“Oh, what we wouldn’t give for a club house,” says Automotive student Harald who just for a change is standing in a field with (some of) the cars that De Beunbazen are proudly presenting to the Intro-goers. Somewhere they can work side by side on the vehicles they buy secondhand and restore to gleaming automobiles. “We want to be able to keep our things in one place, to put the cars on a garage bridge, and hang around chatting at a bar after we’ve finished tinkering.” But that’s not easy to find, he realizes. “And we need a floor that can stand being spotted with oil.”

Until they have a garage, De Beunbazen must put a good many keen students on hold. Harald guesses that something like ten new members will join once a suitable location is found. And that’s before he’s considered those who are interested among the new cohort of students who passed by them on the MARA field at the start of this week.

Car park

In the first chapter of their short history (“the Saturday before last year’s Intro we were officially registered with the chamber of commerce”) the car enthusiasts met at the Park Forum business park. With no fewer than twenty to forty cars at once. “We weren’t a bother to anyone, but sometimes other drivers thought it was cool to drive round us. That created a noise nuisance. When the authorities there asked us in a friendly but firm way not to come back, we didn’t argue.” Now they are back – temporarily – at an anti-squat car park near the former Philips main building on the Boschdijk.

Cars are expensive. Including the old DAFs and English MGs that are owned by De Beunbazen together with their Beetles, Audis and Toyotas. “Some members sacrifice their drinking activities for this hobby. They are saving up for a clutch that costs something like 120 euros. You can see that we don’t have any money over to pay a high rent.”