Categorie: English

Sea, Dunes and Wetlands with Churches and Castles

On Sunday, September 28th, we’ll be taking a truly varied tour through the land of Thom’s youth: Kennemerland, around Haarlem. Country estates play a key role in this trip.

We’re expected from 11:00 am at a restaurant in Vogelenzang, where we’ll be welcomed with coffee/tea and pastries.

An impression:

The tour starts at 12:00 pm and will take us along the Amsterdam Water Supply Dunes via Bentveld to the Zandvoort aan Zee Boulevard, with its many inviting beach pavilions.

Then we ‘ll take the sea road, traditionally the most beautiful provincial road, straight through the widest dune area.

Verder lezen Sea, Dunes and Wetlands with Churches and Castles

Bad Bentheim Classics 2025

 

The last weekend of October is upon us again: for the fifth year running, the largest gay classic car event in Germany and the Netherlands kicks off! We’re looking forward to an exciting weekend in and around Bad Bentheim and the province of Overijssel. This year, we’ve created several special events to help you discover the history of this region.

When? From October 24th to 26th, 2025.

Where? We’ll be staying at a hotel in Bad Bentheim.

What? The program is as follows:

Verder lezen Bad Bentheim Classics 2025

DATES FOR YOUR 2025 GCCC DIARY

What are we going to do this year?

  • 28-09           Sea, Dunes and Castles
  • 26-10           Bad Bentheim weekend
  • 29-11           ER-Classics Ride (Saturday!)
  • 21-12           Christmas Crib Nativity scene ride

And what did we do so far?

  • 26-01           New Year’s reception
  • 29-03           AGM 2025 (Saturday!)
  • 13-04           Groningen
  • 18-05           Along the River Meije
  • 28-06           GCCC at Gay pride Saturday Zaan
  • 29-06           Plane spotting
  • 27-07           Picnic
  • 31-08           Leiden Pride Ride

 

 

 

 

 

 

What did we do in 2024

 

  • January 21:   New Year’s Drinks
  • March 16:     AGM 2024
  • April 7:          Steam on the Bulbs
  • May 26:         Past Perfect
  • June 30:        Much Ado in the Polder
  • July 28:         Picnic Ride
  • August 25:   Nijmegen area
  • Sept. 20/22:  Old-timers in the Kempen (weekend)
  • Sept. 29:        A guide through the purple rain (Soest)
  • Oct. 25/27:    Bad Bentheim Classics 2024 (weekend)
  • Dec. 15:         Christmas Cruising

What did we do in 2023?

  • January 15: New Year’s Drinks
  • April 15: AGM
  • April 29: King’s Ride (Metropole Druten)
  • May 28: Old and New Land
  • June 24: Summer Night Ride
  • July 30: Picnic Ride
  • August 27: Land Art Route in Flevoland
  • September 23: Night Fever part 3
  • October 13 – 15: Bad Bentheim Classics 2023: joint activity GCCC, Queerlenker and Motorboys
  • October 29: Gentlemen in ‘The Achterhoek’
  • November 26: Brussels with a Difference
  • December 17: Christmas Crib Ride

What did we do in 2021

  • 26 June: Annual General Meeting
  • 25 July: Picnic ride
  • 15 August: Ride in Friesland
  • 12 September: Narrow Gauge ride
  • 17 October: Coming Out ride
  • 21 November: Night Fever
  • 19 December: Christmas Cradle Ride

What didn’t we do in 2020?

  • 21 March: Annual General Meeting
  • 18 April: postponed
  • 16 May: postponed
  • 20 June: postponed

What did we do in 2020?

  • 26 January: New Year’s drinks with pub quizz
  • 8 March: Annual General Meeting
  • 12 July: Picnic ride in South-Holland province
  • 27 September: Dunes and Meuse and in between
  • 11 October: Coming Out ride in the Nijmegen area – cancelled
  • 21 November: Ride Gelders Vallei area – cancelled
  • 20 December: Ride in Achterhoek area – cancelled

More (gay) classic events:

  • 9 – 16 October: Gaystronotrip (Organiser: Ledorga)

What did we do in 2019?

De klassiekers van de GCCC geparkeerd op het plein van het voormalige Autotron in Drunen

  • 17 February: Annual General Meeting
  • 10 March: Nobody volunteered to organise a ride.
  • 7 April: Blossom ride through Betuwe area
  • 19 May: IJssel Valley ride from Teuge
  • 23 June: Green Heart ride from Alphen aan den Rijn
  • 21 July: Picnic ride around The Hague
  • 25 August: Smugglers ride in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and Belgium
  • 20-22 September: Weekend in Southern Limburg
  • 20 October: Autumn ride around Arnhem
  • 17 November: Saint Nicholas ride from Harderwijk
  • 29 December: 10th Christmas Crib ride from Oudenbosch

 

What did we do in 2018?

  • January 28: New Year’s drinks at Het Plashuis
  • February 17: Annual General Meeting
  • March 18:
  • April 15: Bulbs ride
  • May 6: Asparagus ride
  • June 10: Ride around Leerdam/Linge with optional valuation
  • July 15: Picnic ride
  • July 29: Nationaal Oldtimer Festival
  • August 19: Etstoel – Drenthe
  • September 23: Zealand
  • October 21: Ride through Twente
  • November 18: Peace and Victory Ride -Ypres (B)
  • December 16: Ride through Friesland from Leeuwarden

What did we do in 2017?

  • January 15: New Years / Lustrum drinks at Het Plashuis
  • February 19: AGM at Berkel Enschot
  • March 26: Ride round Hilversum
  • April 30: Ride through Hoekse Waard
  • May 20-22: Jubilee weekend in Noord-Brabant
  • June 25: Scenic Drenthe
  • July 23: Picnic ride Zuid-Holland
  • August 19: Cross Country BBQ Drive
  • September 15-17: Weekend in Durbuy
  • October  22: Ride through Mid-Brabant
  • November 26: Happy Touring through the Gelderse Vallei
  • December 30: Christmas Crib ride in Waasland (near Antwerp)

What did we do in 2015?

  • February 22:  Annual General Meeting
  • March 22:  Dalfsen area
  • April 19:  Gouda and beyond
  • May 10:  Around Groningen
  • June 7:  Surroundings Utrecht
  • July 19:  Aalsmeer/Zoetermeer Picnic ride
  • August 8 and 9:  GCCC Antwerp Pride
  • September 6:  Southern part of province of Zuid-Limburg
  • October 11:  Hellevoetsluis/Oostvoorne
  • November 22:  Varia in Brabantia – around Oosterhout
  • December 27:  Christmas Crib Ride

What did we do in 2014?

  • February 16: AGM at Audi Centre Breda
  • March 9: Opening ride round Breda
  • April 6: ‘Dollen tussen de Bollen’ (second time!) from Voorhout. Driving through the bulb fields.
  • May 18: ‘Op de hielen met grote en kleine wielen’, Leeuwarden area.
  • June 22: Ride round Apeldoorn,  combined with Concours d’Elegance Het Loo on the preceding Saturday
  • July 20: Ride round Deventer
  • August 10: GCCC at Nationaal Oldtimer Festival
  • August 17: Picnic ride
  • September 6 until 12: Scotland trip (organised by our members Hans and Emiel)
  • September 21: Dordrecht area ride
  • October 12: Ride through Zeeland
  • November 16: Ride in the surroundings of Roermond
  • December 21: Christmas ride in the provinde of Utrecht with an audio-visual talk on Thomas Mann

What did we do in 2016?

  • February 21: Annual General Meeting
  • March 13: Loosdrecht
  • April 17: Walcheren, the garden of Zealand
  • May 13 – 16: Eurotour (NL)
  • June 12: Limburg
  • July 17: Picnic Ride
  • August 14: Twente and Achterhoek region
  • September 4: (Dordrecht) Land van Altena
  • October 9: Nijmegen
  • November 6: Veluwe
  • December 11: Slides show with ride round Utrecht

What did we do in 2013?

