It was on a cold fall evening in 1969 that I was born in Bruges, Belgium. I have lived all my life near this historic mediaeval city in Western Europe. Ever since I was very young I have been fascinated with cars in general, and American ones in particular. This fascination was nourished even more when my dad started driving an Oldsmobile Delta 88 in 1979. My grandfather bought at the same time a Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Although these cars are not exactly up to the standard of Cadillac, they made me acquainted with American cars and their inherent luxury and size. Surprisingly, both the Monte Carlo and the Oldsmobile were "downsized" cars. But to me, a 10-year old boy, these cars were true land yachts. My grandfather had driven American cars (Studebaker, Chevrolet, ...) in the late 1940s, early 1950s, when the European automobile industry was still trying to recuperate from the Second World War. But for me, being driven in an American car was new to me. And boy, did I like it!
Unfortunately, in the mid-1980s the ever more expensive dollar, increased road taxes and the unreliability of the Oldsmobile's diesel engine made the American cars silently go away and they were replaced with more common-sense European equivalents.
So apart for the couple of years in the late 1970s, early 1980s my young life was largely devoid of American cars. I studied in Bruges until I went to university in Brussels. There I studied for four years until I had my degree in computer science.
I am currently working as a free-lance software engineer, specializing in the development of software for banks and financial institutions on Windows platforms.
Besides collecting and restoring Cadillacs, I take great enjoyment in watching Star Trek (The Next Generation and Voyager) and travelling to the USA. Memorable trips include three-week vacations through the southwest of the United States and a six-week vacation in a Cadillac, which took us from Florida, over Chicago to Los Angeles. Most of the trips we have done in the USA were road trips, because both my wife as well as I are very fond of driving while being on vacation. On one of those trips -- in 1994 -- we got married in Las Vegas.
As you can see in the other sections of my web site, most of my spare time goes to collecting Cadillacs. It is a fun and interesting pastime, which has given myself, my wife, my family and friends unforgettable moments.
Last edited on January 7th 2002 by Rik Gruwez
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