At the latest when the little girl, aged four, begged for a ride in a go-kart, her father should have realised that his daughter would not, after her school-leaving exams, begin the hoped-for medical studies. By ten, Cristina was already racing karts in the northern-Italian championship – and her father, himself a motorbike fan and accomplished tinkerer, was surely not entirely innocent of that. From this shared hobby grew, for Cristina, born in Samedan in the Engadine and raised in Celerina, a passion. For her final-year project she wanted to restore a BMW 600 belonging to a friend – much to the teachers’ dismay. Cristina wouldn’t give up, and an adviser was found after all: conveniently, an engineer from BMW. «I learned so much,» she still raves about the time when she truly caught fire for car mechanics.
Almost Like Medicine
Of course, after her final exams Cristina did not begin medical studies, but completed – in shortened form, since she already had her diploma – an apprenticeship as a car mechatronics technician at Emil Frey. When you think about it, the two professions aren’t so far apart: doctor and car mechanic. It’s always about helping a patient – making a diagnosis, finding out what’s wrong, and then often going deep inside to repair the damage. After the apprenticeship there was a brief discussion with her father, which Cristina calls, with an apologetic smile, «drama 2.0»: couldn’t she now study mechanical engineering? Instead she added a two-year training as a diagnostician – again, not so far from a doctor’s task.
Car Love by the Storey
After these formative apprenticeships, the dream of self-employment ripens in Cristina. And she is not alone: at work she met Claudio Enz, whose heart beats in time for both the woman and the trade. On a plot of communal land in Zuoz, the young couple was able to erect a four-storey building for their «Auto Engiadina», housing all their passions under one roof. On the ground floor, a neatly organised garage, they work on whatever customers bring – no matter the make, the year or the number of wheels, as long as it has an engine. In the basement stand «projects», a few of their own and many customer cars to be restored or prepared for classic events (a magnificent Porsche 911 E is on the car lift just as we visit).
On the second to fourth floors, Cristina and Claudio have set up the «hotel»: an underfloor-heated classic-car coach house where you can also hold events. Here the four- and two-wheeled treasures overwinter or live year-round, are supplied with power for their batteries and, on request, serviced and made road-ready – to show themselves a few kilometres away in winter on the I.C.E. St. Moritz, to take part in the Passione Engadina or to roll up at the British Classic Car Meeting St. Moritz.
A Winning Couple
Speaking of driving: what became of Cristina’s racing career? «At 16 I got the C licence for single-seaters,» she explains. «There were tests in Formula 3, but I wasn’t in a position to bring money.» She abandons the attempt to become a professional racing driver and picks up the thread years later – together with her partner, who brought experience as a mechanic at the Monte-Carlo Rally. What could be more natural than to take part herself in what is, for die-hard classic racers, the finest event of the year? The couple first builds up an Autobianchi, has competed regularly since 2018 – and in 2023 even wins the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique in a 1970 Lancia Fulvia Rallye 1.3 S.
The Trouble With New Blood
Cristina Seeberger has never regretted not having studied. She has found her passion; you sense her reverence for cars with a history when her eyes rest on a wonderful piece of old metal. «I always wonder what the engineers who designed this car exactly this way must have been thinking. Every car is different, every one is a challenge: to fathom what works how and why it was built that way.» Permanent further education is what she calls her work.
And with that she raises the only sour note in a busy daily routine: new blood. No, not the next generation, but apprentices – girls and boys alike – who want to learn the trade with the same passion. «Many young people shy away from the work,» muses Cristina, who herself is only 30. «Work-life balance matters more to them.» Last spring the couple organised a day especially for school pupils under the motto «The fascination of automotive careers»; the nearby Samedan airfield was closed off, and in the hangar and on the apron, alongside Auto Engiadina, numerous firms from the sector presented themselves. Yet no one stayed for an apprenticeship. Cristina doesn’t complain – they are now seven on the team, the order books are full. Still, it would be lovely to be able to train at least one young person every year.
Recharging the Batteries Through Sport
One hundred per cent cars at work, plus various events above all with classic cars – when and where does Cristina recharge her own batteries? «Through sport,» comes the not-entirely-unexpected answer. Even during her active karting days she trained stamina and strength; she still does, above all jogging – two hours (!) are truly restorative, then she is by herself and can let her thoughts run free. And winter is really her season: then she pursues a sport in which she could likewise have turned professional – cross-country skiing. The Engadin Marathon and similar events are firmly in her diary. «I don’t do nothing all that often,» is her almost apologetic explanation when you regard her with that famous «how does she do it?» look. Message received – and we wish every owner of a classic or any other car or motorbike that they find their way to Zuoz.
This article appeared in MEN issue 2/24 (November 2024).
