A celebration of motoring in Southern Germany  Words and images by Roman Klemm. Click to view Gallery.

The 31st ADAC Bavaria Historic, from 31 May to 2 June 2018; a 600km rally for historic cars, that was accompanied by Southern Germany’s biggest get-together of lovers and owners of veteran cars and motorcycles. Around Maxlrain Castle, not far from the spa town of Bad Aibling, more than 3,000 classic vehicles displayed the rich history of motoring.

The rally took in some picturesque scenery around the city of Rosenheim and onto to Kufstein in adjacent Austria, before winding its way back to the start in Bad Aibling. Its most prominent participants included former Le Mans racer His majesty Prince Leopold von Bayern, and female DRM icon Lili Reisenbichler.

A number of spectators were also able to enjoy some sporty drives; on a closed parking area near the castle, winners of a draw were invited to join in as co-drivers of an Audi S1, Jim Clark’s Lotus Mk40 or a Lancia Delta Integrale.

Even the most successful racing team of Bavaria, Schnitzer-BMW, did not miss the event, with team manager Charlei Lamm presenting a modern BMW 6GTR next to its classic precursor, the 635CSi.

The growing popularity of the Bavaria Historic indicates the great desire to see, feel, hear and smell ‘real machinery’. And so, 15,000 thousand fans flocked to the ‘Oldie Feeling in Maxlrain’ in their modern, sterile and electronically-spoiled vehicles, causing giant traffic jams all around Bad Aibling....