Belgian national car museum Autoworld usually welcomes the end-of-year holidays with a bang, and this year is no exception. Their 2021 Supercar exhibition was an absolute highlight of the year, one of the best collections of supercars. It is hard to surpass that perfect selection from every decade and continent.
Autoworld did not even try to surpass it this time, and it would make little sense to repeat it, so they adopted a new approach. This 2022 exhibition does not group the cars per decade but follows a different logic: road-legal supercars are paired with their racing derivatives (mostly). The exhibition promised over 50 exceptional automobiles, with a fabulous mix of historic and modern cars and even concepts. Though the logic of the selection is different, the show is more exotic, with unique specimens from other museums and private owners.
Two smaller stages also pay tribute to Ferrari for its 75th anniversary (commemorating the previous temporary exhibition), and another podium featuring four super sedans.
As usual, with a little help with current models, courtesy of importers of the brand.
The first podium by the entrance featured four youngtimers that once ruled the highways. Some of them harvested success and launched or anchored a bloodline of performance sedans that lasted half a century, like the BMW M5 or the Audi S4.
The RS2 was Audi’s first attempt in this high-performance segment, kicking it off with an estate car. A limited edition based on Audi’s 80 Avant, manufactured only a year, the RS2 was a joint venture between Audi AG and Porsche.
BMW was among the first to introduce a high and sports saloon: the first M5 model was introduced in 1985 already. This was still based on the E28 chassis with a modified engine from the M1, making it the fastest production sedan at the time. This 1992 specimen is from the E34 generation, our personal favourite.
Not so fortunate was GM that hired Lotus to upgrade its ageing Opel/ Vauxhall Omega to sportscar-level dynamics. The exterior changes were visible, but, in our view, less would have been more. The Lotus body kit included wider wheel arches and spoilers, like a tuned car from the ‘80s. The Lotus Omega proved unsuccessful, only 950 vehicles were completed.
Another failed attempt was the 1987 Lancia Thema 8.32, the Lancia with a Ferrari engine. The number 8 stands for the number of cylinders and 32 for the number of valves, which was a thing back then (now it’s standard on most engines). The demanding Ferrari engine, paired with the boxy old design and moderate optical tuning, was not a recipe for success. The successor Kappa was positioned somewhat lower and dropped the Ferrari V8.
This podium was a lovely welcome wagon, but the gallery awaits with even more special and rare sports saloons.
The gallery features over two dozen cars with a very diverse selection. Each great automotive nation is represented from Germany (Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Opel, Porsche), the US (Chevrolet, Ford), the UK (Aston Martin, Bentley, TVR), Italy (Dallara, de Tomaso, Ferrari, Kimera, Lamborghini, Maserati, Touring Superleggera). Even France (Citroën) and Japan (Nissan).
We will not go through each car in detail but focus on our favourites. There will be quite a few…
The early cars start with an unusual pairing, a white 1959 Mercedes 300SL Roadster, one of the earliest cars referred to as a supercar. The coupé version’s signature gullwing doors make it one of the most iconic cars of the ‘50s and ‘60s.
The SL is paired with another gullwing dream car, the C 111 experimental vehicle. This concept car is my personal favourite, one of the best concept cars of all time. It is not just about the style, mended by a great Italian car designer Bruno Sacco, who defined Mercedes’ design language for several decades. The C111 also introduced the revolutionary Wankel technology and broke several records.
Mercedes-Benz officially presented the C 111 50 years ago at the Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA). Mercedes unveiled an elegant, futuristic high-performance sports car in a compact wedge shape with a three-rotor Wankel engine painted in bright orange metallic.
In 2020, Mercedes showcased the entire line-up of concepts, from the SLX to the silver Batmobiles that broke several records, nicely lined up on their magnificent factory stage at the Essen Techno Classica 2020.
Then we skip a few cars in the row whose relevance is beyond doubt, but we covered them in the past. Like the 1961 Aston Martin DB4, the red 1965 Chevrolet Corvette C2 convertible and the yellow and the 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 RS. Even the modern 2005 TVR Sagans, the 2020 Dallara Stradale and the Touring Superleggera Aero 3 are familiar faces from past shows, so we won’t spend time on them on this occasion.
