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Passion for cars The unique collection of Thierry Dehaeck

Texts Thierry Dehaeck David Hawtin Marc Sonnery Leo Van Hoorick Photography Clara Hanssens (BOA) Jacky Bostoen (BOA) Bjorn Syx Luxury Leads Thomas Vanhaute Book Design Delphine Beun (BOA) www.lannoo.com Sign up for our newsletter with news about new and forthcoming publications on art, interior design, food & travel, photography and fashion as well as exclusive offers and events. If you have any questions or comments about the material in this book, please do not hesitate to contact our editorial team: art@lannoo.com © Lannoo Publishers, Belgium, 2021 D/2021/45/374 – NUR 462/656 ISBN: 9789401479660 www.lannoo.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders. If, however, you feel that you have inadvertently been overlooked, please contact the publishers.

Throughout my entire life I have been passionate about beautiful cars, streamlined coachwork and high-performance engines. As a child I was already very interested in special cars and lucky enough to be able to start my collection at a young age. Fortunately, I met the right people and was able to build up an effective international network, which contributed greatly to the accumulation of this collection. In the end it turned out to be a good investment but that was never my motivation I have always only been driven by passion! After some hesitation, I finally decided to write this book. My worry was that it would be considered pretentious, but good friends convinced me to share my passion with other enthusiasts and people equally passionate about classic cars. The collection has grown to encompass a wide variety of interesting and iconic cars, whose detailed histories feature in this book. In truth, we are only provisional owners of our classic cars; once we leave this world they will have new owners. This is the reason why it is our responsibility to research and document their history. Thus this book is a testimony of my passion and a record of each car’s life story. I hope you enjoy this journey in the world of classic cars.

Thierry Dehaeck

There was a rumour concerning someone living in Ypres, owning several cars in pristine condition, with ridiculously few kilometres on the odometer. I remembered having seen one of those cars at an event somewhere. So I knew Thierry Dehaeck’s cars and reputation before I got to know the man himself. I first met him when he loaned a Shelby GT 500 KR to Autoworld as part of an exhibition about Belgians at Le Mans. This also gave me the opportunity to visit his company, Cady Cars, and discover the collection featured in this book. I remember how impressed I was. Not only because of the condition of the cars, and partly because of the care and dedication of the owner. And I still am with every visit, partly because of the cars, but also because Thierry always has something new to show or has made a new discovery. The collection is eclectic - it only comprises exceptional cars - and at the same time it is very diverse. Not only are the cars special and in most cases extremely original, but the archives that accompany each of them are of a rarely seen quality. For most of the cars there is, in a manner of speaking, enough material to write a book. The library consists of several metres of accurately compiled documentation. In that respect, the book you now have in your hands does not do justice to the reality. Thierry Dehaeck is internationally known, not least because of his love for the Citroën SM of which he now owns almost all variants. Earlier this year, Gooding & Co auctioned American Jerry Hathaway’s SM record car together with an equally unique SM converted into a pickup and a custom-built trailer. Of course, I immediately thought of Thierry but I reckoned it unnecessary to email him the news, he would certainly know too. When I got him on the phone not much later, the big story was that he had bought an SM record car at an auction… I should have known, that’s Thierry alright.

