The 2nd European Conference for Automotive History

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From March 29th till 31st, the "2nd European Conference for Automotive History" will be held in Den Haag (The Hague). After the big success with the premiere at the Cité de l’Automobile - Collection Schlumpf in Mulhouse two years ago, this year´s conference will take place at the famous Louwman-Museum. The program features about 20 presentations on a wide range of pre- and postwar topics from automotive historians, both from Europe, and also the USA. We will follow lectures about very special cars and/or the men behind them ("Three Decades of European GT Coupés Coachbuilt by Pietro Frua", "The “Carrozzeria” Minis and 1100s", "Ferdinand Porsche — Master of Mechatricity", "Maserati 4-Cylinder Racing and Sports Cars 1932-49", "Beauty in Cars: What Makes a Good-looking Car?" and lots more), presentations about restoration and preservation ("Artificial Leather Materials and Their Use in Vehicles", "Transnational Heritage Preservation and Automobile Appreciation") and other lectures are related to the place where they take place: Ronald Kooyman will introduce us to the Louwman Collection and Nigel Smith will tell us more about the Lancefield Lagonda V12, that is located in the museum.

The Louwman-Museum

Some years ago, I visited the museum for the first time and immediately fell in love with the collection and the building. The collection of over two hundred cars has been assembled by two generations of the Louwman family and was founded in 1934 with the purchase of a 20-year-old Dodge. In 1981 the museum moved to a new location in Raamsdonksveer and finally relocated to the new building in Den Haag in 2010 when it was opened by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. The new building is so special that a visit would be worthwhile, even if not a single car would be exhibited. It was designed by Michael Graves, a famous American architect, and features three floors and over 10,000 m² of exhibition space. I can´t tell about all the highlights of the collection, but be sure, every vintage car aficionado will be satisfied after a visit!

You will find “common” brands like Bugatti, Mercedes, Alfa Romeo, Rolls-Royce, Duesenberg or Bentley, but where or when have you seen your last Joswin, Duryea, Owen or Woods? From the period until 1910, the museum even has the largest automobile collection in the world. It also shows a large part of the 15 remaining classics of the historic Dutch brand Spyker, including the Spyker 60 H.P. from 1903, the first four-wheel drive automobile with an internal combustion engine. From the period after the Second World War, the museum, for example, owns a car by Winston Churchill, one of the famous Aston Martins, which James Bond drove in “Goldfinger” and if you prefer the Las Vegas style, a Cadillac Fleetwood, customized by Les Dunham and formerly owned by Elvis Presley, is on display, too. And if you like it even more bizarre, just have a closer look at the "Brooke Swan-car"! I can´t tell you about all the cars, but if you have a closer look, you may find out lots of interesting details about the collection and the cars. Some examples? Here we go: we can see a car, developed by the man who patented the staples - we can explore cars of five brands located in the Netherlands - the years of the displayed constructions cover a period of 128 years - we will see the oldest existing motorised omnibus worldwide - one of the very few cars with wheels mounted in rhombus shape is located at the museum - the American LaFrance Hook And Ladder Aerial Type 31-6 needs a second "navigator" to steer the rear wheels - and one more: different horns for rural and city mode were kind of common some time ago, but have you ever seen or heard an exhaust-driven eight-tone Gabriel horn, operated by a keyboard, furnished in the car?

But back to the conference: the organisers Thomas Ulrich and Anders Ditlev Clausager, together with Laurent Friry and Fons Alkemade, are happy to expect nearly one hundred guests from fifteen countries and three continents. If you want to participate in the conference, you have to be quick: the deadline for registrations is on Sunday, March the 17th and there are very few places left. So if you want to join the event, please sign in via the website.

Words and photographs by Hubertus Hansmann.

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