Secret collection of the world’s rarest cars discovered in an abandoned church

A secret car collection of 230 rare and classic cars was found in a warehouse and an abandoned church by chance.

Until last year, the car collection was a closely guarded secret until a fire broke out at the owner’s largest warehouse.

The firefighters must have been quite stunned to see row upon row of classic cars when they turned up.

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Secret car collection

The hidden car collection belonged to a reclusive collector, Ad Palmen, an 82-year-old businessman from Dordrecht in the Netherlands.

He had spent 40 years quietly collecting many rare and classic cars, worth millions of dollars.

The collection had a whole host of cars, including Ferraris, Lancias, Facel Vegas, Alpines, Fords, Tatras, BMWs, Mercedes, Lincolns, and many others.

It is not easy to maintain a classic car collection, much less one this big.

However, the owner started the engines regularly to ensure that they didn’t seize.

The secretive Dutch collector

The secretive Dutch collector also rarely sold a car, which is evident from the sheer size of his hoard.

He also seemed to have a great taste in classic cars.

However, he also had a preference for certain brands, judging from the pristine condition of various Maseratis, Jaguars, Aston Martins, BMWs, and Facel Vegas in his collection.

The car collection was so big that he had to store it in three different locations, two warehouses and an abandoned church.

His love for cars was also matched with his love of privacy.

This isn’t a collection you can just visit.

Even his neighbors didn’t know what he was storing in his warehouses.

Despite regularly asking the owner if they could take a look inside, their requests never came to a viewing.

Unfortunately, the owner grew ill and could no longer keep the classic car collection.

Since then, it has been sold to a classic car dealership for an undisclosed amount.