Some royalty participating!!



More classic cars. Notice how everybody is free to roam around, take images etc.



I just happened to notice this Audi 80 parked here. My dad had one, same colour, although ours was a 4-door I recall. This one was an automatic too. At the time these were very nice luxurious cars. My dad liked his Audi and got a Audi 100 as a next one.



Skoda has always been a popular brand in Germany. And you would be surprised how many people really enjoy their classic Skoda’s.



Whenever you find yourself at any event in Germany you can be assured of two simple things. There will be excellent toilet facilities, kept spotless during the day. And there will be lots of places to sit down and eat and drink a bit. Always very typical German, very simple food, not too much choice. The Germans are also very big on sustainability and cleaning up afterwards. So you will get these special cups. No throwaway plastic cups. You pay a Euro 2 deposit on the cup. I always keep mine and take it home with me.



These days at every car event you will find a couple of these; full motion racing simulators.



This being Germany, there are a lot of Porsches about, obviously. This, believe it or not is also a Porsche. It did not race though.



Porsche has used these tractors in a commercial a couple of years ago. Have a look, nicely done

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8-9oIq1hxw

Some more spannering ongoing on a Mercedes Gullwing. Yes, a well restored one will go for 1.6 million Euro. But here you will see it being raced and it is known to have crashed too.



Not quite sure from which era this F1 cars is, but it has already that horrible very high pitch engine sound.



At around 15.00 hours I left the paddocks. I took a stroll through the main entrance building of the ring. These days they have a museum there and a lot of shops. During these Classic Grand Prix days they also have a market where they sell mostly model cars, books, posters and some tools.





Over the almost thirty years I have been coming to this event I have seen a lot of changes. Mainly to the entrance and some other infrastructure of the circuit. These massive buildings and hotels simply did not exist twenty years ago. The market was simply next to the main road passing in front of the circuit.

What has not changed is the unique atmosphere during this event. People drive up in classic cars. So all roads in the Eiffel leading to the circuit are packed with classic cars. It has always been extremely well organised, but very relaxed. Providing the visitors with maximum access to everything on and near the track has always been the theme, which lots to see and do.

I wrote about an earlier visit, 2016.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/intl-...g-germany.html (Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, Germany)

You will see it has remained very similar. (Although in those days I took much better photographs!)

Jeroen

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Maky]

Thank you very very much for sharing these lovely images Jeroen!

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Not quite sure from which era this F1 cars is, but it has already that horrible very high pitch engine sound.

Attachment 2346406

and what you mean to say is *very high pitch audible pleasure sound : ()

This should be an early 1980's era McLaren perhaps the MP4/1, in which case I believe also the start of the magnificent Ron Dennis at the helm.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Maky

and what you mean to say is *very high pitch audible pleasure sound : ()

Obviously it is all in the eyes of the beholder, or should I say ears?

Originally Posted by Maky

This should be an early 1980's era McLaren perhaps the MP4/1, in which case I believe also the start of the magnificent Ron Dennis at the helm.

Ron Denis was an absolute legend!

Jeroen

[arvindmanju]

Thanks Jerome. Very beautifully narrated, it feels like I was there in the event by reading your post. Throughly enjoyed reading it with the lovely pictures!