The Louwman Classic Car Museum

Richard Simonds

On a recent tour of France, Germany, and the Netherlands, we were encouraged to visit the new Louwman Museum, officially the National Automobile Museum of the Netherlands. in The Hague.
The story of this museum, which opened just last year, has been 77 years in the making.

The Newest Classic Car Museum in Europe
Visiting The Louwman Museum in The Hague

Article and photographs by Richard Simonds

On a recent tour of France, Germany, and the Netherlands, we were encouraged to visit the new Louwman Museum, officially the National Automobile Museum of the Netherlands in The Hague.

The story of this museum, which opened just last year, has been 77 years in the making.

Louwman Museum (above), the National Automotive Museum of The Netherlands, is designed to evoke Dutch architectural styles and blend into the landscape. Below: Star readers have seen this car twice before. This 1929 SSK, one of 11 ever built, was shown by the Louwmans at the 2009 Pebble Beach Concours and driven on the 2010 Mille Miglia.

It started in 1934 when Pieter Louwman, father of the owner of the museum, purchased a 1914 Dodge Touring Car to display in his new automobile dealership in The Hague. Louwman was impressed with the engineering of the Dodge Brothers cars and had started importing them to Holland to sell through the Louwman & Parqui dealership. There is now a re-creation of the facade of that dealership on the main floor of the museum his son has built. Sitting in the service entrance is a 1934 Dodge, from the first year the dealership was in business.

The facade and showroom of the Louwman Dodge dealership.

The Louwmans’ dream – father and now son – has been to acquire cars from around the world that are significant in some way. Their categories include era, body shape, technology, and origin. The automobiles have to be authentic, unusual, or unique. The museum pays attention to the social significance of the car. Thus, the collection is truly a history of the automobile, with some early views into the history of transportation.

The story of this article has a much shorter history. It started in August 2009 at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, where Evert Louwman’s unrestored 1929 Mercedes-Benz SSK received the MBUSA Award for “Most Outstanding Mercedes-Benz.” Pictures of the car at Pebble Beach were featured in the November-December 2009 issue of The Star on pages 40-43. A few months later, Laura and I planned a trip to Europe for September 2010 that was to include some time in Amsterdam, so we offered to make the short drive to The Hague to see the new Louwman Museum that had just opened on July 2. We had expected to spend two hours, but we ended up being there for the entire day. What a magnificent collection in an amazing building, surrounded by exquisite landscaping. It was also a great place to be on a very rainy day.

While I was looking at the car, which was a fully optioned model, our guides showed me a device on the driver’s door. Knowing I was an American interested in old cars, they asked if I knew what it was, because their curators had been uncertain of its function. I told them it was an inclinometer that helped the driver assess the steepness of the grade he or she was on. Many early cars had gravity-feed gas tanks and had to ascend steep grades in reverse so that the carburetor would not be starved for fuel. If you did not have an inclinometer on your car, you wouldn’t know you were in trouble until the engine stalled.

After many years of collecting cars and storing them in various buildings, a decision was made to open a museum in 1968 in Leidschendam, known as the Dutch National Motor Museum. By 1981, it had moved to Raamsdonksveer but had outgrown that facility, too. So, eight and a half years before opening, plans were started for this building on the site of an abandoned plant nursery. The Hague was chosen because it is an important international destination and was in the Marlot/Reigersbergen rural estate zone. At this same time, Ronald Kooyman became managing director of the Louwman Museum and has influenced acquisition and retention of the collection as it is now shown. My thanks to Mr. Louwman, Mr. Kooyman, and the two members of their staff who escorted me through the museum, answered questions, provided access to vehicles, and made our day there complete. At best, this article is a teaser to show you the full benefits of touring it in person. Among the world’s finest automotive museums, this one is a must-see.

A competition was held to secure a world-renowned architect and landscape designer to do justice to the property. Michael Graves & Associates from Princeton, New Jersey, was selected as the architect. The museum boasts more than 110,000 square feet of space. Graves even captured an important architectural detail in the brickwork that is typical of Dutch buildings. The building is designed to appear smaller than it actually is. In addition to space to display cars, there is a large theater room, a conference room, and a special octagonal room at the back that is positioned in line with an existing avenue of trees, connecting the building with the landscape.

A Dutch landscape designer, Lodewijk Baljon, created the landscaping and restored parts of the missing Hague Forest to improve the ecological environment. It all has come together in one coherent and very attractive space.
The collection contains a broad spectrum of automobiles. Nearly all of the vehicles, some of which are rare examples, are in their original and often unrestored state. A prime example is the second-oldest automobile in the world – a De Dion Bouton & Trépardoux from 1887 – complete with signs of wear. A Benz Patentwagen from 1886, a “reconstruction” from Daimler AG, represents the oldest automobile in the world. The contrasts between the magnificent luxury cars of the 1920s and 1930s and some of the first attempts at affordable family cars are stark, as are the differences among the American, Japanese, and national European cultures and the cars they developed.

There is also a broad spectrum of other vehicles, including bubble cars, steam cars, electric cars, a hybrid car (from 1917), and racing cars driven by notables such as Tazio Nuvolari. There are eccentric cars, such as the Swan Car and James Bond’s original Aston Martin DB5. Beyond cars, however, the museum has the world’s largest collection of automotive art, including paintings, sculptures, and posters. In essence, there is something for nearly every interest – even a huge collection of model cars.

For those readers fascinated with movies featuring automobiles, there is a 1904 Darracq named “Genevieve.” In 1953, a movie of the London-Brighton run was made to show how competitive members of car clubs can be. It was called “Genevieve” and starred this very automobile. Of course, the Aston Martin DB5 on display is from the James Bond movie “Goldfinger.” The Louwman “Bond car” is one of the two that were used to publicize the movie when it was released. These are but two examples of how the museum ties its exhibits to the social significance of cars.

Finally, for those who cherish Benz vehicles, the Louwman has the largest collection of Benz cars in one museum. Even the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart cannot match the Louwman collection, and periodically contacts the Louwman to inquire about acquiring the Benzes. From my observation, the Louwman Museum is not too likely to give them up, not even to Daimler AG.

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