A visit to the 9th generation in an upholstery business

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

The dying art of craftsmanship, you hear it often in the classic car world. The bar was raised with all the events, shows and of course, the internet but the number of skilled people is decreasing. We were therefore pleasantly surprised when we met father Tony and son Stefan De Bruijn last year at the InterClassics car show in Maastricht, where they had a stand for their upholstery business. On their stand, they had a lovely, mostly restored DKW F7. This car was rolling proof of their outstanding capabilities as they showed the several stages of completion of the upholstery. They invited us to visit their workshop in the Southern Netherlands, which we did last week.

When we arrived at the shop, the garage door was open and we noticed a Jaguar XK getting some fresh air. We were given a warm welcome from Stefan, who is now the 9th generation De Bruijn active with needles and leather. And he is the 4th generation in the classic car upholstery business, that started in 1929. It was clear that he and his father, both have an enormous passion for classic cars and interiors. The walls of the shop were adorned with rally shields from events, next to the many antique sewing machines. In the workshop, they were working on a wide variety of cars. From a large 1932 Rolls Phantom II to a small 1968 Mazda Cosmo 110S.

We were very happy to see that there are still family businesses with the next generation stepping up and learning a skill – delivering such a high quality product!

We would very much like to thank Tony de Bruijn bekledingen for giving us an inside into their workshop and beautiful family business.

Make a comment, ask a question, give your opinion, share additional information or start a discussion by filling in the fields below.