Yesterday we went to a car show near the Belgium border. We had never been there before but I heard from Marjo's cousin that it was a great event. At 9 AM we left home and we were very disapointed by the weather, it was raining a little After a smooth drive of about 1 1/2 hour including a 4 1/2 mile long tunnel (what a great sound my SF has ) we arrived there and it was still raining.
We registered and found a nice place to park the car as there were not a lot of cars around at that time. But when the rain stopped around noon it got really crowded there and they even didn't have enough room to park all cars. The limit was 200 registered cars but they kept coming.
And it seemed like the whole town was walking around to have a look at the cars. The 59 got a lot of attention as it is a rare bird around here and I answered a million questions.
Then at 3.30 it was time for the "Concours d'Elegance", a short drive through the town and then a stop in front of City Hall where some people were interviewed by the speaker. A big crowd there too.
start of the Concours d'Elegancenear City Hallthe speaker
After we returned to the original parking I met with Davy Borghys a former 59 Suburban owner from Belgium. We had a lot of fun and met a lot of wonderful people during the day, and even one guy who knew right away that my car was not a Christine! Ever since I bought this car in 2001 I think this is the first time it was immediately recognized as a 59 Sport Fury
Here are some pictures for you all, I concentrated on the cars that you don't see everyday in the US.
a bunch of old Fiat 500'sA converted 57 Caddy (was a hardtop until a couple of years ago)59 Ford with a Rock 'n Roll family, the first show they attended after working on the car for several yearsA 52 Opel, still their first car! Bought new by the gentleman's father
a couple wearing their traditional costume, 50 years ago everybody was dressed in these costumes there!a 1928 Franklin in outstanding condition, my nr 1 at the showkeep your distance, I have four wheel brakes!A Jaguar E typeA couple of the East German icon the TrabbiA special part was reserved for oldtimer farm vehiclesI wasn't the only PlymouthThe car for the kids, it had moving headlights, could blink an eye while dropping the bumper and wiggle with the antenna. I heard it could also squirt water to the kids but I haven't seen that myselfA 1968 Vignale Gamine
Ron, neat picutres! That's Herbie the Love Bug (VW) Of Walt disney movie fame! Kids do love that!
The Caddy HT to Convertible conversion looks pretty good from a distance... Does it have a convertible top frame or is it a Roadster style with no top?
Denver 59 Fin Convert wrote:Ron, neat picutres! That's Herbie the Love Bug (VW) Of Walt disney movie fame! Kids do love that!
The Caddy HT to Convertible conversion looks pretty good from a distance... Does it have a convertible top frame or is it a Roadster style with no top?
200 cars (and tractors) is pretty good show!
John Q.
The Caddy does have a convertible top frame, it is so easy to find parts when you drive a GM car These guys can buy a new car in parts and build, I would miss the challenge.
I checked the website of this show and they had 250 cars and the tractors were just a bonus.
Hi Ron - Nice pics. I hope that guy with his foot on the front bumper of that '59 Ford owns it - chrome is expensive. One of my friends?? did that to my car one time and he hasn't been forgiven yet . One of my son's just got a VW bug like the one in the pics. Not a herbie car but a white one.
Some pretty scenery there in the background. Large hedges, vines growing on houses, cobblestones. Reminds me of scenery scenes in the English TV series "Midsomer Murders" with DCI Tom Barnaby. I'm a fanatic fan of that show. But we have to get the videos from the local library, because that series is not shown on American TV anymore Again, nice pics.
The guy with his foot on the bumper is the owner! He restored the car himself and I hope he knows about the price of rechroming, in the Netherlands it is even more expensive than in the US I had both of my bumpers done in the US for 1/3 of the price I'd pay here for one bumper
If you know how to download and burn your own DVD I can give you a lot of links for "Midsomer Murders". A quick search gave me links to season 9 episode 1 (the house in the woods) and Death Shadow (don't know the season or episode). If I check other sites I am sure I will find a lot more. It is all free to download and the best thing is that you also have a choice for Dutch subtitles, what a wonderful way to learn Dutch
The show was in the most Southern part of the country and it is almost at the Belgium border, lts of quiet old towns like this one in the area.
