Wheels & Tracks – Living Legends 2026

Last weekend, on August 8th and 9th, 2026, Wheels & Tracks - Living Legends took place in Laubuseschbach. This was the third time this gathering of historic military vehicles has been held, with the venue being the motocross track of the MSC.

Since it's already been 10 years since we attended Stahl auf der Heide, the big open day of the German Tank Museum, and since Tankfest in Bovington or Militracks in Overloon hadn't worked out for us so far, it was once again time to take a close look at the various vehicles in "large scale". Since Laubuseschbach is only three-quarters of an hour away from me, I packed up my son, father-in-law, and Holger (who had also joined some of our other trips, e.g. Stahl auf der Heide) and met up on-site with Evi and Tobias from Ancient Tracks.

Admission was 20 EUR per day ticket, or 30 EUR for both days. Children up to 12 years old had free admission. On top of that came the cost of the ride-alongs, which cost 5 or 8 EUR depending on the vehicle class.

Regular readers know the drill: a photo of the parking lot is a must for our event reports. In this case, even with a small before-and-after picture of the car. We'll explain why further below.

The parking lot itself is spacious, since you park in a field right next to the large display area. Parking came to an extra 3 EUR.

Since Laubuseschbach is a small district of Weilmünster with just under 1,500 inhabitants, there was a bit of a traffic jam on the county road. That wasn't too bad, though, since it gave us an excellent view of the "public" part of the ride-alongs from there, and we could watch motorcycles, half-tracks, and even Jagdpanzer 38(t)s racing across the field. Incidentally, the unusual vehicle in the larger photo is a Scheuch tractor.

That kicked up a huge amount of dust, so much so that at times you could barely make out the other end of the track, and by the end of the day the vehicles in the parking lot were pretty well coated in dust too.

Since the ride-alongs were reasonably priced and a lot of people were interested, the queue was correspondingly long, and you had to budget some patience and time.

But once you saw the variety of vehicles that owners and project groups presented and drove on site, the wait was absolutely worth it for fans big and small. It was exciting for me too, since I've already featured some of these vehicles on the blog as model kits, such as the Opel Blitz or Maultier, and of course the Hetzer and the SdKfz 251 in its various versions.

In addition to the track for ride-alongs, exhibitors also had access to the motocross track as a closed-off section. The incline was a real challenge for some vehicles, but it was impressive to see how the lighter vehicles, like the Jeeps, practically jumped over the crests. You can tell from Evi's broad smile that it was a lot of fun.

Next to the campsite, exhibitors also had their own paddock area, where many different roadworthy vehicles could be seen. There, vehicles were refueled, repaired, or simply given a break because of the high temperatures.

I found the Living History Camp particularly interesting, where the Allies had set up their camp. Numerous cargo and troop transporters, and lots and lots of Jeeps from various companies, were on display there. The day was also interrupted by a musical performance from The Rosevalley Sisters, which reminded me of the Crisis event during the Liberation Days 2024.

There was also a camp with more modern equipment, modeled after deployments in the Middle East, along with numerous "heavy gear", that is, heavy trucks and transporters from various eras.

On the same area, there was also a market where dealers from Germany and abroad offered various goods and finds. In one tent, you could also see models in various scales, including some from Plastikmodellbauclub Main-Kinzig.

Overall, the offerings and visitors were well spread out across the grounds. There were queues at the ride-alongs and at the grill, and drinks and food were paid for with vouchers.

An interesting event. The admission fee was money well spent, and everyone in our group got their money's worth. Even though the line for the ride-alongs was quite long, you could get a good view of the area from the sides and from the parking lot. That way, you could watch the various vehicles in motion and experience them up close, even if you weren't riding along yourself.

I don't have deep enough knowledge to objectively judge the (flea) market. Some items are certainly useful as spare parts or accessories for your own reenactment projects, but for some of the finds, given their condition, I couldn't see the added value even for collectors.

Still, hats off to the organizers: pulling off something like this, even with support from the local fair youth group, is quite an undertaking. But it pays off for exhibitors and visitors alike. Not everyone can make it to Bovington, and Laubuseschbach, in western Hesse, drew visitors not only from within Germany but also, among others, from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For the owners of these rare vehicles, this was a chance to get them moving on a cordoned-off area, exchange ideas with like-minded people, and for those interested, it offered a lot more action than a visit to a museum or a (military) technology collection.

One exhibit or another has once again sparked my enthusiasm for this era and gotten me in the mood for the upcoming Bolt Action reviews.

You can find more coverage of the event, among others, here:

• KGS Niederrhein
• War History Westerwald
• Paralightworx

Link: Wheels & Tracks - Living Legends