Oldtimer day Tzummarum with tour. Radiant centerpiece

Saturday begins, I enjoy Friday. The day started with a great report with the Mercedes-Benz 250 D Turbo from Asmes. Then Carglass repaired a star in the windshield of the V50 that had occurred in Switzerland, and the glass was given a coating. And then I had a wonderful evening in Leeuwarden in the offing. The Prinsentuin was the extremely atmospheric setting for Live in the Park. Friday was great, and the atmosphere of the festival in Leeuwarden still resonates pleasantly the next morning. In the meantime it is Saturday, and I am preparing for an event that has been given a special place for several reasons. The Oldtimerdag Tzummarum with a tour provides a beautiful, late summer continuation of the weekend.

Back to 2020. It all seems a long time ago, but it is still fresh in the memory. Within the one and a half meter era, the organizers of the event in the northwest of Friesland put on a great meeting. The relief was palpable. There was a kind of disbelief that it could happen again. And because of that, many visitors realized that nothing was self-evident. Certainly not in those days. Oldtimerdag Tzummarum met toertocht has always had a special tint for me.

I think that there - during that Saturday in September 2020 - the foundation was laid for today's success. You don't know - four years later - what you see. The plumage of classics is diverse, and the heritage is present in Tzummarum to a particularly extensive extent. Cars, mopeds, motorcycles, a few tractors and trucks: it can all exist side by side. The main street of the Frisian village is filled with all sorts of things. There is a fair. And participants of the tour drive back into the village after a tour through the area. Back to basics.

We do that ourselves in a small column. Arnold and I have made Peter's Scirocco event-ready, and drive to Tzummarum in a VW 1303 S. Peter follows with the Scirocco, and Johan fills the radiant atmosphere with the roaring sounds of his Corvette C3. In the meantime we pass a procession of classic mopeds, so we finally get into the mood.

We find a spot after driving slowly through the main street flanked by classic cars and people. Then we see it: this edition of the event has a number of big surprises in store. I see many beautiful Americans, two Suzuki SC 100 GX models and a trailer with a Suzuki motorcycle show the Japanese manufacturer a great honor in a small format. In Tzummarum I feel like I'm still half in Cannobio, Lago Maggiore. That's also why my eye falls on a very beautiful Fiat 500. The blue Ascona A from 1972 is the star of the show for me, together with a green Capri 1700 GT and the Capri 2300 GT. Later in the afternoon my eye falls on a Saab 96, which is built in sports mode and according to the factory specifications. The Swede increases my anticipation, because I will soon get my own model from 1978, with slightly more than half the power of the orange 96 that I see in Tzummarum.

It is impossible to name them all. But two cars steal at least a part of my heart, quite late in the afternoon. A beautiful R16TX from the seventies and an R10 from 1968 are - despite the difference in construction years - representatives of the French brand from the sixties. The R16 and the R10 emerged from the womb of mother Renault at almost the same time, and it is precisely in their conceptual contradiction that they show the historical philosophy of the manufacturer. And that is called: preserving the good and conventional on the one hand and progressiveness on the other. And I realize why Renault also had such a wide reach during the sixties. A beautiful moment, and I am putting it mildly. Can you hear the drums Fernando?

The entire classic heritage collection has been brought together by acquaintances, and also numerous owners that I do not know. Just as I have not seen a considerable part of the participating vehicles before. That last point also makes me feel good. It means that the classic car scene is alive and kicking. That it seems as if more and more people are buying a classic. Even if it is only to go back to the past, when everything was more manageable, and people chose a brand that suited them. But they did so without singing their own song. You can also see that historical starting point within the collection of classic cars in Tzummarum.

Young and old seem to increasingly notice the simplicity, the typical brand characteristics and the clarity of the technology. Concepts that are wrapped in pure recognisability. And that we find today within a great atmosphere. The heritage is central, but there is also a fair. There is music, there is no shortage of food and drink, and the large café is a pleasant resting place within the hustle and bustle, which lazily passes by the collection of classics. There is no discord, and things are pleasantly well organised in Tzummarum in all respects.

I enjoy everything I see, the people I meet, and as always I can't resist stopping at a stall. Is there anything else? Yes. I can't resist the scale model of Mondo Motors. It's a yellow Renault 8 in the scale 1:43. I'll take it for six Euros. I pay cash, and during a classic car event it feels good to spend the last six Euros in my wallet on such a model. There's no time for the Google Wallet right now.

There is - at the end of the afternoon - time to drive to Harlingen with Arnold. First he gets potatoes and vegetables from the local farmer, a nice custom from the past. The food - straight from the land - disappears into the front of the Volkswagen. That also gives a specific and nostalgic atmosphere. We drive - after we have picked up the V50 - to Harlingen. I drive behind Arnold and his VW, it is a beautiful sight to have the 1303 S in my field of vision. We greet many classic cars and their owners. And in Harlingen we eat fish. Toast to Oane, who undoubtedly enjoyed today. Talk to the owner of a Ferrari California about the excellent Kadett-C that we are standing next to. And count our blessings after a day that was good for the ultimate classic car experience in all facets. There is nothing in between. Not one and a half meters. And not an inch.

For Oane