Sunday the long awaited Cadillac La Salle Club driving tour was held in Northern Belgium. The tour was organized by Dirk, Diana and Sven Van Dorst and saw the helpful cooperation from 1950s Eldorado Biarritz collector Gert Verberk, Cadillac Europe and Cadillac repair shop Garage Talisman.

A few days ahead of the event, the weather forecast looked rosy, but with only one day to go “unsettled” weather was forecast for that particular Sunday. Indeed, there were lots of low clouds and a gloomy drizzle when I set off on Sunday morning 8:00 AM to Grobbendonk, about 90 miles from my place. Due to the wet conditions, I opted to not take Pauline, the 1967 Convertible, but rather Louise, the 1959 Coupe.

With the newly installed fan clutch she should remain pretty cool throughout the journey. She did a healthy 75 to 80 mph on the freeway, which was corroborated by the portable GPS I had with me. Even with the slightly larger than original P235/75R15 tires, the speedometer is very accurate. (Maybe it was actually less accurate with original tire size). The temp gauge needle stayed neatly between the 1/4 and 1/2 mark, even after 1.5 hours of driving. Good.

The more I approached my destination, the more the skies cleared. By the time I had arrived, it was warm and a bit cloudy. But there were also traces of sunshine and conditions would improve as the day wore on. Upon arrival at the meeting point — a local hotel with a big parking lot — I immediately saw this was going to be a splendid day. A lot of Cadillacs were already parked in the lot and Louise graciously moored along the other land yachts. One hour and a breakfast later we started the first leg of our trip, a signposted cruise through “De Kempen”, the green part of Northern Belgium and through Southern Holland.

A bit after midday it was time to stop at the house of Gert Verberk. Some of you may remember Gert as the “Eldorado Snatcher”. His Cadillac Eldorado collection started with a 1959 Eldorado Biarritz and a 1953 Eldorado, but soon it would be expanded. Two years ago he purchased a 1958 Eldorado Biarritz in California. Shortly thereafter he also acquired a red 1954 Eldorado, the same one that had initially been found by Jeff Stork for another Belgian, also in SoCal. And only this summer a green 1956 Eldorado Biarritz and a white 1957 Eldorado Biarritz arrived at the Verberk residence. He missed out on a deal with a 1955 Eldorado Biarritz. So if any of you guys know of a very nice ’55 Biarritz for sale, do not hesitate to get in touch with me or Dirk Van Dorst, and we’ll pass on the information to Gert.

Although I had been in Gert’s garage before, I was once again in awe when I saw all those cars lined up. Surrounded by batwing aircleaners, tri-power and dual-quad setup, I could only marvel at all those nice toys. Dirk, trying to keep the driving tour on schedule, literally had to drive us out of the garage and into Gert’s garden. By that time the weather had become very nice and we could all enjoy champagne in the beautiful surroundings of the landscaped garden.

Unfortunately, I had another appointment later that afternoon in Bruges, so I could not participate in the second leg of the driving tour. But still I had thoroughly enjoyed the day with other Cadillac aficionados.

On the way home I noticed to my bewilderment that the temp gauge needle would move up all the way to the 1/2 mark. How could that be possible? Well, after a while I realized I still had the “rally plate” attached to the car’s grille. I stopped at a layby, removed the plate and now Louise stayed “cool” again.

Regards,
Rik

(c) Copyright 2005 Rik Gruwez
Picture albums:
www.classic-cadillac.com/gallery/album248
www.libertysoftware.be/eldoschampagne
www.kapperludo.com/gallery/album04