    • February 24: Annual General Meeting (ALV) at Oldtimerland in Amersfoort
    • March 17: Shifting Gears along Shifting Sands
    • April 21: Tholen ride
    • May 26: Asparagus ride in Limburg
    • June 23: Ride in Twente around De Lutte
    • July 14: Ride in Kennemerland near Haarlem, with museum
    • August 18: Picnic ride, The Hague area
    • September 6 – 8: GCCC and Queerlenker Steam Weekend! / Unter Dampf! location: Veluwe (North of Arnhem)
    • September 22: Late Summer Ride in Brabant
    • October 13: Groningen area
    • November 17: Ride in the province of North Holland
    • December 29: Christmas crib ride in Belgian-Dutch border area

    Online photo albums

    The members’ area has the possibility to post links to your personal photo albums. This way you can simply share your photographs with your GCCC-friends. So, log in and place links to your photo collections. Or have a look at the many photo albums which go back to as far as 2003!

    You still don’t have admission to the members’ area? Ask for that by sending an email to: info@gccc.nl

    What did we do in 2012?

    • February 25: Annual General Meeting at Volkswagen Museum Wijk en Aalburg
    • March 25: Ride in the former barren grounds around Ermelo
    • April 22: Ride through the area around Edam
    • May 20: Royal Lands and Estates in the province of Utrecht
    • June 16: Border Hopping starting at Zundert _View the route and the photos taken by Con, Marchel, Bart and Arnold (in the members’ area)
    • July 15: Picnic ride at Gouda and Leidschendam
    • August 19: Ride round Hellegat
    • September 9: Friesland Ride near Oranjewoud
    • October 21: Autumn ride around Posbank, Arnhem area
    • November 16 – 18: Jubilee week-end ‘GCCC 20 years’
    • December 16: Let’s Go Wilde, presentation by our member Jan with ride in the IJsselstein area

    What did we do in 2011?

    • February 20: Annual general meeting GCCC
    • March 13 : Start new season with ride in the Achterhoek area
    • April 3: Spring ride in the area around ‘s-Hertogenbosch
    • May 29: Alkmaar turns pink
    • June 10-13 : GCCC presents Eurotour 2011, in the Belgian Ardennes around Verviers
    • July 3: Northern ride a day after Pink Saturday Groningen
    • August 14: Summer ride with picnic in Delft and Leidschendam
    • September 18: Fryslân ride at Lemmer and Gaasterland
    • October 16: Autumn ride around Schoonhoven
    • November 20: Ride in the North of the province of Overijssel with British high afternoon tea
    • December 28: Christmas Crib ride starting at Putte on the Dutch-Belgian border

    Succesful Eurotour 2011 in the Ardennes!

    VERVIERS – GCCC and the core team of the Eurotour 2011 organizers, can look back on a very successful international Whitsun weekend! With over 90 classic cars and 182 participants, this was the largest GCCC event so far. The very luxurious Van der Valk Hotel at Verviers in de Walloon Ardennes formed the base.

    Pictures of Eurotour 2011

    Roadbook

    The colourful ‘roadbook’, which contained the routes, was exceptionally well made by Hans. Even in spite of the fact that some parts turned out somewhat unclear due to an unexpected cycle race, it was easy to pick up the route again thanks to this roadbook. This showed its quality!

    Verder lezen Succesful Eurotour 2011 in the Ardennes!

    International contacts: Sister clubs and Eurotour

    Right from the start the GCCC has had excellent connections with a number of foreign sister clubs. Good contacts with the French sister club Ledorga, the English GCCG (Gay Classic Car Group), the German club Queerlenker, and the Danish Gay Owned Vintage Cars (GOVC) with whom we have a lot of contact too. These contacts have led to a number of highly successful international events.

    These started off in 1993 when an Easter Run was held round Brussels during Easter, followed a few weeks later by the first RIGAC (Rencontre Internationale des Gay Automobile Club) at Le Touquet on the Normandy coast of France. The year after that GCCC organised its first international gathering, with Maarssen as its base. Since then it has become a tradition for each club to take turns in organising such international events, which have become known as “Eurotour”. It was our turn in 2004, when, at Whitsun, we had a gathering of some 160 people in and around Antwerp.

