Antonio Silva
Last Saturday, May 31, the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid hosted the Baden-Württemberg Urban Rally, organized by the German embassy as a promotion of the German state of the same name and more specifically the exclusive event for classics that is held there.
The participating vehicles were all of the Porsche and Mercedes brands, which collaborated by involving their dealers in publicizing the rally among their customers. Upon reaching the assembly point, the outdoor parking lot of the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, members of the organization were in charge of placing the vehicles and distributing the event identification stickers, as well as some beautiful commemorative vests. Only then was there a certain disorganization that was solved thanks to the patience and education of the participants.
The rally ran to Plaza de Castilla, and from there it went down to the German embassy located on Paseo de la Castellana. At all times, the spectacular caravan was escorted by the Madrid municipal police, who were in charge of cutting off traffic as we approached the intersections. At the height of the embassy, two lanes of the service road were cut to make a first stop.
A Mercedes Knight
The two rows of cars were made up of almost all the models manufactured by Porsche: 356, 911 of all series aircooled, 944, 924 GT, 928 and of course 911 turbo, 965 and 993 turbo, simply a delight for lovers of the Stuttgart signature. I only missed a 959 ...
Mercedes, far from being left behind, made a simply spectacular display with four 300 SL -two roadsters and two Gullwings-, several 190 SLs, Pagodas, an Adenauer and the most spectacular and difficult to see rolling of all the vehicles that attended, a Mercedes 1918 with Knight engine.
For those who do not know the latter delicatessen We will explain that the Knight is a rarity for several reasons. The first for having belonged to the same family throughout his life, and the second and main for his type of engine that very few people know: The Knight are engines without valves, which were designed to reduce the noise of the mechanics; at his side only a slight noise is perceived when accelerating and it is a pleasure to see it circulate.
After the breakfast offered by the ambassador, with a raffle included for the trip to the original German Rally, the attendees were presented with a bag with information about the region and some nice details offered by the sponsors, such as the official Hamilton Mercedes F1 team cap.
The caravan resumed its march to the feet of the goddess Cibeles, where the most representative vehicles were parked for the enjoyment of passersby and tourists, while the town hall offered a reception.
The party lasted until the afternoon in a well-known restaurant on the outskirts of Madrid. It has undoubtedly been a resounding success, to which a server only finds one but, the scarce, if not null, dissemination of the event among the media of the sector, which does not facilitate in any way the enjoyment by the fans of these beautiful cars.
