The Fate of the Sleeping Beauties

(Paperback)

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Description

Say `Sleeping Beauties' to committed car enthusiasts and they will immediately know what you're talking about: a world famous 1980s photo series, showing an extraordinary collection of classical automobiles rusting away in a French barn, neglected by their owner. Famous brands like Bugatti, Lancia, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Cord and Aston Martin, laying under thick layers of dust, spending their remaining days falling apart in isolation. Many have tried to find out what happened to these cars over the last twenty-five years - decayed destroyed sold - but all leads fizzled out ... until two Dutchmen and a German hung on where others had given up. In true Boy's Own style, their book tells of the three-year-long search for the fate of the cars from that French barn. It tells the story behind the collection's origins in 1948, through the moment in 1983 when the famous photos were published, up to the day in 2007 when the authors talked to the current 79 year old owner - a man who finally broke his silence about the fate of his collection for the first time in 25 years.

Reviews

If you missed this book first time around, it makes fascinating reading. Jowetteer. The contents of this book are totally fascinating and also give an opportunity to appreciate their original owner, Michel Dovaz, and his driving force. Iain P W Robertson, Freelance. This book is truly delightful, and I strongly recommend you buy it. PurSang. The fascinating true story of the legendary Michel Dova collection of unrestored cars, has just been given a welcome reprint by publisher Veloce. The Automobile.

Author Bio

Ard op de Weegh is a school principal in Arnhem. His father had a fascination with cars, which he passed on to his son, and Ard is very proud to also have a son who shares this passion. Ard began looking into the fate of the `Sleeping Beauties' when one of his teachers, who was fond of Dovaz's Alfa 6C2500 Competizione, said shortly before he died that he had planned to research the collection. Ard started to investigate, at first with his son, Arnoud, and since December 2006 with Kay Hottendorff also.