THE TROPHY HUNTER

One Dutchman ended up with a Jensen C-V8 purely by chance. Then he began winning international concours with it

-  James Elliott

'I hated the colour, really didn't like it at all - when the sun comes up, it burns your eyes.' These are the words of Anton Raaymakers, Dutch owner of a Jensen C-V8 that has been hoovering up concours trophies since 2019. 'It was my wife Lianda who said "If you are doing it properly like you say you are, you have to go back to the original paint." Thank heavens she insisted, not only because this gleaming Jensen C-V8 looks so much more vibrant in California Sage than the dull blue it was when Raaymakers bought it in 2015, but because it also shores up my theory that concours-winning green is 'a thing.

I said it last year when I was privileged to help show Christie Chiltern-Hunt's beautiful Bell Sport & Classicrestored Ferrari 330 GTC at Salon Privé (Octane 234) and I stand by it now. This Jensen C-V8 is probably the prime example. Anton started showing it in 2019 and has scooped a boot-full of trophies, most recently a class win and the Chairman's Award from Peter Read at the London Concours, which is where Octane caught up with Anton - and where the Raamsdonksveer HR consultant dropped his second bombshell: 'I am not a concours guy at all. I hate polishing cars. I only entered it in the first place because the guy who restored it said he would fly over and do the polishing.' Okay...

Given the above, it will come as no surprise that the 57-year-old didn't even set out to buy a C-V8, although he already was a devotee of the marque, which remains a bit obscure' in Holland. His first car was an Autobianchi A112 bought for 1750 Guilders and he had a penchant for Saabs, but about 20 years ago decided that it was time to get into classic cars: 'I didn't know what brand or anything. I looked around on the internet and found a Jensen-Healey, which I had never heard of. I called around and started getting involved and learning about them and then bought a Jensen-Healey, one of only 14 original Dutch cars.' He still has it.