17-year old David Smutny and his remarkable enthusiasm for all things with wings and wheels

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

It is a recurring question. How do we get youngsters involved in the classic car world? When at the age of two you travel with your father around Europe and later around the world either by aeroplane or car, have visited every Retromobile since the age of five, and have participated in many rallies and events. And on top of this, the family holidays are planned around Pebble Beach Concours d' Elegance. It is not surprising, then, that you have a remarkable enthusiasm for all things with wings and wheels.

Auto Veteran Company

This is the story of 17-year old David Smutny, who developed a great passion for cars and planes from a young age. His father Ivo is the founder and CEO of Autiva ltd - an Auto Veteran Company. The company from the Czech Republic “is largely based on an enthusiasm for collecting, rather than on plain brokerage" as Ivo tells us. In twenty years he has put together a unique collection of automobilia, parts and cars, and accumulated a large stock of parts and documentation. All cars have been carefully selected and are usually owned by them. One of the most important factors in the selection process is there being an interesting and verifiable history that can be substantiated by any supporting materials such as parts catalogues and archive pictures.

"Although David is still in school, he already helps us at various events, and now also with selling parts and on projects that we want to sell. That's of course a great challenge for him, to meet people from all around the globe, improve his communication abilities and of course language skills. He's learning English and French, and he would like to add Spanish soon”, is what Ivo proudly tells us.

David added to this “Personally, for me, it’s already a kind of passion as I have been involved with vintage cars from a very young age, definitely thanks to my dad, I'm really thankful for what he taught me, and I`m really looking forward to the future, with lots more interesting cars.“ He sees the current market as very volatile “Cars which I would expect to sell for high prices are selling for low prices, and vice versa. Additionally, Europe has quite a different clientele to the USA and other parts of the world. And nowadays, in these quite difficult times, it's totally different and I would say more problematic for classic car dealers to trade. But on the other hand, in my opinion, there is one advantage, which is that more people are looking for safe investments, something which they can store their money in, and with which they can even buy something interesting and stylish, which classic cars definitely represent.”

It is fantastic to see David so involved in the classic car world at his age. And besides this, that he is so grateful for the wonderful opportunities he has been given by his family.

The automobilia, parts and cars currently for sale by Auto Veteran Company in our online marketplace can be found here.

Would you like to tell us how you got into the classic car world? How do you inspire the next generation? Or what you think we can do to help? Maybe there are youngsters out there with ideas to inspire peers. We would love to hear from you via comments below or an e-mail to [email protected].

Ajoutez un commentaire...