Opel 6-14-hp Touring

A special accessory on this Opel is the odometer in the hub of the right front wheel.

The Hillegom grower Van der Schoot bought this Opel touring car in 1910 and that same year set off with two friends and a driver on a trip from Hillegom via Paris to the Mediterranean Sea. On the way back, however, the car broke down near Paris and the party, together with the Opel, went home by train. The Opel was put into storage and after the war bought for 250 guilders by Jaap van Trigt, who more or less repeated the trip in 1950 by driving to Paris and back with a group of friends. On the way back, near Antwerp, they got a flat tire, but since they had already had tire trouble on the outward journey and no longer had any repair materials, Van Trigt cut the sleeves off his raincoat, stuffed them full of straw and used that as a tire. It worked for a while, but in the end the construction failed. During the last part of the journey the car drove on the rim, and when they arrived home it turned out that a centimeter of steel had been worn away. The Opel was repaired – although it was difficult to find original wheels with wooden spokes – and then did many more trips and flower parades before being added to the collection of the Louwman Museum. A special accessory is the odometer in the hub of the right front wheel.