The Hesse Motor Sports Club (HMSC) was founded in 1954 to promote motorsport and road safety and to maintain international relations on a motorsport basis. This includes the organization of sporting events such as the HMSC-Taunus-Bergprüfung Presberg or the Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nürburgring as well as driver safety training.

To mark its 30th birthday, the HMSC organized a classic car rally in Wiesbaden for the first time in 1984. The oldest vehicle at the start was the Stanley built by entrepreneur Fritz Hochhut in 1902. The HMSC used the event as a reminder of Wiesbaden's automotive tradition. As early as the 1920s, so-called beauty contests were held with the start in front of the Kurhaus, which were eventually followed by car races on the paths of the city forest up to the Hohe Wurzel.

Over the decades, the rally has developed into a fixed date on which around 180 active drivers from Germany, Europe and the world present their vehicles every year and then take part in the classic car rally in and around the city and the Rheingau in the various categories of their vehicles.