Ford's largest private collection

Last year, the sale of the largest collection of Ford cars in the world took place. She became one of the greatest events in the world of collecting. More than 220 Ford specimens from the beginning and middle of the last century were displayed at once.

The Pete Den Hartoga Collection - standard cars, special and commercial versions, buses, fire engines and race cars. It was considered the largest private collection of classic Ford in the world.

Exhibits owned by Pete Den Hartog, attracted the attention of more than 500 buyers from around the world. Bidding, a total of 10 hours, lasted 4 auctioneers.

As a result, the collection was sold out completely, and the money raised many times surpassed the estimated value of the exhibits. Buyers spent 6 157 353 euros, or about 7.2 million dollars.

The most expensive lot was the Ford Model B 1905, with an open body without doors, which was once purchased from the Imperial Palace Hotel in Las Vegas. Bidding for it was the longest at the auction, and in the end the car went to the buyer for 419,750 euros.

In the second place is his receiver - the Ford Model K with a phaeton body, sold for 345,000 euros. The first 6-cylinder car Ford, produced in 1906-1908, was even more powerful, more expensive and more luxurious than the Ford Model B.

Unusual specimens have attracted increased interest: a snowmobile based on the Ford Model A of 1930, and a mobile shop for the production and sale of popcorn based on the Ford Model AA of 1928.

In 1997, Pete Den Hartog opened access to his collection to the public by founding a private museum in the city of Hillegom (the Netherlands), listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest Ford car museum in the world.