Reading your greetings and anecdotes and listening to the messages you left for us on the phone, filled us with a sense of nostalgia and gave us more than a few goosebump moments. Thank you so much for that. That was a good reason for us to look back over the past few decades ourselves.

When, in 1985, we spontaneously came up with the idea of organizing a Capri meeting, the first and only one at our hometown of Messel, none of us could have imagined that it would be four decades later that we would be organizing our “last” meeting. After stops in Kirchheim for “20 Years of Capri” and, a year later, “5 Years of Capri Post”, we took the next big step in 1991. Together with two friends, we dared to organize our first 1,000-car Capri meeting: the “Capri Deutschland Treffen” in Mannheim.

Three years later, the era began that has now come to an end: the first meeting on the grounds of the Technik Museum in Speyer. More than 800 Capris among the ruins, partly on areas that today are occupied by the IMAX and the entrance hall. There was no hotel yet, just lots of space and a newly completed hall with temporary tent walls. Showers were available at the nearby swimming pool. Toilets and washing facilities existed, if you could really call them that, in two small containers.

But from the very first meeting, the atmosphere was simply fantastic. We grew together with the museum, and every year there was something new. Today there is a new entrance hall, the IMAX, the Buran Hall, three hotels and a campsite. And everything looks much tidier and more organized. Everything has changed. We have grown older, perhaps a little calmer, too. And some of the things that were standard 30 years ago simply wouldn’t be possible today.

In the 1990s, it was the Counts Company that brought the festival tent to life year after year. The atmosphere during those years was incomparable. There was a wedding on stage, a children’s show that proved so popular as an afternoon program that it was performed again in the evening — “Here Comes the Mouse”. There were the beer mug-lifting contests and Thomas’s legendary “Zonk” performance 😊. All of these moments were unique. There was even a tire change on a real Formula 1 car, and motorcycle riders guiding the Capris around the huge grounds.

Another highlight was the unique drives to the Hockenheimring in 1997 and 1999. Just lining up all the cars on the start-finish straight was an unforgettable sight. And how did all those Capris get from Speyer to the Hockenheimring on Friday and Saturday? We simply closed the roads!!! Today, in an age where everyone has a mobile phone, that would be unthinkable. Then all the pictures of the Capris — or rather, the negatives — were rushed off for overnight processing so that the next day everyone could have their photos as actual paper prints.

Self-built and improvised Capri bars were another defining feature of the 1990s. The atmosphere inside them, however, remains legendary to this day.

In 2000, we made a short trip back to the Hockenheimring. Naturally, there were laps of the circuit right there, but it was nowhere near as spectacular as in 1998 and 1999. We celebrated on top of the pit building — a unique opportunity. But even so, Hockenheim simply couldn’t compare with Speyer.

After a short break, we returned to Speyer in 2005. That was when we met Wolfgang Laufer and his racing Capri, as the museum was hosting an exhibition on 80 years of Ford at the same time.

The new millennium brought a few more highlights. Several times, we had the opportunity to watch specially produced Capri films in the IMAX cinema. The films celebrating 40 and 50 years of the Capri were particular hits, putting the Capri on one of the largest cinema screens in Germany. Another highlight was Dieter Glemser, who visited us twice and clearly felt very much at home in our community.

But there were also a few things we would probably not do the same way today. One example is the high-speed drive through the hall. You don’t have to do — or allow — everything just to please the press and television.

In 2013, we moved from the festival hall, which had to make way for the Buran Hall, to the Wine Village. The biggest advantage? A permanently installed bar.

We have experienced so much during the last three decades in Speyer. Many friendships and acquaintances were made. Many of the children who were there back then now drive Capris themselves. Our own children, too, grew seamlessly from being the “kids bosses” into their roles as bar manager and Capri marshal. And we must not forget the special Capri exhibition in 2019 celebrating 50 years of the Capri, which Sven organized entirely on his own.

Unfortunately, we also have to think of the many friends and acquaintances who were no longer able to celebrate the final meeting with us. But they live on in the countless memories we have shared and collected together over the past three or four decades. Remembering moments like these makes some losses a little easier to bear.

There are also many constants that deserve special mention, things that were part of our meetings in Speyer over the past 31 years. With the exception of the final meeting, there was always a “racing legend” on display. In the 1990s, it was the Zakspeed Capri from the Technik Museum in Sinsheim. In the new millennium, it was Herbert Stenger’s white-and-blue Zakspeed Capri, the famous “Berglöwe”. Twice, we also had the Zakspeed Capri from Ford Cologne. And, right up until the final meeting, Wolfgang Laufer was always there with his Capri I racing Capri. Countless photo sessions produced countless fantastic pictures. Other constants we could always rely on included reserved parking spaces, Camping by Capri, Andrea’s red double-decker bus serving as registration, a raffle and, of course, our legendary Capri Bar. And then there was Wolfgang Heger, who would always call us one day before the meeting and ask: “What’s the weather like in Speyer?” For us personally, however, the most important constant was our dear friend Marco, who had been there for every one of the last 31 years. Thank you so very much for that, dear Marco.

When we add everything up, more than 6,500 Capris have enriched Speyer and the Technik Museum over those 31 years. We are incredibly proud that, for more than 30 years, we were able to provide you with a setting and a place where all of you could create something truly special. You were the ones who filled it with life.

We simply say: THANK YOU for all the wonderful years we shared with you.