The Louwman family established a Dodge import and assembly business in The Hague, Netherlands in the 1930s. As the company's fortunes grew they began purchasing examples of rare and important vehicles. The family ultimately built an exceptional collection of some of the world's most important automobiles. A new museum has been built to house this collection. The address is:
Louwman Museum
Leidsestraatweg 57
2594 BB The Hague, The Netherlands
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/
This tour follows the route through the museum. The exhibit halls display the collection around particular themes.
A spectacular arch window framing a work of art
French masterpiece - Citroen DS
When we visited in 2016 there was an exhibit of Porsche police vehicles.
An astonishingly beautiful art-deco masterpiece - 1937 Lancia Astura 'pininfarina' Tipo Bocca.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/lancia-astura-pininfarina
1904 Milnes-Daimler Omnibus
Automotive Prehistory
The first exhibition is a display of carriages and pioneering veteran vehicles. These are all in original and unrestored condition.
Dutch carriage from the 1700s.
1887 De Dion, Bouton et Trepardoux steam carriage. As steam engines reduced in size and improved in efficiency, a number of attempts were made to built a steam powered carriage. De Dion, Bouton and Trepardoux developed this steam powered carriage in 1887. Several examples were built. In 1889 Bouton saw a petrol engine at the Paris Exhibition and recognized that would be a more effective power source. De Dion Bouton went on to become a pioneering auto maker. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/de-dion-bouton-et-trepardoux-steam-quadricycle and for details of the auction where this vehicle was acquired:
https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/HF11/Hershey/lots/r153-1884-de-dion-bouton-et-trepardoux-dos-a-dos-steam-runabout/190071
1894 Peugeot Type 6 phaeton, powered carriage. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/peugeot-type-6-phaeton-with-capote
1897 Daimler 6 HP six seat brake. This hunting 'brake' built by the British Daimler company was used to transport hunting parties around a landed estate. It was used well into the 1920s despite being archaically obsolete. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/daimler-6-hp-twin-cylinder-six-seat-brake
1895 Panhard and Levassor phaeton. P and L are one of the forgotten pioneers of the veteran age. They were the first to place the engine in the front, driving the rear wheels; a standard arrangement that remains with us today. The company still exists today but only manufacturers military vehicles.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/panhard-et-levassor-phaeton-with-canopy
1900 De Dion Bouton tricycle. De Dion Bouton manufactured high quality engines which were used in a variety of applications, include simple tricycles (above) and quadricycles (below). https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/de-dion-bouton-tricycle
1900 De Dion Bouton quadricycle. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/de-dion-bouton-quadricycle
1895 Buffem four cylinder stanhope. This short lived American marque produced the world's first four cylinder engine car. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/buffum-four-cylinder-stanhope-1895
1899 Worth Dog Cart. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/worth-dog-cart
1901 Darraq 8 HP. By the turn of the century cars were beginning to evolve away from carriage styling. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/darracq-8-hp-two-seater
1899 Panhard and Levassor Type A1 double phaeton. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/panhard-et-levassor-6-hp-type-a1-double-phaeton-with-canopy
Although cars of this period were extremely expensive and available only to the very rich, some companies attempted to produce a cheaper and simpler vehicle. This 1899 Goddu Tandem is little more than a pair of seats mounted on a chassis board. A tiny boxer engine, fueled by mentholated spirits, was mounted under the rear seats. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/goddu-tandem
What should a car look like? In the beginning there was no consensus, resulting in some very odd contraptions. This 1901 Sunbeam-Mabley motor sociable mounted its wheels in lozenge fashion. The front and rear wheels were also offset, making the vehicle unstable. A rear mounted engine provided the motive power and the passengers were seated on chaise-long style bench seats, facing to the side. It wasn't a successful design. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/sunbeam-mabley-motor-sociable
1908 Chase delivery van. Built like a carriage with a small air-cooled engine. It is extremely rare for commercial vehicles of this era to survive, most being worked to death. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/chase-highwheeler-delivery-van
1912 Phanomobil triporter. Phanomobil started building motorcycles at the turn of the century before branching into triporters. They became one of Germany's major light commercial manufacturers. By the time of the Second World War they were building fully fledged trucks. They eventually became East Germany's leading truck company. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/phanomobil-van
1909 Nagant Type D town car. Nagant was a Belgian car manufacturer based in Liege. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/nagant-type-d-14-16-hp-town-car
Veteran Cars
1899 Benz. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/international-benz-3-5-hp
1895 Benz Phaeton. Very much a powered carriage. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/benz-5-hp-phaeton
1899 Benz Mylord Victoria. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/benz-mylord-victoria
1903 Ford Model A. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/ontdekken/ontdek-de-collectie/ford-model-a
1903 Duryea. This American model was powered by a three cylinder engine mounted under the seat. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/duryea-four-wheeled-gasoline-surrey
1905 Spyker 12/16 HP double phaeton. This is the car from the movie "Genevieve." Spyker were a pioneering Dutch company that built cars into the 1920s. The museum has a wing dedicated to the marque. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/spyker-12-16-hp-double-phaeton
"Genevieve" (1953) was an enormously successful film and raised the profile of classic motoring in Great Britain. The film follows the rivalry between two veteran car owners competing in the London to Brighton Rally. The eponymous "Genevieve", a 1904 Darraq is also part of the Louwman collection. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genevieve_(film)
1900 Peugeot Type 31. Peugeot is the second oldest motoring company in the world. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/peugeot-type-31-5-hp-duc
1898 La Croix and Delaville 'La Nef.' An archaic styled three wheeler built in France at the turn of the century. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/lacroix-et-delaville-la-nef
Motoring fashions of the turn of the century.