Leo Van Hoorick Curator Autoworld, Brussels

Table of contents Thierry Dehaeck P. 9-15

Aston Martin P. 16-23

1999 / V8 Volante LWB P. 18-23

Bentley P. 24-43

1956 / S1 H.J. Mulliner DHC Design 7409 P. 25-31

1980 / T2 P. 32-37

1981 / Corniche Convertible P. 38-43

Cadillac P. 44-51

1964 / Eldorado P. 46-51

Chevrolet P. 52-65

1960 / Impala 348 ci P. 54-59

1960 / Impala P. 60-65

Citroën

P. 66-137

1964 / HY P. 69-73

1967 / DS21 Le Caddy P. 74-79

1967 / DS21 Cabriolet P. 80-85

1969 / DS21 Cabriolet I.E. P. 86-91

1971 / SM Espace Heuilliez P. 92-99

1971 / SM Coupé P. 100-105

1972 / SM Coupé P. 106-111

1972 / SM Mylord P. 112-117

The Rig P. 118-125

1973 / SM Opéra P. 126-131

1973 / SM Coupe USA Model P. 132-137

1962 / 250 GTE 2+2 P. 140-145

1965 / 275 GTB P. 146-151

1972 / 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider P. 158-163

1993 / 512 TR P. 164-168

1953 / XK120 FHC P. 172-177

1955 / XK140 SE Roadster P. 178-183

1958 / XK150 SE Roadster P. 184-189

1961 / E-Type Series 1 OTS P. 190-195

1969 / E-Type Series 2 OTS P. 196-201

1973 / E-Type Series 3 OTS P. 202-207

Ferrari P. 138-169

1970 / 365 GTB/4 Daytona P. 152-157

Jaguar P. 170-207

Ligier P. 208-215

1975 / JS2 P. 210-215

Maserati P. 216-247

1962 / 3500 GT Spyder Vignale P. 218-223

1969 / Ghibli Spyder P. 224-229

1972 / Ghibli 4,9 SS P. 230-235

1973 / Merak P. 236-241

1974 / Quattroporte Series II P. 242-247

1955 / 300 SL Coupé P. 250-255

1957 / 300 SL Roadster P. 256-261

1964 / 230 SL Pagode P. 262-267

1979 / 280 SL W107 P. 268-273

2011 / SLS AMG Coupé P. 274-279

2012 / SLS AMG Roadster P. 280-285

Mercedes P. 248-285

Messerschmitt P. 286-293

1960 / KR200 P. 288-293

Rolls-Royce P. 294-319 1939 / Wraith P. 296-301

1959 / Silver Cloud I DHC P. 302-307

1961 / Silver Cloud II DHC P. 308-313

1962 / Silver Cloud III DHC P. 314-319

Shelby P. 320-333

1968 / GT 500 KR Fastback P. 322-327

1968 / GT 500 KR Convertible P. 328-333

Volkswagen

Willys

P. 334-341

P. 342-349

1967 / Samba T1 P. 336-341

1942 / MB P. 344-349

Thierry Dehaeck Who is Thierry Dehaeck? I am Thierry Dehaeck, born and raised in Ieper, a historic town in West Flanders in Belgium. I am an entrepreneur in heart and soul (inherited from home) and a passionate collector of vintage cars, or more specifically exceptional classic cars. With an emphasis on exceptional. I carry that passion from when I was young. I remember the spark. I was barely 6 years old when my father bought a Chevrolet Impala Coupé. It became an ‘Aha experience’. As a child, cleaning that car was my utmost happiness. My father once said that I was born with a car in the stomach! When I was 16 years old, I travelled to the US for the first time, where my love for American cars only grew. I bought a classic car myself when I was 19: a large 1965 Cadillac Sedan, that I sold a year later to friends of my parents who loved it. On my honeymoon in the US (1982) I bought two Cadillacs. I had both cars transferred to Ypres and sold them a little while later with a nice profit. The question mark that my father initially put behind my purchases quickly turned into exclamation points of admiration. That scenario - buying and selling unique models - continued and that is why I decided in 1985 to transfer this activity to a new company: Cady Cars, or Collection Automobiles Dehaeck Ypres. Next to my own private collection, Cady Cars has grown to a reputed garage not only selling ‘oldies’, but also employing six passionate employees offering an unparalleled service, going from total restoration to repairs, maintenance and coachwork, at the service of all classic car owners. In 2016 my wife Anne and myself sold our pastry shells company Pidy. This gave me even more time to devote myself to classic cars from a bygone era and therefore realizing my life’s dream every day.

Our company video.

Thierry Dehaeck

The collection now? Lovers of classic cars can indulge themselves with what you can often call ‘museum pieces’ without exaggeration. The pictures at the start of this book give a preview of the offer. My collection is special because I never limited myself to one or two brands, but have an eye for many brands: Aston Martin, Citroën, Bentley, Ferrari, Mercedes, Maserati, Rolls-Royce, Cadillac, Jaguar, Shelby, in addition to a series of other brands. The common thread through the collection is simple: the cars need to be iconic and difficult to find or ones of which only a limited number were built. My mission as an avid collector has always been: by differentiating you realize added value.

Thierry Dehaeck

A filing cabinet full of stories Collecting vintage cars is one thing. Gathering knowledge about all those beautiful models is something else, and the latter always fascinated me: What is the history of the car, who were the owners, how is the car documented, what is technically special about the car, are pictures available from earlier times? In short: each car of my collection has a complete file with all possible documentation, such as: expertise reports, previous registrations, data sheets, FIVA identification cards, factory production records, publications, owner’s manual, maintenance invoices... I consider this aspect a ‘must’ for generations to come. How is that said that again? Anyone who does not know history cannot understand the present. As far as I am concerned, the same adage also applies to classic cars.

My passion for the Citroen SM I was 16 years old and I remember it like yesterday: the first time I saw a Citroën SM Coupé, owned by friends of my parents living in Bergues, northern France. It was love at first sight. I was allowed to go on a ride with Monsieur Maurice, in the car that at that time was given the wonderful-sounding name ‘Sa Majesté’. The Citroën SM was exceptional for more than one reason. Not only was the shape of the car du jamais vu, this dream car was also the result of an exceptional collaboration between two car manufacturers at the time: the French Citroën designed the model and the Italian Maserati supplied the engines. Today I have more than one SM in my collection. Perhaps the most special one is the Citroën SM ‘Espace’, which first appeared at the 1971 Paris Motor Show. This dazzlingly beautiful and streamlined car has both sideopening electric roof and sporty louvres at the back. The spectacular interior offered an unmistakably futuristic look. Strange but true: the prototype proposed in Paris at the time was never put into production. But today it is in my collection along with other models of Sa Majesté, and still looks as sexy today as it was when it was launched.

Thierry Dehaeck

The cosy retro bar and lounge Looking at iconic cars is always exciting and an experience in itself. But as a collector I have always paid attention to the environment in which the pièces uniques had to find a warm home. Just as the clothes make the man, the right environment makes the cars look more attractive. I have always adhered to the principle that everything about the story has to be right. From an elevated footbridge - an extension of a very inviting bar, a cosy salon and a reception area - the visitor can see the collection at a glance in bird’s eye view.

The bar is a warm meeting place, where adepts or old-timers can exchange their passion for hours, enjoying a good glass of wine, while going through dozens of photo albums of the many rallies and concours at which I participated. The salon with comfortable Chesterfields houses a library with lots of classic car books, some display cases with car miniatures matching exactly the cars of the collection and a red Ferrari cigar box for the cigar aficionados. The elegant reception area shows historical wall photos, display cases with very rare car miniatures and historical memorabilia, along with many trophies that I won on rallies and Concours d’Élégance. As at a real motor show, visitors can then feel, touch, and admire the cars. With every new step, a new coup de foudre will undoubtedly follow. In the collection is another unique piece: an original Dutch carousel from 1953. Again, a nod to old-timers is not far away. The carousel is equipped with unique children’s carriages manufactured by L’Autopède in steel and chrome. This brings us back to our childhood. Was this not our first time at a steering wheel shifting frantically the gear lever… The conclusion: pure nostalgia, that’s what my collection is all about.

Aston Martin

1999 / V8 Volante LWB P. 18-23

Aston Martin

1999 V8 Volante LWB