This is our last article on Antwerp Concours 2022 with the remaining post-war and pre-war cars,. The vast majority of cars were lined up under the special themes, but the rest of the bunch is not any less exciting.
The cars on the far side start with a pre-war Lagonda supercar, followed by a line-up of diverse classics.
The 1949 Delehaye 135MS is an Art Deco masterpiece. Delahaye relied on the coachbuilders, and ‘did not even maintain its own in-house coachworks. All its cars were bodied were tailor-made by coachbuilders who created truly astonishing designs based on the Type 135 chassis.
The red 1951 Talbot Lago T26 follows the same tradition, both are delivered with impressive tech, developed before the war but furnished with modern post-war carrosserie.
The 1951 Lancia Aurelia B50 Spyder is a child of the Italian Dolce Far Niente, quite the opposite of the tight Porsche 356.
You may have noticed that we did not include many photos of that Porsche, even if it was a rare pre-series model. We already amassed a huge collection of photos of every possible version of the 356, and that collection came with a slight overdose due to various Porsche brand and 356 model anniversaries of the past years. the other reason why we did not take many photos was that the tiny car was overshadowed by a massive American limo.
The 1954 Cadillac state limousine had an impressive royal owner, as it was used for the wedding ceremony of king Baudouin of Belgium.
The other mastodon was a 1955 Bentley Continental with a coachwork furnished at Mulliner.
The 1955 Bristol 405 DHC and the 1956 Borgward Isabella cabriolet are two rarities beyond the usual suspects of classic car shows.
The blue 1956 Maserati 250 SI is a true racing icon participating in several Mille Miglia races.
The last one is a bit of a weirdo, the green 1968 Marcos Mantis XP. Marcos GTs are now regular participants in the Spa Classic races, but their most ambitious project proved to be an utter failure. Only one car was made, originally for the 24 hours of Le Mans.
In the end, it only raced once, at the 1,000 km race at Spa. The original driver quit the job and the owner had to retire, as the plexiglass cabin was flooded in the heavy rain, causing electrical problems in the car.
The pre-war cars were parked near the parade route of the event. There was an impressive line-up of classics, some even before the first World War.
Our personal favourite was a red 1934 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 race car, that was re-bodied by Brussels coachbuilder Bidée in 1950.
Of course the blue Bugatti Type 51 from 1933, but it’s been covered by our post on the pre-war cars of last year’s Antwerp Concours.
There were also a few supercars and sportscars, parked on the side of the Chateau. The selection was nice, though lesser in numbers than in 2021.
Okay, we cut this shorter than we planned, but we still left some firecrackers for the second part of this article. If you would like to know which car won the best of the show (and all the previously unsung winners), click on the next part. We also will tell you our picks for the favourite if we did not agree with the choice of the Jury (sometimes it happens).
