Drive My Car

After work today I wandered down to the end of my street to the Kurhaus, where they were having an antique car gathering. It's something called Wiesbaden's Older Timer (which is the German word for antique car) Rally. It was much different than any sort of antique car gathering in the States, but then again, this rally lasts the entire weekend, they drive them sort of in a parade, and I don't know what else.

Today was also a holiday in Germany, so for all I know the cars and their owners had been doing things all day. However, the owners weren't next to their cars, there was no one to ask questions, they weren't sitting in lawn chairs with Corvette leather coats, and chatting with other car owners. No, they were sitting drinking beer, wine, and champagne with other rich people.

Rich people looking rich and being rich.

As cool as some of these cars were, and as crazy as Germans generally are about their cars, they weren't as shiny or as fantastically clean as the old cars you see in the U.S. There were a lot of old Mercedes, a 1955 Astin Martin, a lot of Alpha Romeos, some Skodas, a Porshe, Jaquars, a few Rolls Royces, and one American car--a Cadilac. It was interesting to see the cars, because they were different--they weren't the roadsters, the T-birds, or the Model Ts you see in the U.S.. I had never seen an Astin Martin that I know of and the old Porshe was really cool. It seemed like the cars you see in old movies. Movies with rich people.

Old car, modern convenience--cord for an MP3 player.

The following car is the so-called ‘Aluminium Sculpture’, a 40/50 H.P. Phantom I Open Tourer from 1926. The first owner had been the Maharadscha of Nanpara in India. It's made of polished aluminum, 6 cylinder engline, and weighs 1, 815 lbs.