For the 15th time, around 600 classic American rides were present at this yearly car show, held in the south of the Netherlands. As usual, there was a grand collection of Corvettes, Camaros, Firebirds and unavoidable Mustangs (the Opel Kadett, gen A to E, among the US classics over here). But today and in the second instalment, you’ll only see them in the background. There were simply too much other cool motor cars on display.
The show was held on September 4, a warm and sunny Sunday. Now let’s hit the withered grass.
1979 Lincoln Continental, barely fitting in the Dutch Province of Limburg when pointing its engine room west or east.
1978 Cadillac Coupe DeVille.
1966 Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible.
1950 Chevrolet Fleetline Deluxe.
1973 Ford Ranchero 500.
1961 Buick Special Deluxe station wagon.
1968 Dodge Dart GTS convertible.
1975 Chevrolet Suburban.
1965 Buick Special.
1977 Cadillac Coupe DeVille.
1967 Imperial Crown coupe.
1969 Jeep CJ-6, powered by the four-cylinder Hurricane engine.
1979 Lincoln Continental Mark V.
1969 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu station wagon.
1978 Chevrolet K5 Blazer with GMC grille treatment and some period correct patina.
1953 Pontiac Chieftain.
1972 Plymouth Fury Gran Sedan (that’s the four-door hardtop). A land yacht if ever there was one.
1974 Chevrolet Impala station wagon, registered as a (former) hearse. It was imported as a new vehicle, with its first date of registration in the Netherlands. Station wagons made by GM were the obligatory coffin carriers here for decades at a stretch. The Impala’s wheels and two-tone paint job must be post-mortem modifications.
1946 Dodge D25 Special Deluxe Sedan, basically a Plymouth P15 with a Dodge face.
Wonderful, this 1948 Packard Deluxe Eight Touring Sedan.
1966 Pontiac LeMans.
1968 Cadillac DeVille convertible.
1984 Chevrolet Impala with what seems to be the grille of the contemporary Caprice Classic (correct me if I’m wrong).
What a pleasant surprise, a 1963 Rambler American 440-H by AMC. The top model, with a steel roof that mimics the looks of a closed convertible top.
1972 Buick Riviera.
1972 Ford F-100.
1970 Lincoln Continental Mark III.
1967 Pontiac GTO with a tiger in its trunk tank.
1966 Imperial Crown four-door hardtop.
1966 Ford Galaxie 500 convertible.
1977 Buick Electra.
From Germany, a 1966 Chrysler New Yorker four-door hardtop.
That’s it for now, see you soon for a second walk around the field.
I can understand why you broke this down into a multi-part article: lots to see here. At least half of the cars pictured are quite appealing to me. The ” downsized ” GM cars you can keep, and the same with all the Ford products shown, but for the Lincoln Mark III.
So much to enjoy. This will mean a second visit to this article for more details.
On that 1972 Plymouth, the one feature that stands out to me was how the instrument cluster was so focused on the driver’s position. I like that as a driver, but it gave the passenger absolutely nothing to look at, other than maybe the radio, unless that was in the driver’s cockpit too. I was just saying to my wife yesterday that I wished my GPS screen in my car was at least angled toward me a bit more than zero degrees.
Great piece.
Looks like a ’69? Charger in yellow next to that ’68 Dart. Possibly a Duster next to the Charger.
Fantastic group of cars. Not a single one that I would refuse to drive. But I really love that white Lincoln and yellow Caddy in the first two pics.
Looking forward to the next one.
My what a large gathering of great American cars. It really shows what quantity of primo vehicles we in the U.S. have exported to the Netherlands, and other European localities that appreciate our historical automotive exuberance. The quality of the vehicles probably exceeds that of the typical car show in the U.S., especially with some of the immaculate unrestored survivors. I look forward to seeing the rest.
A great selection, and looking forward to tomorrow. Random thoughts:
The US luxury market of 1977-79 offered buyers a genuine choice between the traditional isolated barge and a tighter, better handling car in a smaller package.
I cannot recall the last time I saw an early 60s Buick Y body Special wagon.
That Plymouth Gran Sedan was a car I was in love with in 1972. It is a pity that Plymouth could never get traction in the really high trim levels with the Chrysler Newport sitting across the showroom. I would suggest that there were other color choices that might improve the car’s looks, but the 4 door hardtop that wore the sunglasses was the one to get.
Agreed about that Special wagon. So why the split tailgate window? The center part didn’t open, as far as I know. Hmm.
