With the Nürburgring entering hibernation in winter, I couldn’t help but to plan one final trip to the Ring to end the season on the last opening day. Peculiarly, the Nürburgring is open until November 30th, well into the cold months with occasional snows in the Eifel region of Germany - so going on the final day would be a gamble with the weather.

It’s the sign of the end of another great motoring year in Europe as the Essen Motor Show returns. With 57 years of history, it’s become a tradition for the Essen Motor Show to conclude the year’s automotive events in central Europe. And with the notoriety and its ability to cultivate the highlights of Europe’s car scene of all genres under one roof, it’s always a great way to end the year.

Late summer and early autumn marks the end of another great season of car culture in Europe. With still a chance to enjoy a comfortable temperature outdoors, it’s the time for finale events after summer’s peak heat before everybody’s well loved cars get stored over the cold months.

The automotive passion is something that transcends cultural borders - and in a tight continent with close borders like Europe, it won’t take long for you to meet people of different cultures that share the same automotive passion.

Early in September I made my way to Leuven, Belgium for the event called Freshest by XTRFRESH (pronounced “Extra Fresh”) - a stance event that gathered a nice group of cars from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and even a few from the UK. It’s multicultural - much like the European continent.

If you told me about going to a junkyard to see a bunch of old cars, I would assume that those cars are to be scrapped - but that is certainly not the case for my trip to HEIZR Recycling Club.

Quite the contrary - I made my way to Stuttgart to a riverside recycling facility to celebrate everything we love about car culture, and to have a surreal experience with one of Germany’s most unique classic car event organizers

HEIZR Club has to be one of the chillest big automotive events out there in Germany, but it’s certainly not ordinary. Each time I went to their event, I managed to be blown away by the concept and how dissonant the experience is.

Tief Im Wald (translation: Deep in the Forest) is one of those events that leaves a lasting impression. One admirable aspect of Germany’s car culture is how they create the most relaxed experiences.