A Weekend Driving Through Luxembourg’s Countryside With Union Glashütte

It’s often said that the first motor race was held when the second car was built, and although that’s probably a bit of an exaggeration, it’s true that racing is almost as old as the car itself. Ever since the Benz Patent Motorwagen of 1885, people have been captured by the thrill of going fast on four wheels. Even today, motorsports seem as popular as ever, and come in many exciting forms and formats. One of which is the classic car rally, something we recently got to experience with Union Glashütte in the flowing mountains of Luxembourg!

To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect to drive such an event myself. Thanks to Union Glashütte, I now do, and I can honestly say it was one of the most thrilling things I did in a car. Even though it was mostly conducted on public roads and one instruction was very clear above all others: stick to the law! Of course, the participating cars were pushed where they could, and we even had a spin around a Goodyear test track, but speed limits and road safety standards were held in high regard. And rightfully so!

Experiencing the Luxembourg Classic

The Luxembourg Classic is one of the annual events hosted by Motorpresse, a leading German publication house that focuses on classic cars. It’s also the team behind some of the most prolific classic car rallies in Europe, such as the Sachsen Classic, the Silvretta Classic and the Deutschland Classic. And if by any chance those names sound a touch familiar, all of these are sponsored by Union Glashütte, the Saxony brand with a love for vintage cars!

Kobin and I travelled down to Luxembourg for the event and were informed we would get to enjoy a 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 for two days (but more on that later). Upon arrival, we had to register, pick up the road books and all the forms we needed, plus our ‘racing’ number, 70. The car then needed to be checked on certain key areas, and we were ready for the driver’s briefing. And since this was our first time ever, it took some time to learn the ins and outs!

You see, such a rally is conducted on open roads, so you have to mix in with regular traffic. But, to add a competitive edge to the event, you had to navigate using road books with instructions on distances, key objects and buildings, basic directions and durations for each stretch of road. Think of things like “in 210m turn slightly left at the church, and then immediately to the right, over the bridge”. Then, there are also timed challenges on closed sections of road, where we had to travel a specific distance in a set time limit. And to make things even more interesting (or worse), there were even combined challenges, where two or even three overlapping stretches, each with a specific time limit, had to be navigated.

All this sounded rather complex, but things started to make sense while hitting the road on day 1. We quickly got the hang of the navigation method, and we even got some surprising results during the challenges! Our best was 15th overall, and 7th in class, and our worst… well, let’s not talk about that too much. All in all, it’s a wonderful way to spend two days on some of the most scenic roads I have ever driven on, with a wonderful crowd of people in amazing cars. Everything you could imagine was there, from a whole bunch of Porsches to an original Shelby Cobra 427, and from a VW Golf 1 Cabrio to multiple E-Types and pre-war Bentleys. And one car in particular caught my eye, a striking blue 1972 Intermeccanica Indra. I had never heard of it before, and I will do some digging into that one for sure (#60 in the image at the top!).

Dutch-Orange Boxer

Our ‘weapon of choice’ was an impossible-to-miss 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7. Regular Petrolhead Corner readers will know I, and others within our team, have a deeply rooted love for the 911, so this was a genuine highlight event for me. The bright orange car, fitting since Kobin and I are both Dutch, was waiting for us in the parking lot of GridX, a Petrolhead’s place to be in Luxembourg! We got a brief rundown on the car and how things work, and then it was time to take it for a short spin and get a feel of it.

The next morning, so day 1 of the actual rally, there was a last and mandatory safety briefing, and then it was off to the start! Timed one minute apart, the oldest cars started first, and then one by one, each team set off until all 98 cars were on the road. Things quickly got interesting as we left town and ended up winding through the Luxembourg countryside almost immediately. Having successfully navigated our way during the first hour or so, we grew confident we would make it to the end.

The car behaved beautifully, and although it ‘only’ has 210 horsepower or so from the 2.7-litre 6-cylinder boxer engine in the back, it was nice and smooth to drive. Changing gears from first to second was a bit of a challenge, as my leg was pretty much jammed between the steering wheel and gear lever, but after I got it into third gear, all was fine. And that third gear was lovely and long, which means you can use it pretty much three-quarters of the time on the road. The sound was lovely and raspy, and everything looked peachy for a long time.

That is, until we reached a downhill braking/rolling test, which had to be done in neutral, or with the engine cut off. I decided to go for the latter option, and we gracefully rolled down the hill for a bit to complete the challenge. At the bottom, we wanted to set off again, but… nothing. At that point, the camaraderie of such an event kicked into high gear, as fellow competitors stopped and asked what the issue was and if they could help. The owner of the car, driving an Alfa Romeo Spider themselves, was not too far behind us and helped us out. After a quick charge of the battery, our plucky little 911 kicked into life again, and the rest of the day went smoothly as butter.

To be on the safe side, the battery was swapped out at the end of day 1, and day 2 started off fine and dandy again. We got to enjoy yet more stunning scenery, with roads winding along rivers, through gorges and old towns providing endless amounts of driving pleasure. But after a quick pit stop, we ran into the same issue. It wouldn’t start again, so it was time to call in the troops once more. Turns out, the alternator was dying, so the battery was slowly running on empty. No juice means no spark, and no spark means no more driving. We got it going again, but were told not to cut it off until we reached the end. Quite the challenge when sometimes you have to fuel up or stop for lunch, but we made it! We eventually finished in an old square in the middle of Luxembourg City, with all other cars around!

All things considered, and taking into account that our performance on the various challenges was more misses than hits, we finished 86th overall and 30th in class. To us, that was not too bad, given that this was our very first time, and we hit some pretty big delays due to the issues with the car. Above all else, we enjoyed the heck out of the 911 and Luxembourg, met some great people, and got to spend time around some excellent classic cars! And what’s not to love about that?

The UG connection

Watches were involved, too, of course, as not only did Union Glasütte make it possible for us to attend, but they also provided us with some wrist candy. We had the pleasure of enjoying the 2025 Sachsen Classic edition of the Noramis Chronograph and the new 40mm Belisar Chronograph. This year, there’s no special edition tied to the Luxembourg Rally, but who knows for next year! It’s only the 6th running of the event, so it’s still growing year by year, and at some point, I expect it to be on the level of the other major vintage rally events UG is tied to.

Anyway, both watches were a joy to wear but very different in appeal. The Noramis Chronograph Limited Edition Sachsen Classic 2025 was a pure motorsports-inspired chronograph watch with a very clean and legible two-register dial. The silver base is finished with a perlage-like swirling pattern that mimics the look of instrument panels in vintage cars. The two black chronograph subdials resemble dashboard instruments, there’s a touch of red on the hands, and the leather strap reminds you of a plush leather seat in a classic sports car. The robust Valjoux 7753-based UNG-27-S2 automatic chronograph movement runs like a dream and adds a nice heft to the watch.

The second watch was entirely new, as it was one of the three new Belsiar Chronograph 40mm watches. We had the sunray-brushed blue dial at hand, which is the only one supplied on a leather strap. The others have a classical Panda or Reverse Panda colour scheme, with a steel bracelet to match. At 40mm in width, it wears lovely and compact on the wrist, although the Valjoux 7750-based UNG-27.S1 automatic chronograph movement does dictate a fair bit of height. Nevertheless, it’s a worthy watch of your time and money, and a welcome companion on such an event!

For more information, please visit Union-Glashuette.com.

Editorial note: The images portrayed in this article are sourced from and used with permission of Union Glashütte. Special thanks go to the organisation of the Luxembourg Classic 2025 and the team of photographer Arturo Rivas.