30 years of Stoffis Garage

If you have never heard of Christoph "Stoffi" Maier in the European scooter scene, you have probably spent the last 30 years in an airtight bunker 100 metres below the earth's surface. "Stoffi's Garage" in Tumeltsham, Austria, two kilometres north of Ried im Innkreis, has been the headquarters for Stoffi and his now large team for three decades now. If you want to read the story of how Stoffi came to be, you can do so on his homepage. The fact is that Stoffi, as a businessman, collector, customiser and racer, has had and continues to have a considerable influence on the development of the scooter scene far beyond Austria. The trophies and awards on his shelves speak for themselves, and when he invited people to the big bash at the beginning of October to celebrate "30 years of Stoffi's Garage", some SIP employees didn't have to think twice. After all, CEOs Alex and Ralf were already there at the inauguration last century. How time flies ..

This year Elvis, André, Fabi and Alex set off on their scooters on Friday, Jesco followed a day later in a sprinter. But they were not the only ones who answered Stoffi's call. The host estimates that around 1000 people had gathered in and around his garage. There were plenty of drinks, food, entertainment, conversation and a Vespa PX was raffled off. Unfortunately we don't know the winner, but our troop had a blast without the main prize.

Alex remembers:

"I've known Stoffi longer than SIP has existed. He did his first custom show in Austria and after that we met again and again at various scooter meetings. From this, a friendship has developed that goes far beyond business."
"Together with Dennis and Ralf, I was at the opening back then and the conditions were very cramped. Stoffi had to transport everything up to the first floor with a pulley at the time, but it was precisely this founding myth that the scene lived on. None of us had a business plan back then, we just wanted to earn a bit of money with our hobby."
"30 years ago, maybe 100 people came to the opening, but at this year's celebration there were significantly more. It was cool that I could get an insight into the Austrian scene. Unlike our SIP Open Days, it's a very hard-drinking, party-loving scene that doesn't go home at 6 Clock. That's also the reason why we've always had a lot of fun at the meetings in Austria, because the party mood there is completely different. And that seems to be the case unabated. It was nice to see Stoffi doing his pirouettes on the dance floor at a late hour, completely relaxed. The pressure was off and his anniversary was a success."
"For me it was a bit like a class reunion, because some people came out of the woodwork that I hadn't met for ten, 15 years. So it became a real meet and greet and we could reminisce about old stories. And I was pleased that people still have the enthusiasm for these old vehicles over all these years."
"Stoffi's appearance as a collector was also very entertaining, because he showed us his curious vehicles. I kept thinking: 'Madness! What all they built back then in the 50s!' Often technically sophisticated, but mostly visually completely wrong and totally tasteless. At that time, the Germans and Austrians in particular were building Germanic things in Plates. And Stoffi then just bubbles over with stories about manufacturers and vehicles that I've never heard of."
"I wish Stoffi that he doesn't lose his joy and craziness despite all the business challenges. With the whole scooter scene from Ried, he was very instrumental in raising the custom level in our area to a whole other level. The guys from Ried were formative back then and a benchmark that hardly anyone in Germany reached in the 90s. When the Austrians showed up at our place with their vehicles, we knew we couldn't go on with our Spray paint jobs. So Stoffi had a very decisive influence on the scene."

Jesco looks back and ahead:

"In name, I've known Stoffi's garage since it opened, but back then I was still living in northern Germany and wasn't that close. It was only when I was at races in the Czech Republic and Austria in 2014 that I paid Stoffi's Garage a visit. Stoffi took a lot of time to show me his collection of rare scooters, and he also had a story ready for each model."
"Many people don't even know that he is a collector at all. He was always better known as a customiser and racer. I didn't notice him as a racer, though, until the ESC was founded. The series was founded around 2005 and in the beginning Stoffi was the dominant racer."
"The event at Stoffi's garage was very well attended, I think there was no chicken left by lunchtime. The weather was lovely, I saw a lot of people I hadn't met for a long time. The evening slowly turned into the nighter, the atmosphere was excellent and there was a lot of dancing. Alex, Pfeili and I were finally among the last to leave the event - that must have been around three Clock. Fifteen years ago, however, you would certainly have met the last ones at the bar at ten in the Clock. So you can see that we've all got a bit older and more civilised."
"My regards to Stoffi and many thanks for the fun party. I hope he lasts the next 30 years and there will be the next party. He has announced that he already has 34 racing seasons behind him, but still wants to make it to 40. I'm rooting for him to do that and I'd like to see him at the track in seven years' time."

The entire SIP team congratulates Stoffi's garage on his 30th birthday and wishes him many more successful years.

Video: 30 years of Stoffis Garage