Apeldoorn, September 2, 2001
For the first time in it's existence, the Concours d'élégance "Paleis Het Loo" was
a 2 day display of quality classic cars, instead of the usual single day event.
Enthusiasts from around Europe gathered on the lawn of the Dutch Royal palace
to enjoy a total of almost 100 classic cars.
These ranged from the 1907 Minerva in the "Edwardians & Vintage" class, all the
way to the 1971 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona in the "Ferrari Production Models"
class. The show was completed by two non-competing classes; one titled
"Ferrari Competition", and the other "Spyker".
The Jury
For the 3rd consecutive time Wim Oude Weernink was chairman of the jury.
Among the 15 members of the jury were some interesting international names.
Lorenzo Ramaciotti, who worked for Pininfarina for 21 years before he became a
member of the Board of Directors of Pininfarina Studi e Richerchi. Anothony
Hussey is a member of the Connolly family, of upholstery leather fame, and a
director of the Connolly company. Christian Philippsen is founder of the Concours
d'élégance at the Parc de Bagatelle in Paris and was Jacques Swaters' assistant
in the Ecurie Franchorchamps back in 1965.
Spyker
The Spyker display showed the turbulent history on the marque. The first three
models were build in 1907, 1908 and 1909. The fourth model on display, the
Spyker type C4 Tourer was build more than 10 years later in 1921. There was
then a gap of more than 80 years between this originally Dutch classic and the
resurrection of the name for the final 2 cars in the display, the 2001 Spyker C8
Laviolette (Berlinetta) and the Spyker C8 Spider.
These brand new Spykers were proudly displayed by Spyker's CEO Victor Müller
who also entered a prize winning 1932 Invicta S and a Ferrari 275 GTB/6C, s/n
7995 in the concours.
Ferrari Competition
A diverse collection of Ferrari Competition cars were displayed in class 12. The
display started with a 1956 Ferrari 500 TR Scaglietti Spider, s/n 0652MDTR
recently driven in the Mille Miglia Revival. A 1995 412 T2 formula 1 monoposto,
s/n 164 completed this small selection from the Barron Racing collection. Ferrari
enthusiast and skilled rally driver John Bosch runs the Barron Racing team
together with his father Jan Bosch. In only a few years they have collected a
diverse series of competition Ferraris that are driven in various events around the
world. The 512 M, s/n 1044 and the 365 GTB/4 Daytona Competizione, s/n 14407
are well known cars, that have been driven in the Shell Historic Ferrari Maserati
Challenge in the past two years by John Bosch. Chassis 086 is a F1/86 Turbo
driven formula 1 car that was acquired only last year at the Gstaad auction.
Ferrari Production Models
The main dish for the us Tifosi, was served as class 13, which featured the
Ferrari production models. Just like in the previous editions of the event, the
organisers managed to bring together a very interesting selection. This display
was opened by a nice original 250 Europa GT, s/n 0419GT presented by the
Belgian Dirk Libeert. Looking nothing like the sometimes almost over-restored
cars in American concours, this particular car had a similar appearance to what it
must have had 45 years ago when it was still raced on a regular basis. Nico
Koel's Black 166 Inter, s/n 029S looked as sharp as ever, but as this car was on
display in the same concours at Apeldoorn only two years ago, one might argue
whether it should be entered again so soon However, it’s always a pleasure to
see, so we shouldn’t complain!
The metallic grey California Spyder, s/n 1183GT was entered in the concours by
car broker VSOC, although they sold this car in March of this year to a Dutch
internet millionaire.
Next in line another convertible; the silver 250 GT PF Cabriolet of the first series.
In contrast to the California Spyder that stood alongside, this car's interior was
showing a beautiful patina and the proud and enthusiastic owners entered this
chassis 0979GT themselves. The line-up continued with Victor Müller's six-
carburettor 275 GTB, mentioned earlier.
The beautiful lines of a 500 Superfast are seldom shown on western European
soil. The same goes for this particular car, s/n 6043SF, which was owned by
British Lord Hanson for almost 35 years until it was put up for auction in
December of 2000.
The Concours at "Het Loo" was the first public appearance of this dark green
coupe, now owned by dutch entrepeneur Schermerhorn, who showed great pride
for this new car in his ISC Collection. Not only did he win the Ferrari class, the
Superfast was pronounced "Best of Show" during the prize-giving ceremonies on
Sunday afternoon.
The 275 GTB/2 "NART Spyder" conversion was not welcomed in the same way. A
genuine NART Spyder should have 4 camshafts, whereas chassis 7211 was
build as a GTB/2, that took away the chance of winning anything at all during the
weekend. A nice 330 GTC, s/n 9037 and probably the sharpest Daytona in the
Netherlands, s/n 14127 completed this Ferrari Production class.
Surely, this Concours d'élégance "Paleis Het Loo" has a promising future, in
which it could easily establish itself as an international concours like the Luis
Vuitton Concours in Paris or the concours at Villa d'Este in Italy. Watch out for the
upcoming fourth edition in the gardens of the Royal Palace "Het Loo".
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