Opel 6-14-hp Touring

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

Flower bulb grower Van der Schoot from Hillegom bought this Opel touring car in 1910 and set off that year with two friends and a driver, travelling from Hillegom to the Mediterranean coast via Paris. However, on the return journey the car broke down outside Paris and the men plus their Opel had to go home by train. The Opel was stored and then sold after the war for 250 guilders to Jaap van Trigt, who effectively repeated the trip to Paris and back with friends. On the return journey they had a puncture near Antwerp, but due to earlier tyre problems they had used up the repair kit. Van Trigt then removed the sleeves of his raincoat, stuffed them with straw and used them as a ‘tyre’. This worked temporarily but the construction eventually gave way. During the last lap of the journey the car rode on the wheel rim and on arrival it was discovered that one centimetre of steel had been worn away. The Opel was repaired - although it proved difficult to find original wheels with wooden spokes - and enjoyed further jaunts and flower parades before being acquired by the Louwman Museum.