Born: July 5 1943
Deceased: October 28 2018
Biography Albert Westerman
Albert Westerman was a descendant of an enterprising family in the Achterhoek (Netherlands). His grandfather ran a hotel before the war, his father Albert Westerman Sr. started a knitting workshop with his brother in 1935. After a severe crisis the unemployed in the Achterhoek region could find a job in that knitting workshop. After leaving secondary school, Westerman Jr. joined the workshop of his father. At the same time, he went to high shool where he studied textile and fabrics.
Just 10 years later, Albert Westerman Jr. becomes the CEO of the family company that was baptized ‘Albert Westerman Group’ in the 1980s. From his early youth, Westerman Jr. showed a huge interest in classic cars. He fell in love with a Porsche 356 at the age of 10. However, the professional activities took so much of his time, so Westerman had no time to spend at this passion.
State-of-Art Porsche Collection
It was only in 1976 that Albert Westerman bought his first Porsche. He started racing in Porsche 356 and Porsche 911 at the race track in the dunes of Zandvoort or at the nearby race track in Francorchamps. ater he even went abroad too. In the mean time, Westerman started collecting classic Porsches. Once, the State-of-Art colletions had 40 classic Porsches. These were not just all the usual Porsches. In the heydays, the State-of-Art Porsche Collection housed even 3 original Porsche 550 Spyders and a Porsche 718 RSK.
Many of these cars showed up in major important rallies, like the Carrera Panamericana or the Mille Miglia. State-of-Art sponsored the Mille Miglia event for many years. There was a fashion collection dedicated to the rally. Westerman seemed to be a marketing genius too. He invited celebrities like the prime minister of the Netherlands to pilot or co-pilot one of his cars in the rally. So in the end, even legendary dutch drivers like Gijs van Lennep and Jan Lammers were prepared to join the party. Those celebrities promised lots of media attention for the State-of-Art cars. And that’s exactly what Westerman wanted : free publicity for his fashion brand.
Albert Westerman died Sunday October 2018 in his hometown Lichtenvoorde in the Netherlands.
Pictures courtesy Vintage Race Photography and State-of-Art
