Helmut Zwickl Dies – Goodbye to the Icon of Ennstal-Classic

Mastermind & Philanthropist: The Ennstal Classic Family Lost Its Guiding Light Yesterday, and His Family at Home Lost a Husband, Father, and Grandfather.

In the early 1990s, Helmut Zwickl, a leading figure in Austrian automotive journalism, founded the Ennstal Classic with Michael Glöckner, turning Gröbming into an annual hotspot. Every summer, Europe’s classic car scene brings his spirit of “hands-on motorsport” to life for participants and spectators alike.

The stars who came as crowd-pullers, the sponsors who sought an emotional platform, and the volunteers who became essential pillars of the spectacle—all of them, by the evening of the awards ceremony, had become friends. Within the picture-book setting of the Ennstal Classic, surrounded by the scent of high-octane fuel, lead additives, and boiling oil, Helmut built a network that no lobbying agency could ever replicate.

Between reporting on Grand Prix races worldwide, aviation as a hobby, and family life, Helmut’s mind was always in the Ennstal, searching for new routes and challenges. The Ennstal Classic was never meant to be a floral parade. In 1997, he even brought the Planai Classic to life, challenging men, women, and machines in the vintage car scene.

The Zwickl brand was magnetic—it attracted everyone. After all, the myth that connects us in Austria with the names Rindt, Lauda, Berger & Co. bears Helmut’s signature. He penned hundreds of motorsport stories, writing the way people speak and answering the questions they truly cared about. A dozen Zwickl books adorn the libraries of motorsport history—timeless petrol compositions built on unparalleled expertise, seasoned with inimitable metaphors, and driven by an incredible passion for the subject.