That Special wagon is special. I was wondering about the 3 piece back window too. I was thinking that maybe they used flat glass and “bent” it to curve at the two seams?
The center section of glass did retract. The one in our F-85 was power operated by either a dash switch or by turning the key in the tailgate lock cylinder.
And, if my memory is still good, the tailgate was one piece, hinged at the top.
The Rambler American 440H is my favorite today of this terrific collection. These were very rare; Rambler’s attempt to jump into the Corvair Monza bucket-seat brigade. With its antiquated flathead six, it wasn’t exactly as sporty as it was trying to look. But that makes it rather endearing, although I suspect with its automatic it was rather sluggish.
Interesting to see a clamshell wagon that did duty as a hearse. I wonder if that tailgate was helpful… Probably nice not to have to swing a door out of the way, but the actual opening is rather constricted for a wagon.
I’ve just searched for pictures of GM clamshell hearses in NL. They had an additional, somewhat raised floor. With the tailgate down, everything was perfectly lined up/horizontal.
What a great series of photos.
Back in the 1950s when the fastback 1950 Chevrolet Fleetline Deluxes were a common sight on the road I was not interested in them. My car idols at that time were the big go-fast V8 Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Chrysler products.
But now, with a much more refined sense of the classics (sarcasm intended), these post-war GM fastbacks are a sight to behold.
Here’s a local 2 door version I wrote up on CC about 6 years ago.
A fantastic selection of cars and photos! I had no idea there were that many American cars over in the Netherlands!
Beautiful pics, warms the heart to see the cars getting such love. Thank you and keep em coming!
No Bullet Birds?
Ranchero 500 then, please, usual shipping address….
How refreshing it is to see so many stunning 4 door pillarless hardtops proudly displayed. This unique body style is certainly gaining increased popularity, particularly in foreign countries.
Sadly, American classic car enthusiasts for to many years have simply failed to understand or appreciate the value of this unique body style and because of this, the best examples for the most part have left the USA for foreign countries.
It could well be, that correctly restored 4 door hardtop versions of 1960s US cars now rate as the rarest of all body styles.
Some might claim that a ‘4 door car’ is not a “sports car”, but that claim of course falls apart when you consider Pontiacs G8 or Chevrolets Australian manufactured Chevy SS. Both of these cars were fixed ‘B’ pillar 4 door models.
Love the 4 door pillarless hardtops, a body style that we only had for a little over 20 years, from around 1955 to the mid 1970s.
Agreed, my ’69 Cutlass Holiday Sports Sedan 4 dr hardtop is quite rare, I’ve never seen another at a show, even the OCA Nationals. A sporty and handsome yet very practical body style. The Europeans seemed to have discovered this, here not so much.
Great selection of pics Johannes. Really like that most owners have kept them stock, exactly how I remember them looking on the street.
Outstanding collection of cars! This is one of those shows where I look at the pictures and wish I was there.
As a admirer of often-overlooked cars, I’ll pick the ’77 Electra as my favorite – both for the condition, and for the fact that this era of Buick B-body (particularly the 4-doors) seems to have completely vanished.
Wow, what a great collection! I think you could spend an entire year in the US city of your choice and attend every car show they have and still not see all of the ones you had there.
Thanks for taking the pics and sharing them, I know the effort it takes.
The devil is in the detail(s): finding the correct and full model name (like the Plymouth I looked up once, registered model name Fury 111) and -especially- the correct model year. I can look up the first date of official registration alright, but that doesn’t say much. Peculiar: very frequently, an imported old car has February 28 or June 30 as its first date of registration.
And then there are folks who slap a GMC grille on a Chevy or a Caprice Classic grille on an Impala. There goes the distinctive grille that came with a certain model year…
But so far, so good for this collection 🙂
A Mark V without an opera window! Must be a designer edition.
I hope we get better views of the ’60 and ’63 Cadillacs.
It’s surprising to me that giant American cars have such a following in Europe.
Wow, what a trove of eye-candy! And I’m over here having fun zooming in on the lighting modifications that have (and haven’t) been made. Great pics.
You’re right, that ’80-’85 Impala has an ’81-’85 Caprice grille on.
The ’66 Chrysler New Yorker and ’66 Imperial shared space in the showroom. Which would you choose?
Chrysler for me.
I love the Buick Special wagon, I’m assuming this could be hosting the 3.5l V8 that Rover bought? I also really enjoy the post-fin styling of this era
Yes, it’s powered by the Buick 215 V8 (3.5 liter).