Grass-side Classics: Outside and Inside an Austrian Racetrack

Back in September 2014, I returned to one of my more favorite classic-car racing venues, the lovely Salzburgring racetrack (wanna guess near which city is it situated?). Granted, I have not been to every racetrack in existence, but the Salz has to be one of the most beautiful “neutral” racetracks (i.e., following the contours of the terrain), laying in a valley between rolling hills, in the mountains above Salzburg.

 

Well I mean, just look at this:

I first got acquainted to Salzburgring more than twenty years ago, in 1994, and returned again one year later. This racing event for classic Touring and Sports-cars is still being run in September of each year, and in 2014, I attended two days, and had a world of fun. I will not get into the actual racing and race cars that were there, as although classic, this is not really CC stuff. However, you can get most info here, these are the series’ organizers.

So, heading to the designated car park on a grass field above the track, Some familiar German shapes appeared:

If I’m not mistaken, this is one of the early Bugs.

 

Moving on to Italy, there was this pristine Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16v…

… And this Alfa Romeo Giulia Nuova Super.

Heading down the hill and towards the racetrack entrance, eventually you passed under the track itself in the form of this tunnel:

Note the stream on the right- it cuts across the entire valley and further ahead flows under the pits.

Inside was this large parking / gathering area, where you could view some interesting classics, like this Mk 3 Capri.

As was this lovely MK 1 Escort.

And here’s another, parked next to it. What’s that behind them?

A Fiesta of course, complete with XR2 wheels. All these Fords looked much younger than their actual years.

Moving further in, some timeless classics could be seen.

Hang on, what’s this? A very small NSU Topolino Roadster. It heralded the appearance of multiple Puchs…:

Apparently, the “Steyr Puch Club Salzburg” were on hand with a colorful display. Most, if not all versions of Puchs were present, as you can see in this photo and below.

This powder-blue example suffered some mechanical breakdown:

Nothing too terminal. If any of you are interested, I recommend reading this comprehensive post Paul did on this little car, the Puch 500.

Here’s one last photo from that area, of an old Mercedes-Benz L 319

I moved into the Paddock area, where various racing activities could be seen. By the way, this E36 BMW was winner of its class during that day.

Another future- or is it already present(?)- classic.

Not sure about that rear wing. Hmm…

Anyone hungry?

Yet another drop-top Bug. Love the wheels.

This Camaro was very impressive indeed.

Further down the Paddock, more race-work could be witnessed. It all felt home-like, very non-official.

I know I said no race-cars, but this one caught my eye; it’s a replica, or more fittingly, a tribute to Jerry Titus’ 1970 Trans-Am, done by Roger Bolliger, and is gorgeous.

This Volvo V60 D3 is  probably one of my most favorite new cars on the market. As you can see, it was one of the designated Safety Cars of the day.

Here it is again, leading the 1990s GTs’ grid out of the pits.

This RAM 1500 was also seen in the pits area. While it may not be scarce in the US, it’s by no means common in Europe.

Back to classics; This E21 Alpina B6 was truly rare- I can’t remember ever seeing one before.

The whole event was sponsored by Bosch, who appeared with their Renndienst Mercedes bus. You could enter and be impressed with all manner of Bosch products. Note the event’s podium is right next to it.

It always amazes me how dogs can detach themselves from the environment and just sleep throughout anything- including roaring racing cars screaming past.

This i8 was very new back in 2014, and came to the event as a show / parade car.

The event’s first day has ended, and I returned to the parked car on the grass field, to find yet more classics previously not present:

The BIG Opel Monza was really special, and a great “find”. I think the last time I saw one was twenty five years ago in the UK, and it had a Vauxhall badge attached to it.

And of course, the little X1/9.

The next day, I arrived early enough to find some fine supercars in the gathering area:

Next to which was this MK 1 Golf, complete with, shall we say, personal touch… That grill with quad rectangular headlights reminds me of the old Kamei body kits. These used to be very popular with Golf owners.

Further inside the Paddock, there were two C3 Corvettes. One convertible;

And one coupe…

… complete with an Elvis guardian angel hanging from the rear view mirror.

Doesn’t look much, does it? Just a T3 with wide wheels. But those wheels are hiding Porsche brakes.

And in the Engine bay, you’ll see this.

Perhaps the most interesting car on the day was this very genuine BMW 328 Roadster.

It was faultless.

Why are these sheep prancing around the edges of the track? Is this some kind of joke?

Actually, they had a very serious job; mow the grass. I mean, imagine using a lawn-mower up these slopes. Oh, and notice there’s always a black sheep in the family.

The day was drawing to a close, and I was starting to drift towards the exit of the track. on my way, some more classics were reviled:

A somewhat w-i-d-e Corvette. I’ve never seen this body kit before.

A very rare Matra Murena, on which you can read Roger Carr’s post here.

Some more American Muscle for you pleasure.

All and all, the event was great. I cannot convey enough just how I enjoyed that weekend. Of course, If you’re interested to view (a lot) more photos from this event, you can click here and see the race-cars also. Here’s a briff video from the pits:

 

I will leave you with another photo of that Bolliger / Titus’ Firebird tribute car, this time in action: