The Ennstal-Classic is thriving in the middle of its fourth decade and the garage gold in the starting field is becoming more valuable from year to year. This is perhaps also due to the fact that the vehicles with the traditionally lowest starting numbers automatically produce three-digit age figures as time goes by.
For example, starting number 1, a Bentley 3 / 4.5 litre (chassis number 687) built in 1924, made famous by a legendary victory at Le Mans in the same year by the Canadian with Chinese roots, John Duff, and his established co-driver Frank Clement in an almost identical model of the Bentley 3. Duff was a daredevil adventurer who earned his first spurs on Fiat cars, but was a Bentley dealer in 1920, and because the factory no longer wanted to officially enter works cars in races, the British supported Duff’s ambitions with technology and personnel, which justifiably brought the brand and especially the Model 3 a lot of fame. Duff, the adventurer, later competed (and crashed) in Daytona, changed sports in the 1930s and became wealthy as a fencer until he died in a riding accident in 1958. The Bentley with starting number 1 at the Ennstal-Classic is driven by the Ennstal-tested duo Hermann and Joseph Jöbstl.
A Bugatti Type 30 will start the race with starting number 2. Also a vehicle with a racing history, as can be seen from the short chassis of the Type 23 (only 17 were built in this configuration), the model dates from the phase of the company in which Ettore Bugatti and his son Jean jointly managed the company. Initially delivered by Omina in Munich, the car is documented as having been used in various private races, before disappearing to Scandinavia and returning to Germany via Helmut Feierabend at the end of the 1960s. The Bugatti 30 set standards in that it was the first Bugatti with four-wheel brakes, and from this model onwards, only parts and components down to the smallest screw were used that were manufactured by Bugatti itself. In Ennstal, the car is driven by Walter Rothlauf and Michael Schineis.
Finally, starting number 3 belongs to the father-son team Lach in a Bentley 3 litre Speed Model from 1923! Jonas is the successful classic car influencer Jonny’s Garage.
The starting number 6 is worn by the same car as the winner of the 1930 Mille. Two years later, at the 1932 Mille Miglia, this car finished 10th with Giovanni Cortese at the wheel, and at the 1935 Targa Florio the wild Italian beat the Alfa to 7th place overall. Marco Marani and Luca Bergamaschi will be driving this car at the Ennstal-Classic.
Further highlights of the pre-war class. A Sunbeam GP car from 1932 (at the wheel: Johann and Gabi Kofler), four BMW 328s, one of which is traditionally driven by Dieter Quester and Otmar Schlager. Two Jaguar SS 100s (1938) will start, as will a Buick, an Auburn, a GAZ Volga and an AFM Type 47 with Roland Landerl and Marcel Amrhein at the wheel.
The Ennstal-Classic will be a real feast for classic car enthusiasts. All information can be found at www.ennstal-classic.at and on our social media channels.
