Until death parted them
Jacob Aukes and his orange Opel Ascona. Together until death do them part and unfortunately that became true a few months after the interview. In consultation with his children and grandchildren, it was decided to publish his remarkable story. Jacob and his indestructible Ascona were together for no less than 47 years and more than 600,000 kilometers. As a referee on the way to sports halls and football fields and as a drummer to venues to perform with his two-man band The Funny Boys.
We met Jacob at the beginning of March 2023 at his corner house in Hoogezand. He is already waiting for us in the open garage door, next to his shiny Opel. You can’t miss it, we’ve come to the right place. Ready to hear the story of an 80-year-old man who is only working on his second car. Sustainability at its best! A first look in that garage shows that the room is filled to the brim with mainly car parts. Boxes and crates full. ‘Headlights C Kadett 1979’ we read on one box and another states ‘Opel Ascona various parts’.
(photo Pieter E. Kamp)
Over the years, Jacob has collected everything to keep his faithful Ascona running. Sheet metal, exhaust parts, radiators; it looks like a dealer’s warehouse. “If I came across something at a fair, I bought it. Many items are now nowhere to be found, such as a grille or indicators. I have them lying around. Also new parts for the ignition, suspension and brakes. In the garage they only see me for the MOT. Well, not anymore, because in November I received a letter stating that my car is fifty years old and no longer needs to be inspected. I had been there in October and he rolled through it in no time.”
Before we go out, Jacob takes us to the living room. There, all the tables and windowsills are at least as full as the racks in the garage. Not with parts, but with plants, trinkets and photos. A large TV dominates the room, Jacob quickly finds the remote control and silences the device. Next to the cuckoo clock hang photos of his wife Aeilke, who died in 2015. Her death was no reason for the down-to-earth Groninger to give up. On the contrary, he still remained active as a referee and as a football player in his team with peers at vv Harkstede. “Yes, every Tuesday we play a game of football and I am the oldest of the bunch.”
Jacob proudly shows us a green shirt, printed in gold with Aukes 80. This not only refers to his age, but also to the number of goals he has managed to score for his club over the years. Football has been his passion and his life, from an early age. The orange Ascona takes him to a match somewhere in the North almost every weekend to keep order with the whistle and to ensure that the game is fair.
(photo Pieter E. Kamp)
Not only football was his passion, the old faithful Opel also always received all the attention. How can someone drive the same car for almost half a century? “It’s only my second car since I got my driver’s license. The first was a Beetle 1200, which I bought in 1962, just 20 years old. I worked as an electrician and troubleshooter at the Eekels company and in my spare time I increasingly started repairing washing machines. And more and more time was also spent on another hobby: music. I would have preferred to become a professional musician, rhythm & blues. So I started the duo The Funny Boys with a friend, later supplemented with singer Angelique. That meant traveling a lot with a trailer and the Volkswagen was not suitable for that.”
Bought Ascona in 1976
After fourteen years of loyal service, he traded in the Volkswagen for the Ascona with a tow bar. “That was in 1976 and we are now more than 600,000 kilometers further. The counter keeps going back to zero after a hundred thousand, I have kept track of the scores in a book. Working as a washing machine repairman meant that I often had to take a machine with me. I did that for years with a large rack on the tow bar. In 1993 I bought a C-Kadett station, where you can easily slide a Miele in.”
The Opel Kadett C Caravan, where a washing machine was easy to pack, now it is a storage. (photo Pieter E. Kamp)
With the arrival of an extra car, the odometer reading of the orange Opel increased less rapidly, bringing the average over the past 47 years to just under 13,000 per year. Jacob takes us to a second garage. The old up-and-over door opens squeaking and creaking and we see the red Kadett from 1979 with the original Dutch license plate in a room that is also packed. The car itself is also used as a storage space. Quite a special Kadett by the way, it is a 1.6. With towbar and, like the Ascona, on LPG.
Ascona switched to gas in 1995
He has put a lot of miles on it. “You can add that to the six tons of the Ascona. I haven’t driven it in recent years, but I think it would be a shame to throw it away and the fixed costs are very low. There is no longer any need to pay road tax. I remember well that the Ascona became road tax exempt in 1995 with the new rules for vintage cars. You no longer had to pay for a car that was older than 25 years. Only then did I install the gas system. In 2014, that was suddenly increased again to forty years, so I had to pay for a few years. Fortunately, it is not a heavy car and LPG fuel remained cheap.”
(photo Pieter E. Kamp)
We go outside to inspect the Ascona more closely. You can immediately see that Jacob enjoyed working with electronics. In the interior there are bunches of wires, a power strip with three 12-volt plugs and all kinds of interesting boxes, including one for the cruise control. We also see that the door trim is missing and that the inside is yellow. Jacob: “Over the years I have had the occasional collision, always through no fault of my own. In Sappemeer I crossed an intersection, the light was green. Another drove through a red light and rammed me in the side. Luckily there was an eyewitness who confirmed that I had green. A few years later someone punched into the rear, also at a traffic light. Furthermore, some minor damage and the front fenders are new.”
(photo Pieter E. Kamp)
The hood opens and there is also a lot of home improvement, such as an electronic ignition and a soldered radiator. Everything looks clean and tidy, we don’t see any rust anywhere. Engine and gearbox are still original, as are the clutch and starter motor. Jacob: “The carbon brushes on the alternator have been replaced and the valve clearance is checked regularly, as are the oil and coolant. If that is up to standard, then little can go wrong.” At the end of the afternoon we say goodbye to Jacob, deeply impressed. A few months later the family paid their last respects to him. We do that with this sensational, beautiful story.
(photo Pieter E. Kamp)
In memory of Jacob Aukes, 11.04.1942 – 05.06.2023
Brand and type Opel Ascona 1.6 (1972)
Bought in/odometer reading 1976/30,000 km
Odometer reading now 644,846
Powertrain petrol/LPG
Combustion engine 4 cyl. in line
Cylinder capacity 1,584 cc
Max. assets 50 kW/68 hp at 5,200 rpm
Max. couple 108 Nm at 3,400 rpm
Drive behind
Number of gears 4, manual transmission
Brakes front/rear discs/drums
Weight incl. LPG installation 946 kg
New Prize 1972 €4,200
Avg. consumption 10.0 l/100 km (1:10.0)
0-80 km/h 11.0 s
Top speed 145 km/h
All data according to factory specifications
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl