Vintage VW collection up for auction in Sweden
September 20, 2018
Anyone with a passion for classic cars and several thousand euros to spare is in for a treat this weekend, as one of the largest collections of vintage Volkswagen automobiles goes under the hammer Sweden.
Bengt Holmgren is putting his collection of around 70 original and unrestored VWs up for auction in the village of Palsboda, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Stockholm.
Holmgren's collection includes a VW Type 1 Beetle from each year between 1948 and 1975, a rare 1973 SP-2 sports car manufactured in Brazil and a 1970 Porsche 911.
Each car has a unique story, which Holmgren said will make it particularly difficult for him to part with the vehicles.
"Anyone with enough money can buy a bunch of cars and have them restored," he told German news weekly Der Spiegel. "But finding an original car and negotiating to buy it off the owner — that can take years."
Incidentally, the newest car on the auction is also one of the most expensive. The VW Ultima Edicion 1600cc, built in Mexico in 2003, was one of the last Beetles to ever be manufactured. The car was offered to the King of Sweden as a gift, but when he turned it down Holmgren swooped in a picked it up for the equivalent of just €11,000.
The starting bid for the car around €30,000, although some estimates put its value at three times as much.
Anyone interested in making an offer can do so online, but successful bidders will be required to arrange pick up of the vehicles from Sweden.
Holmgren said his love for the VW began in 1962 when he purchased a red Beetle. His choice was largely inspired by his father's blue 1959 Beetle, the company car he used as a postman.
Holmgren would go on to make his living on the road, founding a bus company and driving across Europe. After closing the business and selling off the buses in the early 1990s, he used the proceeds to buy around 46 classic cars from a VW dealer in the Swedish city Boras.
As the collection expanded, the large hall he used to store his classic car collection would go on to become a one-of-kind vintage VW museum, boasting the kinds of original you'd struggle to even in Wolfsburg.
The museum permanently closed earlier in September. Once all the cars have been sold, Holmgren said he wants to focus on his family and his favorite hobby, which (surprise!) involves motorsports.