2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 15:44
The Bavarian Gersthofen doesn't have many sights to impress its visitors with. But not far from Augsburg is what is probably the most exclusive Mazda collection in the world.
From Stefan Grundhoff
Company founder Walter Frey has brought his two boys Markus and Joachim into the Japanese line since childhood. "I could rather imagine two women in my life than sell two makes of cars," says the gray-haired company owner Walter Frey adamantly. For almost three decades, his heart has belonged to the Japanese car brand, which before the introduction of the “zoom-zoom slogan” made a name for itself in particular with innovative Wankeltechnik. Almost everything in the lives of Walter, Markus and Joachim revolves around the topics of cars and Wankel. The Gersthofer Mazda triumvirate is unparalleled worldwide. “Of the more than 160 vehicles that we have in our collection, at least 100 are powered by a Wankel engine,” says son Joachim after a moment's thought, “I don't know exactly. Around 100 vehicles are currently ready to drive."
Exclusive rotary tricycle
The most exclusive piece is currently a gray Mazda 360, a rotary tricycle with a pick-up structure similar to the Italian Ape. The youngest toy dates back to 1962 and is currently being brought into shape piece by piece. The partially dismantled 360 is almost carelessly off the beaten track in Frey's workshop - next to a type 323F customer vehicle that is currently being inspected. The front cover of the Wankel tricycle is missing and the rare cargo runabout with its 16 hp engine behind the cab still looks like a lot of weekend work. Company boss Walter Frey crawls into the narrow cabin and cheers: "A great thing, isn't it?" The Mazda 360 Pick Up is not only unique in Germany, but also probably the only one in Europe.
Rarities are by no means unique at Frey. Not that Walter, Joachim and Markus only housed Mazdas in their overcrowded workshop halls around Gersthofen. In the inconspicuous large garages behind the house there are other treasures. If you push the big gates aside, you not only see countless Mazdas from the last four decades, but also rarities such as an old glass, a beautiful Mercedes SL, the Citroen Birotor from 1973 or a 2107 police Lada. «But it also has a rotary engine », it sounds from the background. Markus Frey points out the rare piece that they brought to Bavaria on their own. A single-engine airplane with the registration D-FREY hangs under the ceiling of the hangar. The armada of RX-7 models or the Wankel motorcycles in the corner are just as unnoticeable as the rare snowmobile - also with the revolutionary drive technology from Felix Wankel. Even cooler from the 70s station wagon of the RX-4 in gleaming white with a green vinyl roof and a filled roof rack.
Cosmo Sport as showpieces
The showpieces, however, are the two Mazda Cosmo Sport. The flat Japanese racers were something like the Japanese Mercedes SL in the 1960s. There aren't even a handful of them in Germany. The white Cosmo drives particularly well. Twenty years ago the Frey family brought the hit from a New York vacation to Bavaria. Because of him, Walter Frey is now a member of the elite Cosmo Owners Club - as the only European.
In another hall, a torn Mazda Luce from 1969 with 118 hp and front-wheel drive shines on a lifting platform. The light yellow body was tailor-made by Bertone - worth seeing, but it still means a lot of work. Instead of window frames and B-pillars, there are power windows, air conditioning and power steering. On a second look, the similarities to the filigree evergreen Lancia Fulvia can hardly be overlooked. The tiny Mazda Carol is much less sporty and elegant. Joachim Frey has just driven the Japanese NSU Prinz from 1962 out of a small single garage. The engine chugs lively and father Walter goes into raptures again.
Denied Pathfinder
Much more spectacular, however, is the Mazda Pathfinder, a rugged off-road vehicle in bright green that Mazda had produced in Burma in the early 1980s. The wankel-less 9-seater with all-wheel drive looks like new. “When we asked for information about the Pathfinder, Mazda headquarters simply denied this model,” laughs Markus Frey to himself. “I've always been a technology fan”, his father Walter adds, “I actually only became a Mazda dealer because of the Wankeltechnik. My first real collector's car was a Cosmo Sport."
The variety of models is overwhelming; in particular because the cars were not lavishly draped, but instead stood close together in halls and shelving walls. Here a rare Mazda 616 from a nanny, there an angular RX-4 coupé from 1976 in the typical 70s style. "We are working on a real Mazda museum," reports Markus Frey, "history is the best advertisement." By the way, the family is still one of the oldest Mazda dealers in Germany. "There is not only light," says the 63-year-old company boss, "there is sometimes trouble and you have to swallow a toad." Nevertheless, there is only one thing for him: Mazda.
