Strong start to the Youngstar Awards 2026: Party for youngtimers
Successful start to the Youngstar Awards: The finalists were chosen at the beginning of June, two of whom will soon be crowned Youngstar 2026. Autosprint was on the jury.
Car love gets under your skin. For some participants in the Youngstar Awards, it literally does: Bianca Rufer wears her third-series Mitsubishi Eclipse V6 (one of only three in Switzerland) as a tattoo on her forearm as well as in her heart. This passion is typical of youngtimers: anyone who has bought a light blue Ford Sierra for 40 (!) francs, drives it, cherishes it and looks after it has an overdose of petrol in their blood. The Youngstar Awards, created by Jörg Petersen, Daniel Kläusler and Michael and Ruth Feuz, honor such emotions.
From very well-behaved to very wild
At the beginning of June, the final qualification took place on the premises of the Arthaios AG film and photo studio in Däniken SO. Some of the participating cars were inconspicuous, well-kept youngtimers such as the Mazda MX-5, or a Volvo 850 T5, bought as a second-hand car when it was 18 years old, which has now been in top condition for 17 years. There were also tuning cars such as an Audi RS4 Avant, which has been perfected with incredible attention to detail and is used in everyday life despite having the most expensive rims of the day, and exotic cars such as a Honda NSX, in which the owner enthusiastically invests every franc.
Six will soon advance to the finals
That is why there are two categories: Category A honors the owner-car relationship, i.e. the personal story. Nancy Giger's 1990 Subaru Outback, uniquely customized in 250 hours of work, was voted first place, followed by Denis Gygax's 1991 Mazda MX-5 in second place and Lukas Baumgartner's 2004 Lotus Exige S2 in third place.
In category B, the jury (including Autosprint) assessed condition and originality. The final qualifiers: Volvo S60 R AWD (owner: Andreas Heinrich) ahead of Porsche 911 of the 993 series (Francesco Greco) and the Sierra (Marc Brunner). While the jury was judging, new friendships developed among the participants: Everyone was a winner here.
The freestyle was the prelude to the final: 60% of the final score is made up of the jury result, but 40% is made up of the current online voting. On September 12, at the final in the Mall of Switzerland (Ebikon LU), it will be announced which two are the Youngstars 2026 and will win a professional photo shoot. Want to take part? Go to youngstar-awards.ch or here directly to the voting. And what did one visitor say on leaving? «We look forward to the next time!»