The one that stole the show with its premiere was the 2022 Kimera EVO37. This car is a Restomod, a new vehicle combining the style of the Lancia 037, one of the most legendary rally cars of the eighties, with the qualities of a modern car, in terms of performance, usability and comfort. And the car is new indeed, featuring a bespoke carbon chassis that guarantees a lightweight and agile car. It is powered by a 505 hp four-cylinder petrol engine reaching 250kmph.
Not directly paired, but the Museum’s permanent exhibition also keeps a Lancia Beta Montecarlo, which closely resembles the original 037 rally car.
Another group worth highlighting showcased rare high-end four-door saloons from various epochs, from a 1972 Citroen SM Opera to a 1985 Aston Martin Lagonda Series 3 and a modern-day 2012 Aston Martin Rapide.
The most fabulous eye candies include rarities like the pink 1972 Iso Rivolta Fidia. That was a first for our team, and we seldom see new things these days. The Fidia was marketed as the four fastest seats in the world, competing with the Maserati Quattroporte and other nobilities like the De Tomaso or the exotic French Monica. The design was courtesy of Giorgetto Giugiaro, who was then working at Ghia. The Fida was available between 1967 and 1975, and only 192 Fidias were built.
The Fida is surrounded by its arch rivals, including a 1978 De Tomaso Deauville right behind it. The Deauville shared its chassis with the Maserati Quattroporte III but used a Ford V8. A total of 244 cars were produced in three variants: the early series 1 (1970-1974), late series 1 (1975-1977) and the series 2 (1978-1985).
The next exotic is a white Maserati Quattroporte II. This second generation Quattroporte was actually based on a stretched Citroen SM chassis, inheriting a front(-mid)-engine / front-wheel-drive layout and a hydropneumatic suspension. The elegant bodywork was designed by Marcello Gandini at Bertone. Only 12 production cars were built from 1976 to 1978.
Another gathering lines up three barchettas, a 2020 Ferrari Monza SP2, a 2022 Aston Martin V12 Speedster and a Pegaso ENESA coupé. Each of these lightweight, high-performance cars is a marvel of their time, but we already saw them at other exhibitions.
Behind the Pegaso, an iconic 1978 Porsche 930 Turbo is followed by two Group B rally legends, a 1985 Audi Sport Quattro and a 1986 Ford RS200. The last car in this row is the only exhibit from Japan, a 1994 Nissan GT-R from the R33 generation.
The next line follows a clearer pairing, setting up racing legends and their homologation production models. The 2019 Porsche 935 pays homage to the legendary 935/78 “Moby Dick” of 1978. Looks can be deceiving: its classic curves hide modern tech: the internals of a GT2 RS of the 991 generation.
Of course, the curators managed to fetch a 1977 Porsche 935 Baby, a Moby Dyck with a reduced engine to enter the German DRM championship. Jacky Ickx finished first with this car that was showcased at various events in the past.
Another exciting pairing was the 1979 BMW М1 and its Procar sibling, which we could marvel at Autoworld’s BMW M1 anniversary exhibition.
The same logic is followed with the 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190-16 2.5 Evo. It is a homologation car with an engine tuned by Cosworth to enable the 1992 AMG-Mercedes-Benz 190-16 2.5 Evo that earned driver’s championship title for Klaus Ludwig in 1992 and the Manufacturers titles in 1991,1992,1994 and 1995.
Also, the rare 1990 Alfa Romeo SZ was paired with a race car version, the SZ Trofeo, the BMW E9 Coupé with its 1973 BMW 3.0 CSL version, and the 1977 Ferrari 512 BB is parked right next to its Competizione sibling.
Hard to miss the blue metallic 2019 Touring Superleggera Sciadipersia and the orange Bentley Art Car. We have seen Sciadipersia models at various shows, which is not bad for a car that exists only in a few specimens.
