The Federal Council drives CLASSIC

Mr Bleiker is a driving instructor for senior citizens. He also administers exams and decides whether a senior is fit to drive or not. So it's important that he gets to know our CLASSIC. He comes by with his fancy sunglasses and fat SUV and tests our vehicles extensively for their suitability for senior citizens. We become friends, and he is enthusiastic about our products. We are on a first-name basis. He insists that our vehicles must be publicized. Coincidentally, he plays an important role in the organization "Swiss Paths" and he also knows a highly ranked wheelchair-bound athlete. If he puts in a good word for us, she would be happy to drive our CLASSIC on the "Swiss Paths" for a while. He himself would write a report about it. No sooner said than done: Lukas Jenni and Dani Honegger drove with our bus and the CLASSIC to Vitznau to take the train up the Rigi for the report. The meeting point was the summit restaurant. There, two Swiss Army Super Puma helicopters hovered and landed near the restaurant. Lukas was into helicopters at the time, so he grabbed the CLASSIC and drove to where the Super Pumas landed. He just wanted to see the two helicopters up close. To his amazement, several federal councillors got out of the two helicopters. The security personnel standing by at the landing believed that Lukas with his CLASSIC belonged to the event. The one who recognized Lukas with certainty was our then Transport Minister Moriz Leuenberger. Lukas courageously introduced himself: "Hello Mr. Leuenberger, on behalf of KYBURZ I would like to welcome you and invite you for a test drive with our CLASSIC". Mr Leuenberger was interested in the vehicle and first asked about the powertrain. Mr Couchepin was quicker, grabbed the seat, turned the key without instruction and sped off. In the meantime, our Daniel Honegger, who had his camera with him, ran over to take pictures of the disabled sportswoman on her ride along the "paths of Switzerland". He caught Mr Couchepin with a beaming smile on his face as he rode up and down with the CLASSIC. Then it was Federal Councillor Dreifuss' turn. She sat down and drove off. Mr. Villiger asked about the economics of the vehicle, and Lukas answered all the questions with great enthusiasm.

Dani snapped and snapped until all his film was used up. Someone from the organisers urged the federal councillors to hurry, otherwise they would miss the next item on the programme, and the troupe took off. Dani and Lukas stayed behind, joyful and amazed. They went to the restaurant, where the sportswoman and a somewhat sour Mr Bleiker were waiting. When Dani also pointed out that he had shot all his film on the federal councillors, Mr Bleiker was really annoyed. He said something like, "We can't set priorities" and the mission was ended prematurely.
I hadn't noticed any of this. I had stayed at home in the office to catch up on work when my phone rang. A joyfully overexcited Lukas was on the line: "You won't believe what just happened: these two helicopters flew in, and Moriz Leuenberger got out of the first one. He really likes our vehicle, by the way. Yes, and then Couchepin took a test drive and was beaming, he was really in a good mood..." I interrupted Lukas.

"Yes, exactly, and the other Federal Councillors must have test-driven it too...?" "No, not all of them, just Mrs Dreifuss, and Villiger..." That was too much for me: I hung up the phone... Lukas must obviously be out of his mind? It rang again: "Noooo!!! Seriously: And Mrs. Dreifuss thinks it's a brilliant invention and with Villiger I have the financi..." I slammed the phone down again... What the hell? The phone rang silently. Lukas again: "That really happened, and everyone was thrilled!" "Yes yes, and you happened to have a camera with you?" I wanted to know. "Yes, of course! Dani took photos of everything. He's on his way down now. Hey?... and anyway! Because of you, dumbo, I missed the mountain train down!" This time Lukas hung up. What had happened there? I kept working until Dani showed up in my office and put the complete pictures on my desk. Now I believed them both, and we could hardly believe our luck. We went through the photos and recognized all 7 Federal Councillors. They were on their excursion and by chance we wanted to do our reportage on the "Ways of Switzerland" on the Rigi at the same moment. Somehow a photo of Mr Couchepin found its way into a Sunday newspaper and a full-page photo was printed with the title: "Where is the journey going, Mr Couchepin?" Otherwise, we decided not to use the photos for advertising purposes.

But we made a wine label and sent the Federal Councillors each a bottle with the label, with Couchepin riding on the CLASSIC. I was completely surprised that most of the Federal Councillors sent us back a personal card of thanks, and all of them thanked us for the bottle of wine.
We were able to reconcile with Mr Bleiker: We invited him to give a lecture on the peculiarities of driving in old age in front of the assembled medical profession of the Embrach Valley. At the very latest, after the glass of Blauburgunder from Klettgau, his homeland, he was fully satisfied again. He put on his dark sunglasses, got into his red SUV and sped off.

I learned from this:

• If a story sounds too untrue to be true, there is still a chance that it is true.
• Having a photographer and enough film with you at the right moment helps to document such a story.
• A bottle of the right wine can make a big difference.