1910 Stoddard-Dayton. Stoddard-Dayton was a short lived manufacturer in Dayton, Ohio.
http://test.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/stoddard-dayton-10c-4-seat-roadster
Vintage motorcycles. Note the Ner-a-Car 'single track car' in the foreground.
1920s to 30s
Indian motorcycle with a Chrysler Airflow in the rear. The Airflow was a pioneering design for US automobiles. It was more innovative than just 'streamlining' as it had a new, low slung chassis, self supporting body frame, safety glass windows and better suspension. Unfortunately, it was too new a concept for the market and its modern safety features were seen as implying the car was unsafe. The car was not the failure it has since been made out to be, but it certainly was not the success that Chrysler hoped it would be. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/chrysler-cu-airflow-8-sedan
1937 Ford V8 cabriolet. US production volumes were astounding to European companies. This Ford V8 model sold more than one million units. Such numbers were impossible to conceive in Europe, where even mass produced cars numbered in the tens of thousands at most.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/ford-v8-cabriolet
BMW motorcycle and French Voison
Mass production for the war - on the left the ubiquitous Willys Jeep from the US and on the right the KDF Schwimmwagen. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/willys-jeep-model-mb
The Schwimmwagen was an amphibious scout car developed on the KDF (Volkswagen) platform.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/volkswagen-166-schwimmwagen
Cars for the People
In war devastated Europe the need was for cheap, simple motoring. Capitalizing on the stuttering developments for a 'people's car' in the late 1930s, the German motoring industry produced a plethora of cheap vehicle designs. On the left is the Maico Mobil, a 'single track' automobile or luxury scooter. Behind is a 1958 Lloyd LT600 from the Borgward group. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/lloyd-lt-600
In the foreground is an English Piatti scooter. Behind is a 1951 Lloyd LP300, nicknamed the 'leukoplast bomber.' Designed by Carl Borgward in a rush just after he was released from imprisonment by the Americans, it was the first German car in the ponton style. Some believed Borgward was inspired by the Willys Jeep. Shortages of steel and other critical resources meant the car was built largely of wood with body panels of plywood covered with leatherette. The cars fragile construction and the ease with which the leatherette could be torn (and repaired with Scotch tape) led to the leukoplast nickname, leukoplast being a popular German brand of band-aid. The car was never more than a short term stop gap. As steel became available, the wooden body was replaced with steel and the 300cc two-stroke motor was upgraded and then replaced with a 600 four-stroke. The car's fragility and short production run meant that few have survived. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/lloyd-lp-300
Despite it's Italian sounding name, the Piatti was a British designed and developed scooter.
Heinkel Tourist A3. Heinkel were a German aircraft manufacturer. Banned from producing aircraft they developed a scooter and microcar. http://heinkeltourist.com/history.htm
1952 Opel Olympia. The German Opel Adam company was bought out by the American General Motors company in the 1920s. GM introduced mass production techniques to Germany, resulting in Opel becoming the largest car manufacturer in the country. The post war Opel Olympia shows American styling influences. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/opel-olympia-cabriolet
1950s Europe saw the explosion of the microcar phenomenon. It was a natural response to war devastated Europe's straitened circumstances. From the top left is a British Frisky, German Messerschmitt KR 200, French Rovin D4, Italian Iso Isetta, German Victoria Spatz and French Inter cabin scooter.
