‘It’s like Beaulieu in a parallel universe’
Sam visits the Bockhorn Oldtimermarkt in Germany
Crusty car parts, battered antiques, motoring curios, broken motorcycles, dirty postcards, British weather, good beer, good beards, international eccentricity, mud, rust, music, revelry, a smell of stale petrol and an array of cars for sale that seem mysteriously more appealing than they would elsewhere. I can only be talking about the Beaulieu Autojumble, yes? Nein! I’m talking about the Bockhorn Oldtimermarkt.
I’ve often asked Beaulieu visitors from mainland Europe to recommend other autojumbles of similar calibre – and Bockhorn has always been the most widely trumpeted. At this year’s Spring Beaulieu, myself and fellow stallholder Eleanor Chubb decided that the time had come to infiltrate. My 1960 Chevrolet Corvair was chosen as our means of transport on merit of its adequate state of fettle and ability to cruise at motorways speeds in a quiet and civilised manner. It also has a large boot at the front and a rear bench seat that ingeniously gobbles itself up to form a commodious flat load space. This enabled us to heave in enough autojumble tat to justify a pitch in Sunday’s Kofferraumverkauf ('luggage space sale') – Bockhorn’s equivalent of Beaulieu’s 'Trunk Trader' field.
Bockhorn is agreeably located in the northwest German district of Friesland. It’s a lovely area that bears a confusing topographical and architectural resemblance to the north of the Netherlands, which makes it difficult to remember which language to try to speak. We caught the cushy overnight ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland, enjoyed a leisurely cultural tour across the Netherlands and arrived near Bockhorn with ample time to find a hotel and acquaint ourselves with local beer and prandial specialities, which were mostly pork-based. The main local brew, incidentally, is a deliciously tart pilsner called Jever. Refreshingly, you’re never more than a few hundred metres from a bar serving it in industrial quantities at the Oldtimermarkt.
Jumblist massive…
We rolled into Bockhorn not-that-early on Saturday. Anyone that turns up in a car built before 1985 gets free entry and access to a separate parking area adjacent to the autojumble. This is a masterstroke. It precipitated one of the largest and most interesting exhibitions of classic cars that I’ve ever had the pleasure of mooching around in.
Shiny Lamborghinis were parked alongside scruffy Citroën 2CVS and steampunk Lanz Bulldog tractors in a totally non-judgemental manner. The array of bread-and-butter German classics was, from our perspective, highly exotic. German Fords, DKWS, NSUS, Volkswagen variants and lesserspotted Opels abounded. Handsome Borgwards, Hansas, Goliaths and Lloyds built in nearby Bremen were displayed in a quantity I’ve never before witnessed. A close encounter with a crisp Volkswagen K70 reminded me that I wanted one.
The autojumble itself was magnificent. It was like wandering through Beaulieu in a parallel universe with German as the main language, bits of Mercedes in place of bits of Triumph and superior sausages. Though it lacked Beaulieu’s wealth of vintage wreckage and associated eccentrics, there was still much of intrigue and the overall atmosphere was, if anything, even better. It was relaxed, friendly and – in defiance of the German stereotype – wonderfully informal. Pitches mingled with each other and overflowed into the isles. Officials were charming, helpful and unofficious. It was also huge. Two days did not give us time to fully peruse the car park and multitude of autojumble fields – and we never made it to the cars for sale section.
I demonstrated what I considered to be angelic restraint, buying only an armful of household landfill and an oddly exciting Bakelite cattle prod labelled ‘Electric Coaxer’. Once a quantity of Jever had entered my system, however, I found myself powerless to resist the charm of a 1939 Sachs autocycle at a very reasonable €1400. The problem of getting it home remains partially unsolved.
Selling tat in Sunday’s Kofferraumverkauf was enjoyable, if not terribly lucrative. We cruised home 100 per cent satisfied. Next time, we'll buy more time by arriving early on Friday and camping on-site. Before that, though, see you at the Beaulieu International Autojumble on September 7-8.
Sam Glover spends his spare time (not) breaking down in exotic locations around the world. He also maintains a fleet of 50 classics, from Anadol to Žuk.