My dad always tells me to plan and organize or prep a bit more, not really my kind of thing… The best days are when I get in my car unprepared to experience some great adventures! To name some very nice examples, I went to Denmark on my own, to join that great Bonhams auction of the Frederiksen collection. You can read those reports by clicking here for part 1, or here for part 2. Unexpectedly I left for Denmark, without any plan but getting to the auction in time. Where to stay? Just see how it goes, no commitments, just total freedom and fun. This adventure crossed my path thanks to a great friend who knows a lot about the fine art of Saoutchik and Figoni & Falaschi. That reminds me, I still need to write that article about Figoni… Expert Peter Larsen and his companion Ben Eriksen invited me to come to the action and that is what makes this blog so rewarding, these unexpected encounters! Peter Larsen is author of a number of magnificent books, so make sure to check them out via the Dalton Watson site.

The second example of a great day happened when I went to a friend I had spoken to at FB… It is always great to meet new petrol heads and I can tell you FB is a great feature to set up a bigger automotive network and making new friends, although it might sound a bit like madness, which it actually is ; ) Anyway, I stepped in my car to drive to a new adventure with some great cars! The second thing was, that it was the day before my B-day… One thing happened, which was the best experience in my whole life and at the same time the best ever present for my B-day! For now I will keep it secret… too bad haha ; )

The only plan we had for that day was just to tour around in a fine area and have fun with some beasty and legendary beauties, like an 8 Litre Bentley, which truly is a monumental car, still in original condition! These are the kind of days that suit me very well! Next to the friend who had invited me, I had the luck of meeting yet another great young petrol head. It got better every second, as the cars we took out of the stables were really mind blowing! It was my best birthday party ever, and I am glad to have met such great friends with whom I can share this amazing passion!

While we were touring around, we discovered a very cool place. We passed by a museum of war equipment, many tanks, a heli and some damn ferocious rockets. Several classic cars had gathered there, so we were most welcome with our jewel of a special 8C 2.3 long chassis Le Mans. I have never seen so many tanks and other war vehicles in my entire life, of which one was even a tank for special trainings, which looked quite a bit hilarious to us. One tank drove around to give the visitors a true war experience. I have to admit that when a tank drives towards you, directly in front of you, it is quite terrifying… I felt like an ant! I saw some other great places too, but I need to have some secrets.

I look forward to meeting all of my new petrol head friends, with whom I got in touch via FB, at Retromobile in Paris next February! : )

Written by Rosemarijn Atalante Veenenbos