Herbert Ahlers organized his first classic car market in Bockhorn, Friesland, 41 years ago, and it is still an event in the far north today. Bockhorn is certainly more than a meeting, more than a parts market, a funfair, a flea market, a camping weekend by the North Sea or a trip for beer and bratwurst and coffee and cake. It's all of these - and preferably in that order.
It is indeed difficult to keep track of everything. After all, there are plenty of bargains to be found among the 1000 or so market stalls. This was the case for Dirk from Duisburg, who got hold of a Yamaha drum brake for a TZ racing motorcycle. He doesn't want to say how much he paid for it. But his grin reveals that he got a very good deal. You can also discover a rocked-out Momo steering wheel for ten euros and so much more, but where do you start?
The best place to start is with a sandwich for breakfast at one of the well-organized refreshment stations. And coffee from a porcelain cup - not a paper cup. Then you work your way through row after row, stand after stand: Mopeds, motorcycles, bicycles, toys, decorations, clothes, antiques - and parts as far as the eye can see.
From time to time, you are distracted by small and big children rattling around the site on home-made vehicles. Then the sales area beckons again, where a first-hand Seat Marbella with only 29,000 kilometers on the clock is on offer for 5850 euros. Or a restored Land Rover Series 3 for 20,500 euros. Or a "big tail fin" imported from Sweden, a Mercedes-Benz 230 S for 23,650 euros. Or, or, or...
Some visitors are already overwhelmed by the classic car parking lot, because guests with vehicles built up to 1999 are allowed to drive directly onto the 200,000 square meter site - and become part of the attraction. According to Herbert's son Thilo, who took over the management of the market last year and conveniently travels from one end of the site to the other by bike over the weekend, there are probably 6,000 classic and vintage cars.
In any case, he has changed little of the basic recipe for the Bockhorn classic car market, which takes place every year on the second weekend in June. An estimated 20,000 visitors prove him right. As I said: Bockhorn is an event in the sparsely populated far north.
