Oetelaar's Hillman

Something special...

What is better than to get married in your own oldtimer?

For us it was also a surpise! We had everything arranged to make it a beautiful wedding! The location was a nice castle in the centre of Wijchen (near Nijmegen) with just across the street a big partyhall to dance in. Of course a beautiful dress for Mayke and a proper suit for Stefan. Even the evening party was well planned to the smallest details. Transportation was thought of, but the Harley was not practical and the Bugatti is quite "dirty" and too small for a big white wedding dress. Conclusion: to polish our red Hyundai Lantra and ask Irian (Mayke's brother) to be chauffeur.

It was 3 weeks for the big day, when we drove through Wijchen to get Mayke a trial hairdo. On a driveway stood a red/black oldtimer with a sign "For sale" on it. In Mayke's family are some oldtimer enthusiasts, so it wouldn't hurt to take a look! Of course the owner came outside when he saw us looking and told us the history of the car and how he restored it together with his brother. Still we had no idea what the price was, so at the end we had the courage to ask! So, let's say it was within our range. On our way home, I couldn't get it out of my head that this was an opportunity to get married in our own oldtimer.

Two sleepless nights passed. I paid this man another visit and he told me that it was a Hillman Minx from 1936, and he personally imported it from Denmark some years before. That's why the steering wheel is on the left hand side, although it is an English car. Soon the deal was done and the car got an official inspection before delivery. From Wijchen to Apeldoorn is about 65 kilometers and you have to take the motorway because you have to cross two big rivers.

I can tell you that I was never this nervous in a car before! Fortunately the car has one of the first sequential gearboxes, so shifting gears and clutching went quite well. The breaks had to be pushed very hard and when they worked the car moved to the right. In the rear-view mirror I only saw the bumper of a car behind me if it was within 5 meter and the view in the wing mirror was even worse.

On the counter the speed came not above 90 km/h, but later it became clear that this was not even 80 km/h. So slowly I drove across the rivers, with every now and then a truck in the rear-view mirror. The steering is the hardest thing to get used to! The steering wheel can be rotated over almost 90 degrees before the wheels move and the big wheels follow every trail in the road. So keeping the car in the middle of the road is quite a job! With a sweaty back I arrived home savely!

It was obvious that some improvements had to be made, some were simple and others would take more time. Before the wedding the rear-view mirror was lowered and some black paint was put on some spots where the white primer was visible. Irian was honoured that he was still our chauffeur, but he got a test drive on an empty industrial estate first. Of course we took it for a ride ourselves to get familiar with the car and discover any possible shortcomings. It showed us that the kilometer counter didn't work and the fuel level indicator always showed 1/4 full. (Some combination, how do you know when to get fuel??) It became clear that a lot of people liked the car and took a special look at it! For the wedding we cleaned it thoroughly and the other stuff will be looked at afterwards!

It was the 26th of September 2003 when we arrived with the car, by then named "Benny", at the castle where the guests were waiting for us.