2018 Bonhams Den Hartogh Ford Collection Sale (Announcement)

Bonhams will sell the Den Hartogh car museum’s collection that includes the world’s largest Ford collection at a special auction in the Netherlands in June 2018.

Den Hartogh Ford Collection
© Bonhams

The Den Hartogh Museum’s more than 200 Ford and Lincoln cars from the first half of the twentieth century and more than 50 motorcycles will be offered without reserve at a special auction arranged by Bonhams in Hillegom near Harlem and Amsterdam in the Netherland in June 2018. The Den Hartogh collection claims to be the largest single-owner collection of Ford cars in the world. It consists mostly of Ford and Lincoln models from the period 1903 to 1948.

Bonhams Den Hartogh Museum Auction 2018

Bonhams will be selling at auction the contents of the world-famous Den Hartogh Museum, The Netherlands, on 23 June 2018. The all-day sale will take place at the Den Hartogh museum in Hillegom, just outside Amsterdam.

Rupert Banner, Bonhams Group Head of Motoring, commented: “This is an extraordinary opportunity, and one which Bonhams is delighted to have been selected to undertake. The Den Hartogh collection is legendary throughout Europe, and has been a pilgrimage for Ford aficionados for many years. It will be a pleasure to offer this astonishing range of Fords and Lincolns on site at the museum which has so carefully housed them for the past 21 years. Every vehicle must be sold and each lot is offered without reserve, meaning that both Ford enthusiasts, and the wider collecting community, will be able to bid for their own piece of the marque’s history.”

Den Hartogh Museum’s Ford Collection

The Den Hartogh Museum in Hillegom, the Netherlands, was founded and curated by Piet den Hartogh, who bought his first Ford in 1956. Piet fell in love with the marque at a young age. He was inspired by the Ford trucks used by his father’s transport company after it graduated from barges and horse-drawn carriages to more modern modes of transport.

Piet’s collection grew rapidly, as he sought to amass an example of every single Ford model, ranging from the 1903 Model A to more modern camper vans and even a Canadian police-issue snowmobile.

It is believed to be the largest collection of Fords in the world, and demonstrates the true breadth and variety of the American marque. Examples range from Ford Models A, B and C to ice cream vans, ambulances and fire engines

For more than two decades, the Den Hartogh collection has been a must-see for all lovers of motorcars. Such a magnificent collection, however, requires an enormous amount of passion and dedication but as a private museum became unviable and closed its doors around two years ago.

The incredible single-owner collection comprises more than 200 Ford and Lincoln motorcars and commercial vehicles, and more than 50 motorcycles. Each and every lot is offered without reserve.