Manuel Dubs and his wife Irene were participating in the "Road to Hanoi Marathon" through four countries, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos, departing on January 28 with an expected finish on February 23, organized by Rally The Globe. After running on the Dai Nam racetrack in Binh Duong province, the drivers of 26 classic cars in the rally were headed to the rubber forest in Dong Nai and then for Da Lat City in Lam Dong province.

Hearing that the 1932 Rockne Six 75 faced problems, members of the Saigon Classic Car Club took the car to a garage owned by Vo Quoc Bao in Tan Binh district in HCM City. 

Though Bao and his co-workers were busy on pre-Tet days, they put aside other work. Members of the car club, Nguyen Xuan Thuy and Tran Huu Phuoc, kept watch over the repair process at the garage to provide updated information to Dubs.

“Fortunately, the toothed wheel of the gear box was unbroken, with no sign of breakdown or metal fillings. Only the ball bearing of the gearbox was loose, but it was still within the safety line. However, after examining, we discovered that the rear axle gear was worn out and there were iron filings, which made the car produce noise,” Bao said.

According to the experienced technician, damage to the rear axle gear is inevitable especially when the car has been used for a long time. The best solution is to replace it, but it takes time to import the spare part, if it can even be found.

Bao and his co-workers decided to re-shim the gearbox bearing, and replace the gearbox with a new type of oil. The rear axle gear assembly was corrected and cleaned to minimize the sound.

“The problems were fixed within 30 hours and it was given back to Manuel Dubs,” he said.

The rescue helped the 65-year-old racer from Switzerland to catch up with other members of the group on the third day of the journey. By that time, the racers had arrived in Da Nang, about 900 kilometers from HCM City.

Expressing thanks 

According to Bao, Manuel wanted to pay for the service, but Bao refused.

“Realizing our sincerity, the foreign racer agreed and said thanks. He also gave us some products of Switzerland, including Victorinox multi-tools and some souvenirs about the race,” Thuy recalled.

Thuy said that for those who have passions for classic cars, greeting and supporting each other in case of trouble is the culture of car racers.

“We do this to share our passion for classic cars, and we are happy if we can help,” Thuy said.

“We hope that when arriving to Vietnam, international classic car owners can enjoy the full beauty of Vietnamese nature and people, with hospitality, friendliness and sincerity,” Thuy said.

A similar case once occurred in 2018, during the "Singapore to Ho Chi Minh" journey. A Mercedes Benz manufactured in 1970 from Belgium had some trouble. Nguyen Huu Nhon, a member of the Saigon Classic Car Club, after discovering the cause, decided fix it himself like a professional repairman.

Thanks to his assistance, the classic 50-year-old car returned to the race one day later.

Touched by the support of the Vietnamese, Manuel Dubs wrote on the fanpage of the Saigon Classic Car Club on January 31: "Wonderful people! Thank you very much."

Dinh Quy - Xuan Thuy - Pham Huyen - Nguyen Hue