Electric and Steam
Electric cars are all the rage these days, but electric cars have a very long heritage stretching back to the earliest days of motoring. Early petrol engines were unreliable and troublesome, requiring a lot of maintenance and mechanical skill. By comparison, electric engines were simple with few maintenance overheads. In the early years electric gave petrol engines a real run for their money, but they were ultimately undone by they inherent limitation - range. A problem that still has not been overcome. Above is a 1905 Hedag Electric Brougham. Built in Hamburg, Germany as a taxi, it has quite old fashioned styling. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/hedag-electric-brougham
1912 Detroit Electric Brougham. Detroit Electric were an extremely successful manufacturer, turning out some 1500 cars a year. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/detroit-electric-clear-vision-brougham
1912 Baker Electric. Like the Detroit Electric, Baker retained the archaic styling of the turn of the century horseless carriages. They also used tiller steering at a time. They still retained a market however, remaining in business until the 1920s. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/baker-electric-coupe
1906 Stanley Steamer Model F. Stanley began building steam powered cars at the turn of the century and would be a market leader into the 1920s. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/stanley-20-hp-model-f-touring-car
1907 Bikkers Steam Car. Bikkers was a Dutch fire appliance company. They built fire engines and this, public sanitation vehicle. The steam engine not only powered the vehicle itself but a pump engine used to clear the streets. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/bikkers-steam-car
1903 White Model C Steam Car. White were probably the leading steam motor company in the US. White's were used as the US President's official motor vehicle. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/white-model-c-steam-car-demi-limousine
1916 Owen Magnetic M 25-4 used an unique magnetic transmission. It proved to be an effective method and the company went out of business in 1921. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/owen-magnetic-m-25-4
1917 Woods Dual Power. This car used a hybrid petrol engine and electric drive. This idea of using a petrol engine as a generator for an electric drive was also employed by Ferdinand Porsche in 1898 in the Lohner electric car. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/woods-dual-power
Two wartime French electric cars. On the left is the 1941 Peugeot VLV and on the right, 1942 Breguet A2W.
During the German occupation, petrol was confiscated for military use. The French automotive firms, such as Peugeot, Renault and Citroen, were diverted to war production for the Germans and civilian car production stopped. To fill the desperate transport gap Peugeot developed this small electric runabout. It seats two in tandem and its batteries gave it about 8o kilometer range. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/peugeot-vlv
Breguet were an aircraft manufacturer who also produced a small number of high quality automobiles. During the war their aircraft plant was shut down but they did build 200 of these electric cars. The bodywork was aluminum. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/breguet-a2
Important French Marques
Left is a 1912 Eysink 10/12 HP, the oldest Dutch automobile company.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/eysink-10-12-hp
On the right is a 1909 Georges Roy. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/georges-roy-12-hp-touring-sport-torpedo
1909 Gregoire 12-14 Coupe de Voyage. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/gregoire-12-14-hp-coupe-de-voyage
1910 Peugeot Type 126. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/peugeot-type-126-12-15-hp-touring
1907 Panhard and Levassor https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/panhard-et-levassor-double-phaeton
1914 Panhard and Levassor X21 touring limosine
Panhard and Levassor's stunning art-deco X77 Dynamic of 1937. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/panhard-et-levassor-x77-dynamic
Panhard and Levassor Dynamic
Amilcar
1935 Graham Model 65 Standard Six. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/graham-model-65-standard-six
1927 Franklin 11B. Franklin cars were powered by air-cooled engines, not that you could see from the outside as the cars had a false radiator. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/franklin-11-b-sedan
Budget Cars of the People
From the earliest years of motoring people attempted to develop a budget car that was affordable for everyone. The bottom rung on the motoring ladder was the cycle car, a very light car often built with motorcycle components. This example is a 1920 Briggs and Stratton Flyer from the US. Nicknamed the buckboard, due to its wooden buckboard-like chassis, it was absolutely bare bones motoring. The flyer could be purchased from a mail catalogue and was simple enough to put together with a modicum of technical skill. The Flyer was powered by a 200cc 2 horsepower motorcycle engine attached to a driving wheel. There was no clutch; the wheel was simply raised from the road by a cable. Obviously it was not a practical vehicle for all weather conditions. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/briggs-and-stratton-flyer-1920
1912 Cyclon Cyclonette. The Cyclonette was similar in concept to the Framo and Phanomen with their simple air-cooled engine placed atop the front wheel. They were available as a sedan as well as a commercial.
1921 Tamplin Cycle Car. https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/tamplin-cycle-car
1923 LSD Family Model. It's a trip! https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/Ontdekken/Ontdek-de-collectie/lsd-family-model
Work in Progress!! The museum is huge and there are several more wings to cover. Stay tuned for updates.
No comments:
Post a Comment