The "Museum Visscher Classique" opened its doors in Buren (province of Gelderland) in November 2022. It showcases around 80 years of automotive history with a focus on French brands. This in turn is linked to the family history of museum founder Henk Visscher. His father had a Simca dealership since 1961, to which the Peugeot and Citroën brands were subsequently added. Henk later took over his father's business and began to build up a car collection.
Two years ago, after decades of working as a car dealer, he decided to sell the business and turn his attention to something new: a car museum. In three halls with a total area of 3,200 square meters, around 150 cars - mainly classic cars from the post-war period and youngtimers - and a number of two-wheelers are on display. The museum also includes a brasserie, a library, an archive and a store. Young visitors have also been catered for: for example, there is a racing simulator. At the entrance, visitors are introduced to the history of mobility, which is illustrated using a timeline.
In the museum, the humorous museum director welcomes the reporter in German with a short poem by Goethe. Time for a tour of the museum. Not only can you discover automotive delicacies, but above all experience a unique spectrum of French automobile production. This makes the Visscher collection valuable in terms of automotive history. The exhibits are very well cared for and the room decorations are appropriately coordinated. There are QR codes on many of the cars for further information about the vehicles.
Double angle
Hall 1 houses cars from Citroën and Peugeot as well as two Panhards and a Maserati. The oldest car in the collection can also be found here: a Citroën B 12 from 1927 next to a C 4 1932. An 11 CV takes us to the DS, which is represented several times - including as a convertible. The series of large models continues with the CX and XM, the C6 and the spectacular SM from the brief liaison with Maserati. This is logically placed next to a relative: a yellow Maserati Bora. At the lower end of the model range, there is of course a 2 CV 6 along with various derivatives, such as a Méhari, a Dyane and an Ami 6, as well as the HY corrugated iron delivery van. There is even one of the few survivors of the Citroën Wankel experiment M 35: No. 470, one of the last vehicles produced.
Lion
Now we come to Peugeot and two cars from the 1930s that are unmistakable because of their headlights hidden behind the radiator grille: A spacious Peugeot 402 B saloon (1936) is joined by a handsome black example, a two-door 402 BE from 1939. The elegant car comes without a B-pillar and embodies the Art Deco style in its purest form. Peugeot's first post-war decades are comprehensively represented: There are saloons, cabriolets, estate cars, vans and delivery vans from all model series. A 403 cabriolet, known from the TV series Columbo, should be mentioned here as an example - but its vehicle was certainly a few condition grades lower!
The subsequent Type 404 is represented in several variants, as is the 504, including the coupés and convertibles styled by Pininfarina. The everyday cars of later years such as the 104, 305, 106 and 405 can also be found. The 205 and 309 even have their own section. Let's move on to Peugeot's first "double zero", the unsuccessful 1007 model. Despite its large sliding door and compact exterior dimensions, this model suitable for senior citizens was not well received at the time.
Let's end our excursion into the world of Peugeots with the large six-cylinder 406 from the year 2000. The two Panhard models in Hall 1 certainly round off the exhibition. With their air-cooled two-cylinder engines and astonishing cw values, they seem somewhat exotic from today's perspective.
Pentastar and Schwalbe
Apart from the exhibits of the Boer towing company "van der Zand", Hall 2 is dedicated to the Matra, Simca, Chrysler and Talbot brands. It is to Henk Visscher's great credit that so many cars from these brands are on display. It is remarkable that he has also preserved "commonplace cars" that were usually used up and are therefore almost extinct today. The journey through time begins with a Simca 6, a licensed version of the Italian Fiat 500 C.
The Ariane 4, still developed by Ford France and underpowered with a 1.3-liter engine, has American roots. The museum displays a beautiful, two-tone example. The Aronde with its Italian-style shapes is also on display. Also attractive is a light blue example of the Simca 1000, which was quite successful in the era of small four-door rear-engined cars. The coupés Simca 1000 (1965) and 1200 S (1967), the latter a real sports car, designed by Giugiaro in the service of Bertone are an attractive addition. The visually striking Simca 1000 Rallye 1 and Rallye 2, which are also on display, were also quite fast in the mid-1970s. Mid-range models from the 1500/1501 series are also on display. The five-door Simca 1100 with hatchback and tailgate was groundbreaking in its day, even if it is almost forgotten today.
The later era of the Talbot and Chrysler-Simca brands produced rather less successful models. However, the Talbot Samba, the 1308 and the Simca-Chrysler 2 Litres can still be found at Visscher. The Talbot Sunbeam Lotus from 1982 is also very sporty, and the Matra brand is also represented here. The Matra-Bonnet Djet ZS (1965) and the unconventionally shaped 530 LX (1970) can be seen in Buren, as can the now rare three-seater Matra-Simca Bagheera and Murena. But Matra is also important in connection with Renault. Consequently, the museum is exhibiting a Renault Espace from the first series as well as the economically disastrous but highly original "van coupé" Avantime.
Rhombus
Speaking of Renault: this is where Hall 3 and museum founder Chris' brother come into play. He has exhibited part of his collection of Renault and Renault-Alpine cars, which would be a topic in itself. Just this much: on display are the classic Alpine A 110 and its reinterpretation, a heavily widened A 310 as well as various Renault 5 Turbo and a Renault Formula 1 racing car, albeit without an engine. Another part of this hall is reserved exclusively for the Peugeot models 205 and 309, with the 205 model in particular being shown in a wide variety of versions. Still clamped in the bogie is the bodyshell of number 113 of 200 Peugeot 205 Turbo 16s built for Group B homologation. It is soon to be rebuilt into a rally car. Two unique station wagons are also on display in the museum: the prototype of the 205 "Nepala" (1988) designed by Belgian Benoît Contreau and the prototype Peugeot 309 Break by Heuliez from the same year.
Blitz
The museum presents not only French brands, but also cars from Opel. That's fitting, because nowadays Peugeot, Citroën and Opel are united under the umbrella of PSA. The small Opel collection provides a good overview of post-war production up to the 1980s. The spectrum ranges from an Olympia Rekord from 1953 to a Rekord Ascona (1958), Kadettes of various shapes and model series and a golden GT through to a Monza GS/E. Also attractive is a Rekord L 1900 Coupé from 1972 in bronze metallic.
Let's end the tour with a look ahead. The collection is constantly changing: if there are multiple examples, the duplicates are sometimes sold. "For example, I have four 404 Peugeots, which is too many. And I also want to part with one of the two Citroën C6s. But a Talbot-Matra Rancho will soon be coming to the museum," notes Henk Visscher. "And a mezzanine floor is also being built in Hall 3. The Datsun sports cars from the 240/260 series from my brother's collection will be on display there from June." So there would be good reasons for another visit, perhaps to rent one of the museum vehicles. Perhaps even the SM or the Columbo convertible? At least it would be possible.
Opening hours, admission prices and further information can be found at visscherclassique.nl
