‘Get Them Dusty!’ That was the slogan behind an event held in the Steinbruch quarry near Stuttgart a couple of weekends back. The promise of some amazing classic, and a few contemporary cars in a truly unique location meant I had to go and check ‘Dusty Rides’ out.
My journey started in Prague, very early in the morning. I had a big drive ahead of me – 460km each way – from the Czech Republic’s capital city to southwest Germany, but I knew it would be worth it. Felix Bauermeister and his HEIZR Club team always put on great events, and this one was billed as the biggest of the year.
The HEIZR Club is heavily involved in the classic car scene around Stuttgart, but what they achieve resonates right throughout Germany. HEIZR’s mission is to bring the joy of cars to the younger generation, but as Felix has always said, it’s about the people first.
After five and half hours behind the wheel of my 94′ Mercedes W140 coupé, I found myself in the coolest traffic jam I’ve ever been as I drove up to the Dusty Rides venue entrance.
The beautiful Porsche 944 in front of me and the 993 RS behind made me feel a little out of place – I was in my daily driver after all – but that thought diminished the instant I parked up. There was so much to take in and shoot.
Generally speaking, when I attend events with similar cars to those that were on show at Dusty Rides, most of them are brought in on trailers. This was completely different; most cars arrived at the quarry having been driven to the event. It was so refreshing to see.
Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule, and when you’re talking about the one and only BMW X5 Le Mans Concept, it’s understandable. I’d previously only ever seen photos of this prototype, so seeing it in person was a little overwhelming.
As I made my way around the quarry, great compositions simply fell into my camera’s viewfinder. The warms tones of the surroundings perfectly framed some of the world’s most significant performance classics.
The thing that I love the most about HEIZR Club gatherings is the quality of the cars and the people that bring them out. Over the last few years, it’s felt like the scene has started to become divided into niches and intoxicated by the TikTok culture of tasteless builds. There’s none of that here.
Felix is connecting people around cars, and when visiting a HEIZR Club event, you can be sure that you’ll be welcomed in any classic car or build that you arrive with. At Dusty Rides, I witnessed Porsche owners joking with stance guys, purists mingling with modified BMW owners, and Mopar guys talking about Japanese cars with interest. How great is that?!
There were no donuts or needless revving, and no one drove like a madman to the event. I think that everyone who attended was tuned to the same note of making the car scene better.
During my long drive home, I had plenty of time to think about using my W140 coupé more often, and also what I could personally do to steer my local car community in a similar direction to what Felix and the HEIZR Club are achieving.
Jakub Vít
Instagram: somal1sh
How to join the IATS program: We have always welcomed readers to contact us with examples of their work and believe that the best Speedhunter is always the person closest to the culture itself, right there on the street or local parking lot. If you think you have what it takes and would like to share your work with us then you should apply to become part of the IAMTHESPEEDHUNTER program. Read how to get involved here.
