The feeling comes first
In the Carel Wüst museum, opened on 12 April 2012, the feeling dominates. The brothers George and Marcel Wüst exhibited a varied selection of cars and automobiles on the second floor of the building on Mijlweg 81 in Dordrecht.
The wish to place the cars in a museum where everyone can admire them came from their father, Carel Wüst. That is why the museum also bears its name. Together with his brothers Cees and Christ, Carel had collected all kinds of cars. They were often in an unrestored state. They were stored in various sheds. Everything and anything was stored there that they didn't need at the time, but that was useful. Because if you have ever worked on cars yourself and are working on a restoration, you know that you always need a part that you have not saved. So when you have the space to store useful items, you do that and you never miss out. In this way, there are a number of nice things from the past in the Carel Wüst museum. Such as old tools and test machines.
How about an old balancing device with which you could balance the wheels on the car. In addition to the tools, many automobiles from the Mercedes-Benz brand can be seen. You are a dealer of the brand from Stuttgart or not. But there are also a lot of other cars to see. How about a genuine De Dion Bouton. Their rear axle construction, the so-called De Dion axle, is world famous. The construction is very clever and designed to reduce the unsprung weight. Another car that really stands out is the Volkswagen van
firefighter outfit. The so-called work horses and delivery vans are not often kept and restored. If you look in the cabin of this van and you see the pedals, you can immediately see that there was no safety feature built into the cars at that time. The crumple zone is zero and there is no room for an airbag. Next to the VW bus is a nice blue spectacle beetle that father Carel had delivered new in the time that they were Volkswagen dealership. Admission to the museum is free. For more information, visit their website www.carelwustmuseum.nl
Text and photos: Jacques van den Bergh, www.jbfreelancejournalistiek.nl
