From 19 to 22 July 2023, the Schladming – Dachstein – Gröbming region, in short, the Enns Valley, will belong to classic cars and their fans as it does every year. The starting field has been fixed since the first of April. And it shines with some prominent participants.
Reduce to the Max: A well-known slogan that usually stands for more quality and less mass. For the Ennstal-Classic, too, a small cut was indicated in order to guarantee the proven high quality standards in route design and driving experience: The field of participants for the Ennstal-Classic 2023 will be limited to a maximum of 200 vehicles.
A starting field that is well worth seeing. In addition to regular guests and friends of the house, there will again be some premiere guests who will present their wonderful old sheet metal to one of the most beautiful regions of Austria for the first time. And, as every year, some well-known names may not be missing either. Such as:
Hans-Joachim “Strietzel” Stuck – racing legend
Richard Lietz – Le Mans crack
Wolfgang Porsche – Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Porsche AG
Sigi Wolf – industrialist and owner of Steyr Automotive
Peter Schöggl – AVL List GmbH
Helmut Eichlseder – Director of the Institute for Combustion Engines at Graz University of Technology
Toni Mörwald – top chef
Hans Peter Spak – owner of Mothwurf Austrian Couture
Jo Ramirez – Ex-McLaren racing director
Dieter Quester – racing legend
David Brabham – ex-F1 driver and son of three-time world champion Jack Brabham
There are also quite a few celebrities entered among the cars. The oldest car in the field and thus the bearer of start number 1 dates back to 1924, is a Bentley 3/4.5 Litre Speed Model and will be driven by Teddy and Joseph Jöbstl. A total of 38 cars come from the first two pre-war eras, the most densely populated being, as usual, the eras from 1960 onwards.
Poster for the event by Klaus Wagger!
Representatives of the three major themes of the Ennstal-Classic also adorn the official poster of the Ennstal-Classic 2023. Artfully interwoven by poster artist Klaus Wagger, the dynamic poster presents the following:
The famous Porsche 356 with the serial number 1, the so-called “Gmünd-Porsche”, which is known to be owned by the company and is also regularly exported, symbolises the 75th birthday of the brand.
The Ferrari 330 America has often been driven in the starting field of the Ennstal-Classic and stands for the integration of the legendary sports car brand into the racing action.
Finally, the red Aston Martin from the pre-war era gives an artistic foretaste of the exhibition on Saturday in Gröbming.
The artist Klaus Wagger comes from Tyrol, grew up in those days when young savages like Gerhard Berger or Karl Wendlinger were “martyring” their first fast cars in the neighbourhood, so he got a certain affinity for racing cars virtually through his mother’s milk. So the move was not unexpected when the trained industrial designer began to portray cars with talented brushstrokes, usually in full swing and correspondingly dynamic. He has long been no stranger to car and classic car circles, and his posters for selected racing events (such as: Daytona 500, Mille Miglia, Retromobile / Paris, Goodwood Revival, Techno Classica, etc.) have long represented collector’s value among connoisseurs, and the poster for the Ennstal-Classic 2023 will easily join this ranks.