RETROSPECTIVE // Berg Cup Road Trip 2009
Nine years ago we downed tools and drove to Luxembourg on the basis of an article in Retro Cars. Here's the condensed story and a monster gallery...
Back in the days when Retro Cars was revived by Simon Jackson & Co, we used to pounce on every fresh new copy, perving over the latest feature cars and marvelling that a publication existed that felt like it could have been put together just for us. Packed with obscure cars, heretic engine swaps and purist defying modifications, Retro Cars was a snapshot of the retro underworld where incredible builds were lurking in lockups and units waiting to confuse, disgust and delight people with their unorthodox mods and beautiful butchery!
In addition to these features there were plenty of tales of obscure meets and once in a lifetime trips and it was from one of these that we were inspired to book a ferry and a cheap, pokey hotel room and head over to our nearest European tax haven for a weekend of automotive leering.
Aside from a dodgy starter motor on the Beetle and a touch of oil starvation on the Mazda, both cars got us there and back without (further) incident and we spent a beautiful weekend walking the streets of the small mountain town of Eschdorf, perving at an array of race-ready beasts parked up on peoples driveways and tucked away under gazebos down little cobbled side streets.
As for the racing, well, standing on a hillside with breathtaking views of the local 'hills' while a Delta S4 rapes the peaceful mountain air with the sound of whining and spooling is a memory I can still vividly conjure up, even after all this time.
If you get the chance to make a trip to the continent for some hillclimbing action, take it. We've got some incredible events in this country that are no less fun, but there's more to an event than just the moment and sometimes it's the journey either end that makes that moment a cherished memory.
Tony