In the 1970s I used to live in Carrum - a bayside suburb of Melbourne - down near the south coast of Victoria (Au). In those days my high-school son and I would load my boat up with SCUBA gear, hitch up to our HT Holden V8, and drive a leisurely hour or so down to Phillip Island and spend a few wonderful hours in that corner of paradise.You may have noticed that those days were 40 years ago. You would not believe how things have changed!

The Louwman Museum features the world's oldest private collection of automobiles, including historic cars, motorcycles and carriages. The internationally oriented collection was formed by two generations of the Louwman family and includes approximately 250 unique classic automobiles. In 1934, the Dutch Dodge importer Pieter Louwman, the father of the current owner, purchased a 20-year-old Dodge, the first car of the collection. In 1969, the collection of Mr. Geerlig Riemer was added. The collection was moved in 1969 to Leidschendam where the National Automobile Museum was opened. In 1981 the collection was moved again to the premises of the Toyota importer Louwman in Raamsdonksveer. On 3 July 2010, the current museum in The Hague, was opened by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, whose former home Huis den Bosch is virtually neighboring the museum.