People collect all kinds of things. Artwork, vinyl records, sneakers, the surprise egg figures, bottle caps, beer mats, even the empty energy drink cans. There are hardly any limits to the imagination. It is not easy to explain why they do this. The only thing that is certain is that it requires a lot of passion. An obsession that the Dutchman Ad Palmen pursued for decades. In Dordrecht, 20 kilometers southeast of Rotterdam, he assembled one of the largest vintage car collections in Europe – not even his neighbors knew about it.
Most of the automobiles are covered with a thick layer of dirt and dust.
(Photo: Gallery Aaldering / Classic Car Auctions)
Palmen started his collection around 40 years ago with a yellow Lancia B20, but that was just the beginning. In a video on You Tube, one car follows the next. Almost all vehicles are covered in a thick layer of dirt and dust. One of the oldest classic cars is a 1935 Hillman Minx Tourer Cabriolet, one of the youngest is a 2004 Fiat Ducato Camper 15L 2.3 JTD.
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Palmen collected a total of 230 automobiles in two warehouses and a former church. A cross-section of automotive history: Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Jaguar, Maserati, Mercedes and Rolls-Royce. These include classics such as the Citroën 2CV, VW Karmann-Ghia, a Mercedes 300 S Cabrio or a blue Ferrari 365. Palmen didn’t just buy a specific brand, but what he liked. There were also around 40 to 50 Vespas, motorcycles, buses and other vehicles.
According to the auction house Classic Car Auctions, the vehicles should be in good condition despite the layer of dirt.
(Photo: Gallery Aaldering / Classic Car Auctions)
“Cars were his life,” said Carlo Te Lintelo, marketing director at Galerie Aaderling, a Dutch classic car dealer. the US news channel CNN. When Palmen’s health deteriorated, he had sold the collection to the company. The vehicles will now be auctioned off from May 19th via the auction house Classic Car Auctions. Since the classic cars are sold individually, the auction lasts several weeks. The value should be in the millions.
The vintage cars will be auctioned from May 19th, from then on they can also be examined by interested parties.
(Photo: Gallery Aaldering / Classic Car Auctions)
“This collection includes cars that are very special. Like the Lancia B4 Spider America. This car alone is sold for 600,000 to 700,000 euros. They are very rare, only a few were made. In perfect condition can they will be sold for up to one million euros,” Te Lintelo told CNN. Despite the dirt and patina, the vintage cars are said to be in good condition. Ad Palmen started the engines of the individual vehicles at regular intervals to protect them from damage. A Sisyphus task with 230 cars.
Rare vehicles that are marketed by auction houses under the keyword “barn find” keep popping up. So does the Dutch collection, which bears the title “The Palmen Barnfind Collection”. In most cases, however, these PR-effective “discoveries” are only individual classic cars. A previously unknown collection of this size is unusual. Not much is known about the man who assembled the cars. Those responsible at Galerie Aaldering explain that the 82-year-old is too ill to give any further information. Most recently he lived in one of the department stores. Palmen must have really loved his cars.