In the world of classic automobiles, everyone knows Bart Holland. No wonder, since the restoration company of the now 77-year-old founder has been an authority in this field for 45 years. The process of succession is now underway, which began with moist eyes during a Christmas dinner.

TEXT: JEROEN EKELER

PHOTOGRAPHY: NOPOINTSTUDIOS

The irony of the restoration profession is that you can give technical objects eternal life, but not your own body. A crumpled body? At Bart Holland they make a new one. A totally rusted chassis? Ditto, with the promise that the brown monster will never get hold of it again. During the tour, Bart walks remarkably sprightly through the halls of his company. "My mind is still clear, but the body is getting a little stiff," he says apologetically. Really? He takes the steps he warns visitors about with admirable agility. His respectable age he reveals only at the end of the conversation; ten years younger we would have believed too. A man cannot restore himself, except perhaps for a new knee or hip. The proximity to the magnificent automobiles definitely keeps Bart vital, and if not, so do his fifteen employees who represent all age groups. There is also the intensive customer contact. He always makes time for that, even when he is not spending his regular two to three days a week at the company in Boskoop. "Customers call our company a workshop," he says proudly.

COULD NOT BE MORE BEAUTIFUL

Day-to-day operations are increasingly in the hands of his son Bart Jan (25). 'He moved into our company house a year and a half ago. Of his own accord, he came more and more to the shop floor, where he smoothly mastered all aspects of the restoration business. He decided then that he didn't want to leave. He continued to study Photography and Visual Communication, now completing the final year. At Christmas he took me aside to ask if he could be my successor. I don't think I have ever shed a tear at a Christmas dinner before. I couldn't imagine it more beautiful.' The customers are fine with it. 'Of course they have always done business with me, but many now ask for Bart Jan. That is very pleasant. And he can handle it well. It's important, because during conversations you notice that customers are usually about much more than the car itself. Because a Triumph comes in, not just any Triumph, but the Triumph of an uncle who recently died. For example, his car has been in the family since new and the next of kin want to drive it on special occasions. So that the uncle is also a bit part of it again.'

SCREWS AND NUTS

Behind every project is a story. 'Look, a 1952 Peugeot 203 Découvrable, belonging to a couple who want to tour Europe with it in the autumn of their lives.' Next to it is a 1991 Volkswagen Golf GTI G60. 'The owner was finally able to get his boyhood dream. The car has been completely apart, because only then does it become perfect.' Bart Holland writes that term with capital letters, even when it comes to the screws and nuts you never see again afterwards. Through his ingenious 'Step by Step system', customers can have a restoration phased and pay for it. The sheet metal always has to be good, that's where we start. Then, in consultation with us, it's the turn of the engine, the chrome work, the upholstery and other things. In other words: have one or more phases done in the winter and enjoy driving in the summer. Because in the end, that's what a car is always about.' And they get better than new in Boskoop. 'We free classic automobiles from transience,' says Bart. With amused eyes, but no less sincere.