Hitting the headlines

The attention of the boy was drawn to the main story and pictures splashed across the front page of a leading Dutch newspaper. It recounted the story of a murder that had taken place along the Amsterdam North Sea canal. An Italian man was found dead in his car, with a bullet that went through his head and lodged in the roof of the vehicle, an Alfa Romeo GTV.

“In my mind, reading the gruesome details faded into insignificance compared to viewing the stark beauty of the Italian iconic car, and from that day onwards, I became hooked to the Alfa Romeo marque. I was only ten at the time, but I said to myself that in future, I would be driving such a car,” said Johan Huy.

Huy’s father, Jan, drove a DAF car. “It was a lot of fun for me, because in those early post-World War II days in Holland, very few people had a four-wheeler. Primary and secondary school in Amsterdam were followed by university in Groningen, where I went to the department of psychology and the art academy for graphic design,” he added.

Soon after graduation, Huy went into business, setting up an art gallery as well as an aluminium frame factory in Holland. Eventually he expanded his business interests to textiles,...