Ron - Thanks for the car pitchuhs, real nice cars, all those FIATS reminded me of our move to Miami from New Orleans in 1961 in a 1959 FIAT 1100 we bought brand new. It was basically a VW with four doors, the car was our box, cardboard boxes took up to much room. I bought a car top carrier and we put a toilet paper box on top and filled that too. Me, Yvonne and Pierre (our dog) made the trip, 850 miles in 20 hours straight through. With the load we had I could only get it up to 55 MPH so we had to cruise at 45 mph. and that was before Interstate highways, two lanes all the way through every town in Florida it seemed like. I made the mistake of pushing the front seat as far forward as I could get it so we could get more "stuff" in the car. I ended up driving the whole way with my knees stuck in my ears. What a trip. Loved the car though, wish I could find another one in decent shape. My dad had a FIAT 500 for several years he used to collet life insurance premiums door to door. It was what they called a debit route, he had three books about 8* thick with customers that had policies and he would collect .25 to .50 cents at each stop. Those were the days.
Dick.
Ron Keij wrote:The guy with his foot on the bumper is the owner! He restored the car himself and I hope he knows about the price of rechroming, in the Netherlands it is even more expensive than in the US I had both of my bumpers done in the US for 1/3 of the price I'd pay here for one bumper
If you know how to download and burn your own DVD I can give you a lot of links for "Midsomer Murders". A quick search gave me links to season 9 episode 1 (the house in the woods) and Death Shadow (don't know the season or episode). If I check other sites I am sure I will find a lot more. It is all free to download and the best thing is that you also have a choice for Dutch subtitles, what a wonderful way to learn Dutch
The show was in the most Southern part of the country and it is almost at the Belgium border, lts of quiet old towns like this one in the area.
Ron
Hi Ron - Thanks for offer on links. I just found some sites where I can download. Thanks for suggestion. I think I will try that. (btw I have a hard enough time with English without learning Dutch ) I had to make up a listing of all episodes I've watched because there are so many and they can be mixed up fairly easy.
I just watched a new "Hound of the Baskervilles" the other night. John Nettles played Dr. Mortimer in it. Strange seeing him in another role. Very good actor.
As long as I got you on the line........on May 24, 2009, Matthew posted a few pictures of '59's he found somewhere on the web. He put them on the "Show Your Ride" section. Link was "Just Surfin Around The Web". One of the cars happened to be my "59. Could you ask him if he can remember where he found the picture. On that outing I was with 2 other guys. One had a '55 Chevy and the other, a '71 Dodge Charger Super Bee. They were wondering if pics of their cars were also pictured with mine on the page Matthew found. Both these guys are non-computer guys and were amazed (as was I) that Matthew found the pic that was taken in little ol' Wausau, Wis. by a passer-by. If Matthew can't remember I might have to consider getting DCI Barnaby in to solve the mystery .
Matthew is not home so I decided to do a search myself, pics are taken by MNkiteman and he placed them in a folder "street rods and customs" So is your car a street rod or a custom
Thanks Ron & Dan for the links. Been away from computer for several days.
I'll have to show my friends their cars. They'll be surprised.
Street rod or custom? With the skirts, it kinda looks like a custom
Oh thats right Mathew loves 59 Plymouth Skirts! Probably because you can take them off or put them on in less then a minute. Only needing one hole in each wheel opening flange.Changing the look of your car for that period look!!! Or take them off for that less then streamlined look (coefficent of Parasite Drag increased without them)
I have an old used set in my basement Mopar liar that I will donate to the "Love those fender skirts look" that is coveted over in Dutch land.
Where should I send them to? Ron's house or right to Matthew?
John Q.
Last edited by Denver 59 Fin Convert on Tue Jun 08, 2010 11:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
After a smooth drive of about 1 1/2 hour including a 4 1/2 mile long tunnel (what a great sound my SF has 
) we arrived there and it was still raining. 
These guys can buy a new car in parts and build, I would miss the challenge. 
. One of my son's just got a VW bug like the one in the pics. Not a herbie car but a white one.
Again, nice pics.
