How did we feel? Well, we guess we have to start with expectations. The Classic Days at Schloss Dyck were certainly something very special in the beginning, on the way to the "little German Goodwood" - of course initially without tradition.
For the Germans - the majority of the visitors came from Germany, of course - it was an experience, the grounds, the park, the castle, the old cars, the many clubs, the ambience offered a lot to eyes and ears, whether you were an automobile enthusiast or not.
What you have to point out repeatedly, and we experienced it ourselves, was the blatant organizational deficiencies when those who brought their vehicles with them arrived - a problem that got bigger rather than smaller over time.
In our opinion, however, over the years the changes always had a negative effect: “Jewels in the Park” replaced the premium segment of the vehicles on display as a closed parallel event. Access to the Schlossinsel with the "Second Best" was only limited, the organizers' perception of their own event became more and more exaggerated, in the end the Schloß Dyck Classic Days was a bad parody of itself.
And now, Düsseldorf... The long-standing visitor rubs his eyes in amazement and wonders, even if not everything was gold at the castle, why both the organizer and the castle operators gave up and could not agree on a further common path. We have our opinion, which can be explained by the previous paragraph.
So, Düsseldorf... exhibition center car park... close to the airport... how to get there? Easier, of course, it leads directly off the Autobahn and a trade fair is definitely prepared for the onslaught of larger streams of visitors, but there is a different way of keeping things clear. Missed the first little hint where the reserved terrain for Ferraris is and you're driving a lap of honor around the whole area.
Done and parked. A first look at the co-parkers. Well... not much and without the nice colleagues from RedonTour nothing would work anyway. 22 cars on Saturday, 34 all weekend - almost half of what used to be found at the castle. Gems? They were few and far off the Classic Days numbers, see reason above, but, at this event, Mr. Stahl brought an F430 GTC and the Bellancauto BBLM, Horst Lichter shone with his apparently newly acquired 330 GTC in Azzuro metallizzato (by the way, the only car whose number is unknown as yet, there are conjectures, but as long as they are not confirmed...) AutoSL brought the Daytona from stock in the Classic Remise. The rest had to be found in the field. It was the same in Dyck, but much more spacious and natural, one should not misjudge that, with more atmosphere.
So what remains of the first Classic Days off the Schloß? Significant potential for growth, the organizers have certainly moved closer to the visitors again, but it's not the same yet. The solution? Reach an agreement with the Schloß, transfer the friendly humility of the Düsseldorf event to Dyck and move on. And if it stays in Düsseldorf? Well, we'll go there because it's nearby and because we want to see where it's going.
The "Saturday 22" are in our Slide Show for you today.
part 1 - Classic Days far from the Schloß!