The Concours d’Elegance returned to Zoute Grand Prix with additional ingredients.
For visitors with limited time, we recommend arriving early and starting with the parade in Knokke Heist. Every morning, the participating cars take a tour around the city centre (through Albertplein, the beachside boardwalk of the city) as a warm-up for the Rallye. For these cars, even the warm-up and the scrutineering are a spectacle, and most of it you can experience for free, unlike the Gallery we presented in the first part of this report.
The starting grid was built up by the Gallery, but its access path also bordered the public area of the boardwalk (hosting a smaller new car show), and the tour’s main parking site was located in the public access zone. This is where the cars are preparing for the start or cooling off upon arrival. Of course, a selected few were parked out of reach by the Bonhams / Driversclub entrance of the Gallery.
The Zoute GT tour is a loud spectacle.
We recommend revisiting Zoute on several days, as the different programmes of the Rallies render them a completely different ballgame, depending on the day you visit. The mornings are dedicated to inspections and the start of the rallies, making it a spectacle in its own right. This year, we stayed on Saturday, which started with GT cars and featured a special tour during midday, concluding with the arrival of the Classic Rallye in the afternoon.
The Zoute GT Tour by Insentials showcases contemporary dream cars built between 2006 and 2025. This year, the organisers introduced a new format that lasts the entire weekend. On Saturday, the cars set off from Knokke-Heist and headed to Antwerp. After an overnight stay in the city, they departed the following morning for the return drive to the coast.
Meanwhile, the participants of the one-day rally only drove on Sunday, departing from Knokke-Heist in the morning. At lunchtime, both groups meet up and continue together, returning as one long convoy to Knokke-Heist to create a spectacular arrival of all the GT cars at the end of the day.
Surprise tour for the audience during midday
This was a surprise event with additional cars that would not fit in the main rallies.
The Zoute Rallye enlisted hundreds of classic dream cars
This classic Rallye is the backbone of the Zoute programme, drawing an immense crowd, not just in Knokke but also in the neighbouring cities, where the cars are touring. The primary requirement in this class is that participating cars must be at least 56 years old. At some age, every minute is a gift, but the participating vehicles were all technological or historical milestones of immense value.
This is an ultimate car spotting experience year after year, where we can see legendary classic cars in action, like prewar Bentleys or Ferrari SWBs. The participants were lining up for the starting grid, and even seeing them starting up was a great spectacle.
This year, the organisers promised some 225 historic cars starting or arriving on the boardwalk of Knokke-Heist, in front of the Zoute Grand Prix Gallery by EY.
Bonhams hosted another car spotting bonanza, where cars changed hands for millions.
With a total value of €22 million, the highest total achieved by Bonhams Cars in mainland Europe last year, this year’s Auction had some big shoes to fill. The organisers promised highlights, including a selection of Italian classics from the Bernard Fornas Collection (CEO of Cartier), as well as celebrity and race cars, alongside high-end youngtimers. The complete overview of the vehicles offered at the Zoute Sale can be found in the online catalogue.
The Auction took place on Sunday, 12 October, in the dedicated section of the Zoute Grand Prix Gallery. Before the Auction, the full selection of cars was on display from Wednesday, 8 October, until Sunday, 12 October. We will come back later with our favourites from the show.
The Concours returned to Zoute, albeit with a new concept.
The Concours d’Elegance used to be a traditional highlight of the Zoute GP week, where the Golf Club in Knokke-Heist hosted dozens of timeless classics competing under a specific theme. The endless fields of the club offered a spectacle on par with the best Concours events in the world. Sadly, this event was no longer held after the highly successful 2022 edition, but this year the organisers promised a return.
This year’s Concours is located in a central site, offering less space, which is also shared with two additional events: BMW’s Art Car exhibition and an additional auction. The Concours could span nine categories, encompassing the entire automotive history. Their range encompasses international and Belgian prewar cars, classics from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, as well as iconic models from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, to cutting-edge GTs and hypercars. In addition, three themed categories were selected: the Ghost Garage, dedicated to cars from now-defunct marques; Nippon Stars, celebrating iconic Japanese models; and a special tribute to the 70th anniversary of the Citroën DS. Each vehicle on display has been carefully selected for its historical significance and unique character, both in terms of technology and design.
The nine categories are as follows:
Early Motoring Icons / Row Prewar (1886–1940)
Early Motoring Icons / Belgian Prewar (1886–1940)
Steel & Speed / Post-War (1950–1961)
Steel & Speed / Post-War (1962–1975)
Iconic Cars (1976–2005)
Modern GTs & Hypercars (2006–2025)
Ghost Garage (forgotten brands)
Anniversary of the Citroën DS
Nippon Stars (Japanese cars)
The programme follows the traditional Concours arrangements, where a jury inspects each car, and the owners show their vehicles, pop the hood and start the engine for them. All you have to do is follow the referees in their distinctive uniforms while they are inspecting the vehicles, and you’ve got yourself a priceless spectacle. The winners will be announced soon, but we will also return later with a few close-ups of our favourites.
Broad Arrow’s Auction and Aguttes makes Belgium an auction hotspot in the world.
This year’s Zoute welcomed another first timer, with the debut of a second auctioneer. Hagerty’s Broad Arrow took its job seriously and auctioned off some fascinating specimens on Friday.
One of the highlights of the Auction is the Aston Martin Valkyrie, personally commissioned and owned by Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo, estimated to be worth €2,400,000 – €2,800,000. The star of the Auction was the green Ferrari 275 GTB/4, sold for an impressive €3,015,625. You can view the results at the following link.
In addition, Autoworld welcomed Aguttes’ Auction during the weekend of the Zoute, making Belgium a similar hotspot to Paris, which has become the auction capital of the world with three high-end auctions. Bidders left over 41 million euros in Knokke-Heist at the two official auctions.
BMW’s Art Car exhibition is a multidisciplinary spectacle
BMW’s Art Cars hold a special place in our hearts, as we’ve had the opportunity to see them in several iterations. We saw the initial four cars at BMW World, then at IAA 2021 (in Munich’s Pinakothek), and finally a truly comprehensive exhibition in Luxembourg. Every occasion featured unseen exhibits from the series and BMW has been carefully building up momentum in the wake of its 50th anniversary.
The BMW Art Car World Tour became an entire exhibition program organised by the BMW Group across five continents, celebrating 50 years of the brand’s cultural and artistic commitment worldwide.
After stops in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Dubai, Stockholm, and The Hague, the exhibition arrived in Knokke-Heist. In addition to the main pavilion hosting six cars, the main square next to the Zoute Gallery showcased two other Art Cars. We will provide more details in a dedicated article.
With this, we completed our tour of the event. In the coming days, we plan to publish more details on Zoute Car Week in a series of articles. All in all, Zoute proved to be another highlight of the year. As we approach the end of the year, we now have a clearer picture of the 2025 car show season, and we must say, Zoute is up there with the best classic and international car shows. It is such a petrolhead paradise that we are not sure if we would trade Zoute for any other car event from 2025 (luckily, there were no overlaps).
