21.9.06

Just one hour east by road from Amsterdam, Apeldoorn’s Paleis Het Loo is an impressive property with stunning gardens that was originally built as a hunting lodge and retreat in 1685 and has been in continuous use by the Dutch Royal family ever since.

The Concours D’Elegance was held over the weekend of September 2nd/3rd when sadly, the weather was less than clement and with excellent organisation by Bart Rietbergen and his team the 7th edition of the event definitely deserved a larger attendance. Successfully combining a two day concours with an 800metre straight line sprint for pre-war cars (sponsored by tyre manufacturer Vredestein) along with an adjacent meeting of classic car clubs and one make Associations, meant that there was lots to see, made easier by the umbrella donated by the lady from Independer.nl!

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Celebrated marque/tipo for 2006 was the pre-war Alfa Romeo 8C but sadly there were only two entries. Both had coachbuilt Zagato bodies and Dutch classic car dealer Jaap Braam Ruben’s short wheelbase example narrowly won its class ahead of European Concours regular Frans van Haren’s LWB example. Maybe it hadn’t helped entries that this years event was on the same weekend as the Goodwood Revival and Ferrari Days at the Nurburgring.

The 14 strong International team of judges was led by Lancia authority Wim Oude Weernink and included former Supersports racer and BMW Z1 designer, Harm Lagaay, Louwman Collection curator Pieter Kort and current Head of brand design at BMW, Adrian van Hooydonk. A complete listing of results by class is available on the event website, but the following caught the eye:-

Edwardian
The rare US built 1917 Stutz Bearcat displayed and for sale via nearby dealer Auto Museum Deventer combined a 6.3 4 cylinder engine available in both left and in this case, right hand drive in a shorter than normal chassis and was viewed as a status symbol in North America when new.

Pre-War
Fred and Ank de Boer’s Isotta Fraschini 8A looked stunning in cream. Built between 1924 and 1931 in Italy and often exported to the US the 7.4 litre straight eight powered roadsters were more expensive than a Duesenberg!

Belgian dealer Bernard Marreyt’s 1935 Bugatti Type 57 by Gangloff was recreated in his workshops and is an adaptation of the better known Atlante model. Svelte, streamlined and in brown(!) Gangloff had a reputation for less flamboyant designs for the Type 57 chassis but this looked superb

With 100 bhp from a 6 cylinder 3.8 litre engine Arthur Valkeizer’s Panhard Levassor Dynamic had a unique attribute – a central driving position in a car built in 1938!

Auto Italia
Ferraris were well represented with examples of the 250 Europa and Boano alongside Yvo Alexander’s 330GTC and Henk Koel’s overall winning 166MM in the concours, whilst in the club area, a 250GTE and 365GT shared space with a pristine giallo 275GTB and local dealer www.maranello.nl displayed a 330GT MK2.

Almar Gouweloos's Lancia Aurelia Spyder attracted much attention and looked stunning in black, Koos Visser’s Abarth OT 1300 and Edwin Hatenboer’s Iso Rivolta Bertone are both rarities and Michael Bortien’s Maserati 3500GT Vignale Spyder won the Concorso Italiano overall.

Most events normally have one car that gets everyone’s attention and Het Loo was no different - original and unrestored, Jerry Bootsma’s pre war Alfa Romeo 312C Grand Prix car was undoubtedly the most photographed car of the weekend.

My next classic event will be 'See Red' at Donington Park this weekend. Where a strong FOC presence on the infield and two full days of varied, high quality racing will celebrate the 100 th anniversary of the Grand Prix - see you there!