March 9th, 2024 – Haugland’s Collection, Write-Up and Photos

March 9th, 2024 – Haugland’s Collection, Write-Up and Photos

Words by “Paige” Turner –  Images by Manual Phocus

  Saturday, March 9th roundly failed the promise of the favorable weather just the day before. Rain showers were forecast for most of the length of the I-5 corridor, and, occasionally, there are few things more distressing than a prophecy that is actually accurate. None the less, the gloomy skies and occasionally limited visibility from copious road spray did not deter about 30 JOCO members, guests, and visitors from making the journey to our assembly point in Eugene. On the way south, we chanced upon a lovely Rolls Royce headed in the same direction. As we overtook them, who did we recognize but Christopher and Erin Silva being chauffeured by some friends from the Rolls Royce Club who were also partaking in the event. Our two car “caravan” arrived just a few minutes before Amy pulled up, so that quickly precluded our plans to make a quick jaunt to the conveniently located Starbucks just a few yards away.

The Haugland Collection is at once familiar and ever-changing. Something of an automotive kaleidoscope, if you will. (That’s different than a collide-o-scope, which is usually furnished by your insurance agent.) The pieces may seem familiar, but their size, shape, and presentation are always changing and evolving. We opened the tour by looking over one of the “storage” areas that has cars that are perhaps waiting their turn at the restoration shop, or simply awaiting their next opportunity to be started and taken out on the road. The crimson Bristol is a thing of classic charm, and its stable mates also wait contentedly for their starters to be engaged and convert some petrol into fun. There is plenty to look at, and these wonderful machines will lead many a beholder to commit at least the fifth and sixth Cardinal Sins (lust and envy – just so you don’t have to look it up to refresh your memory). We were also treated to a tour of a nearby workspace where several cars were in various states of repair/restoration. Alex is a “hands on” collector, and he enhances his encyclopedic automotive knowledge by working on the cars in his collection. (Let’s see…that would be at least three sets of tools: SAE, metric, and Whitworth, not to mention the plethora of other specialty tools that are required.)

The other exciting thing for this tour is that there is now a new display space where everything on display is in showroom condition (or better). The display turntable (!) featured a silver and black 1987 Porsche Turbo Carrera. It is a stunning example. If you read any of the automotive magazines currently on the market, you cannot help but get a bit of a chill running up and down your spine as you stand in very close proximity to beautiful and legendary motorcars such as a Lamborghini Espada, Ferrari 330 GT and 550, Aston Martin DB 5 (in Silver Birch livery and right hand drive, of course), Alfa Romeo GTV, Jaguar E-type (naturally), and so many other examples of automotive art. This correspondent understands that the pieces in this portion of the collection are only driven on special occasions, rather than taken out on the road on a more regular schedule.

Once we had reached automotive sensory overload, it was time to partake of some sustenance for the drive home, so we made our way to “Chiefs” in Coburg. They were busy (well prepared food does not go unnoticed in these parts), but the wait for food was much less than the proclaimed one hour. It was nice to just sit back, relax with an adult beverage, chat about favorite cars, and absorb the depth and breadth of the collection that we had just seen. It was a very nice way to end a fabulous day. Thank you, Seth Shenker for organizing this event, and special thanks and acknowledgment to Amy and Alex Haugland for their time and allowing us to view a truly stunning and eclectic collection.

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