The difference between the men and the boys…

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It’s every photographer’s objective to capture that one image when it offers itself unexpectedly. This is one such image, we think, taken at a meeting of the Dutch Pioneer Automobile Club in 1962, when a great number of vintage cars drove from Utrecht to Zandvoort. But the participating cars of the rally have been relegated to the background for this shot, judging by the fact that the Panhard & Levassor is not even fully captured in the frame! It’s the crudely made wooden car in the foreground that’s the main subject here, and no doubt that's the designer/builder/driver on his knees next to it, tweaking a bit or thinking about the next adjustment.

If that boy was eight in 1962 he must be about 68 years old today. Is that you? Do let us know if you read this and still enjoy vintage motoring. How about that Panhard & Levassor, a 1902 model it seems judging from the sign on the windscreen, which would be 110 years old now?

Oh, and the PAC rally was a great success that day all those decades ago. From a period newspaper report we learned that 119 cars participated, coming from far and wide: “The passing motorists and the thousands of spectators in Maarssen, Breukelen, Hillegom, Heemstede and Aerdenhout were amazed: a Wolseley from 1904 behind a modern Taunus 17M; a 1909 Piccolo following a finned Chrysler; a 1913 Chenard-Walcker [remember that?] behind a Volkswagen ... An incomparable procession of great motor cars shrouded in petrol fumes, for could they smell, those oldies! The battle only started in its full fury on the Zandvoort circuit, where the cars took part in a contest in front of a packed grandstand.”

Words Jeroen Booij. Picture from the archive.

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