    • In 2005 the British club organised one around Southampton, 2006 saw a weekend around Gladbeck and Essen and in 2007 it was our turn again around Emmeloord (in the land reclaimed from the sea), with the motto ”Dutch Lowlands & Highlights”.
    • From May 16-18, 2008 we were guests in the British Cotswolds, a special Eurotour organised by the GCCG.
    • In 2009 we helped Anders, Lars and Steffan from the Danish GOVC to organise the first Eurotour in Denmark on the Island of Fynen (May 29 – June 1, 2009).
    • In 2010 QueerLenker organised Eurotour, from May 21-24 in Neumünster, near habour city Kiel.
    • From June 10-13, 2011 the GCCC organised Eurotour in Belgium again, this time in Verviers.
    • In 2012  for the first time a Eurotour in Switzerland from Bern took place from May 25-28.
    • Eurotour 2013 from May 17-20, 2013 took place in Wiltshire, organised by our sisterclub GCCG in the UK.
    • In 2014 Denmpark organised a Eurotour in Lolland and Falster.
    • Queerlenker organised the Eurotour in 2015 (May 22 – 25). It was situated in the Pfaltz, the region between Frankfurt and Alsace.
    • GCCC was host again in 2016 (May 13 – 16). This time it was the area between Leyden and The Hague, with a visit to the Louwman Museum and a round trip by boat through the Leyden canals.
    • June 2-5: Eurotour around Baden (CH)
    • May 18-21:Eurotour around Norwich (UK)
    • Denmark hosted again in 2019, held in Jutland.
    • Covid-19 has ensured that the next Eurotour only took place in 2022. The GCCC was up again and organized a successful weekend around Alkmaar from June 10 to 13, with a prison converted into a luxury hotel as the central location.
    • Our British sister club hosted again from 19 to 22 May 2023 in beautiful Yorkshire, a county also known as ‘God’s Own Country’.

    What is GCCC Magazine?

     

    Illustration: The 105th issue of our magazine

    Three to four times a year the GCCC Magazine appears in the Dutch language. This is our club magazine in which can be found reports of past events, announcements of new gatherings, members’ stories about their adventures with their cars and small ads. Apart from that, newsletters are sent to keep everybody up to date. As you can see we have an internet site and for members we have a newsgroup.

    Contact by email: magazine@gccc.nl

    What is the aim of the GCCC?

    Photo: Collected beauty among different classic (future) cars

    The Gay Classic Car Club aims at offering its members the possibility to meet each other almost every month. Most events offer the possibility to be actively engaged with an old car, but sometimes it is more enjoyable to watch all that collected beauty leaning back in a chair on a terrace with a beer in one’s hand. Members without an old car have ample opportunities to join other members in their cars.

    Who are the people of the GCCC?

    GCCC members and their cars are all extremely diverse. A Citroën SM may be overtaken by an Mini Cooper, followed by, for example, a Citroën DS, Panhard PL17, Peugeot 404, Rolls-Royce Camargue, DAF 55, BMW E30, Alfa Romeo Spider, Ford Mustang, Mercedes-Benz 300, Volkswagen Kever, Morris Minor …..

    On purpose we do not set limits to the age of the car. We think it more important for people to feel at home within the GCCC. An interest in classic cars is essential.

     

    What is Gay Classic Car Club, GCCC?

    GCCC, Gay Classic Car Club (Benelux) was founded on 17 May, 1992, when, during the first event, over 45 people became members. The idea of such a club had come from the US. Its membership has risen to over 300 in the course of the years, a growth caused mainly by word of mouth, but also because of articles in several (car)magazines and our internet site. The aim of the society is co-ordinating and stimulating the interest in historic, classical and special cars amongst homosexuals (m/f).

    GCCC is a unique collection of people. It is the members within the GCCC that make the atmosphere, one that proves to be extremely good. There is a large core of people who turn up at almost every event which results in an enormous enthusiasm. GCCC now has some 300 members (as of December 31st, 2019)