Written by Rosemarijn Atalante Veenenbos

Since we were now in the barn find corner, I spotted another ‘dans son jus’. This was again a very special experience, because I saw two different worlds… On the left we see a Porsche 356 AT2 in excellent condition, while on the right we see the true ‘dans son jus’ 356. This is something that impressed me, and what you don’t see very often. Most special cars in this show I saw double or even triple, and I was not stoned! I saw a discrete ‘dans son jus’ E-Type between the other well restored E-Types on the stand of E-Type Center Europe. The ‘dans son jus’ look is something I really appreciate, and I hope we all will continue preserving rather than restoring everything to the finest detail. Although some cars can handle that perfectly restored look very good… like for instance our Delahaye 135M Chapron convertible super star.

 

Just around the corner, I saw an unfinished Mercedes 190 SL, a super sexy car that caught my attention. In the same corner, I saw a 1958 Porsche 356 A Cabrio, which told me to ‘mint’ (I know it is mind, but mint green…) my own business. Well, sometimes you also meet cars with a grumpy attitude… I wonder if you must first complete a study to become a Porsche expert, because there are so many different models within the 911 range. There is so much difference. If one 911 costs 250.000 EUR another one can yield just 20.000 EUR.

 

The barn find section also revealed a modest dusty 1971 Maserati Mexico, with V8 engine. I wouldn’t mind finding one!

I just want to come back to the English Bentley diamonds. If I was a gold/diamond mining heir, I would definitely give away a bag of money to get my hands on a this 3,5 Litre Derby Bentley coupé panoramique with Gurney Nutting coachwork. I am fascinated by that handsome face with its iconic well-shaped radiator, huge Lucas P100 headlights and the 3rd eye. Spiritually it feels right to connect with this car ; )

 

If you know Retrolegends, you know that they offer automobiles that fascinate you. As my dad almost ran towards a red 1948 Delahaye 135MS Pennock 2-seater convertible (a car he knows very well), I was in a hurry to keep up with him. This is not just any Pennock coachwork, it looks more like a Chapron roadster, very elegant and luxurious. Good friend of my dad Henny Kennis, the owner of Retrolegends, showed us some lovely old pix of the car. We agreed that the color could use a touch up. This extravagant 135MS really needs two tone colors on its wings in an even deeper red, this would make this car priceless. Another car Henny is very glad to discuss with you is the 1900 Panhard et Levassor type F, a 5 seater rear entrance tonneau. With a manual 4-speed gearbox and 4 times 850cc, this Edwardian can give you an unforgettable London-Brighton experience! You will probably be the fastest entrant between the struggling Dion de Boutons, as this beast can easily run at a speed of 80-90 km/h, even with five people on board. Just look at the lantern headlights, those seats and especially the chain drive. It was a fascinating meeting with Henny, who also told us about some of his most exciting adventures e.g. in Russia. I could listen to his adventures for hours, but I had not worked through my to-do-list yet, so off we went to the next stand.

Next up was the stand of our PreWarCar/PostWarClassic friends. They exhibited a very fine Alvis, a one-off 1933 Speed 20 SB, bodied by Arthur Mulliner, and commissioned by the Earl of March (Alvis photographed by Dirk de Jager, I am ashamed, because I forgot to capture this stunning Alvis…). On their table was a great book waiting for us. While we wrote our signature in it, because we are famous ; ), we had a chat with the one and only PWC Editor-in-chief Joris Begsma, a piece of koek (cake) of course. The book “Investing in Cars” is a book that every car enthusiast should have (dad, thats a hint…). Dr. Vincent van der Vinne, who wrote the book, told me about his research, and how he created the book in just one year! I was blown away by the result. The pix are from the best auction houses and the statistics from his own data bank. All this investigation cost you only 100 EUR, do I need to say more?

I also met some of my Amilcar friends at the PWC stand, and it was a pleasure to get to know Jos Cox and Kees Kersten. Kees has recently discovered a very special Amilcar barn find in the South of the Netherlands, more about this car on PWC. The Amilcar is a total mystery, but that is what makes it very special, they plan to respect this in its restoration. We, as Amilcarists, look forward to the upcoming International Cercle Pegase Amilcar club event next June in Vaals, where the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany adjoin. One of the themes there will be about the Dutch racing ladies who travelled across Europe in the 1930s in their two Amilcars. They drove all the way to Italy, and are true heroes. There will be a nice young lady taking their place in today’s era with her Amilcar CGS; more about this later this year…

Sadly I missed the Coys auction of this event. I really want to get into the auction excitement in Paris when visiting Retromobile, so let’s keep the auction talk for later. By the way, there are 3 auctions during Retromobile: Artcurial, in the grounds of Retromobile, Bonhams in the Grand Palais, and of course RM Sotheby’s, in the historic Place Vauban. I hope to visit them all, keep my fingers crossed!

Now the surprise that will change my life… Most of you will know Octane Magazine, and this fantastic magazine has also a Dutch edition. Top man Ton Roks and his team are in charge of the Dutch edition. Ton is a role model for me with loads of experience. For over 25 years he was Editor-in-chief of the Dutch magazine Autovisie, and now has the goal of making Octane Magazine NL the best automobile magazine in the Netherlands and Belgium.This is definitely going to succeed, and there is a young lady who will do her best to contribute to that… More about that soon, as well as my chat with Ton Roks.

The proof that this is a mind-blowing good event is that I have still not covered everything I wanted to share, after writing two reports! You know how petrol heads can talk for hours…Tomorrow I will tell you some more great things and a huge blooper! Peace : )