Houten, It was busy, it was smooth. "Houten", as the "Central Classics" fair is commonly called, does not yet have the history of the ancient Car. But in the meantime 'Houten' has put itself firmly in the diaries of classic lovers. If there is a large line in front of the closed doors well in advance of opening time, it already gives the impression that it will be a fun day. Because classic motorcycle enthusiasts are friendly people. And you can never have enough of it together. And that those people can park for free is of course absolutely great.
A great atmosphere
The atmosphere in the three halls has an almost homely feel due to the rather low ceilings and the carpet tiles on the floor. And there was something for everyone: from top restored Harley's to 'as found' Zündapps with a delicious patina and everything in between. Of course there were all kinds of parts, tools and gadgets, but organizer Titus Nietsch has carefully guarded that his brainchild is not flooded by dozens of traders who all offer the same Chinese tools.
As mentioned, the offer was very wide. Prices in Houten were within the human scale. But the time when you found a Ducati Darmah for 4.000 euros is over. The beautiful yellow copy that we saw had a price tag of something like 11.000 euros. A barn find, a Suzuki T350 with a lot of work on it, got another owner for 950 euros. But such a T350 is now also a fairly rare thing.
The FEHAC and the museum buses
Funnily enough, the longest conversation we had in Houten was not about classic motorcycles, but about the Amsterdam museum buses. That conversation took place at the FEHAC stand, the advocate for lovers of classic motorbikes and cars. There we heard that:
Amsterdam museum buses will soon be allowed to enter the environmental zone
At the FEHAC members' meeting it became clear that the efforts to obtain exceptions for the access of old buses in the Amsterdam environmental zone have been successful. With this, the ESO Association, together with the FEHAC, achieved a good result in the fight against the exclusion of this local mobile heritage.
Mobile heritage as a new perspective
Initially, no one at B&W or the city council wanted to rerun the discussion about the environmental zone. For this reason, a different entry point was sought in politics: in the cultural corner to which heritage, including the mobile, is now included. There too, eyes only really opened when it came to local mobile heritage. The typical Amsterdam city and regional bus of yesteryear would disappear from the streets for good and part of the history of the GVB, an originally municipal service, would be erased.
Museum buses first overlooked
After archival research in municipal documents also revealed that the 'Environmental Zone for Buses and Coaches' was originally intended primarily to keep old foreign coaches from the city, it was clear that the Amsterdam museum buses had simply been overlooked in the formulation of the ban. That fact finally got the conversation going. In addition, the council member Mrs. Nelly Duijndam (SP), who herself has a lot of experience with sailing mobile heritage, was of great importance as a discussion partner and mediator. She was also the one who submitted the motion to the city council and successfully defended it.
Design an exemption scheme
The adoption of this motion means that the responsible civil service will now give the order to work out the motion of the city council and convert it into measures that will work well in practice. The FEHAC, together with the ESO association, is ready to advise officials. We are therefore far from finished, but the first important step has been taken towards a city that is accessible to the former Amsterdam city and regional buses.
