Categorie: English

ER Classics Ride: the nostalgic feeling of power and tranquility!

On Saturday, November 29th, you’ll turn on the ignition key of your classic car. The engine will cough briefly and then come to life with a robust, deep rumble. A sound that gives you such comfort and feeling of power, that you can drive along melancholy country roads this Saturday (!). The highlight is a special visit to ER Classics in Waalwijk, a paradise for every vintage and modern classic car enthusiast!

What makes a visit to ER Classics special?

As soon as you step through the door, you’ll be immersed in a world of gleaming chrome and polished paint. Here’s what makes it all so special:

Showroom: Expect an impressive collection of more than 300 classic cars under one roof. From iconic English sports cars like MGBs and Jaguars to elegant Italian beauties and solid German classics. Each car is perfectly displayed.

The stories: You can admire the cars up close and hear stories about their restoration and provenance. It’s a chance to see what cars are currently for sale, from rare masterpieces to more accessible enthusiasts.

Workshop: If you ask on-site, you can take a look inside the specialized workshop. You’ll see the passion and craftsmanship with which the classics are maintained, restored, and prepared for the road. You’ll feel the artisanal love for classic mechanics.

It’s therefore the perfect opportunity to chat with your GCCC friends about your shared passion while enjoying a hot cup of coffee or tea and a Brabant sausage roll (provided by ER Classics), surrounded by stunning classics. This is where the nostalgia of driving and the love of technology converge!

Verder lezen ER Classics Ride: the nostalgic feeling of power and tranquility!

DATES FOR YOUR GCCC DIARY

What are we going to do this year?

  • 29-11           ER-Classics Ride (Saturday!)
  • 21-12           Christmas Crib Nativity scene ride

And in 2026?

  • 25-01           New Year’s Reception
  • 21-02           AGM 2026
  • 29-03           Ride TBD
  • 26-04           Asparagus Ride 
  • 29-05           Eurotour 2026 Burg-Haamstede 
  • 28-06           Ride TBD
  • 26-07           Picnic Ride
  • 30-08           Ride TBD
  • 26-09           Ride Huis Doorn
  • 01-11           Ride TBD
  • 29-11           Ride TBD
  • 20-12           Ride TBD

And what did we do so far in 2025?

  • 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
  • 28-09           Sea, Dunes and Castles
  • 26-10           Bad Bentheim weekend

What events did we do in past years?

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

Verder lezen What events did we do in past years?

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

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’.
  • Switzerland organised one in the Langenthal area in 2024.
  • Germany hosted another one in 2025 in the Bonn area.

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)