Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands

The wheel covers have an interesting look to them.... I don't know how anyone could survive the Ford crash. Terrible mess of a car.


Gary Parsons

As a follow up to the article on Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands in the Boat Tail Volume 1V, No 2 2024.
I had done some research for a similar article that was published in the Newsletter quite a while ago.
The Prince indeed did have a sensational "bingle" ( Australian slang term for collision ) that totaled his 1937 Ford cabriolet. The attached picture was found on the Internet.
After that the Palace ordered him not to drive .................... hence the chauffeur.
During WW2 the Prince totaled a couple of aircraft in the UK while learning to fly. He eventually became path finder for bombing raids into the occupied territory.
Later in the war he became a more sedate driver of a JEEP.
One wonders if he was aware that the JEEP bodies were made in Connersville in the same old factory buildings as his spectacular Cord cabriolet ......................... probably not.
I had also found another picture of the burnt Cord.
The Prince lead a charmed life escaping from some incredible "bingles."