The Belgian national auto museum Autoworld opened its last major temporary exhibition of the year, honoring the 70th anniversary of the company. For those who are not familiar with this car museum, Autoworld usually hosts four to six major thematic exhibitions a year, where several dozen thematic vehicles occupy the main gallery on the first floor.
In between the main exhibitions, two ground floor exposition spaces are available for smaller (sometimes ad hoc) exhibitions encompassing about a dozen cars in total (using two stages on the ground floor, and the open space area, if they would not fit).
The Belgians at Le Mans expo and the 40th anniversary of the BMW M1 model was such a temporary show, now the Porsche exhibition concludes a busy 2018 schedule as the last major exposition open until the end of January.
I am a true fan of these temporary exhibitions, as they always bring something new and exotic, from exquisite luxury coupés of the long forgotten Pegaso brand to anniversary models (like the Dino series) down to entire brands, where dozens of cars are showcased with contributions from factory museums from Munich or Stuttgart.
Or even without factory support, Autoworld’s Ferrari 70 exhibition was better than any factory celebration I ever read about. Autoworld also keeps a diverse and polyvalent permanent exhibition, and the relevant pieces are included in these temporary exhibitions, but the network of museums and contributors makes Autoworld a really great exhibitor.
This year the Porsche car company celebrates its 70th birthday. The first sports car to bear the Porsche name was registered on June 8, 1948: It was the 356 “No.1” Roadster.
This car I could witness in Stuttgart earlier this year. The 356 turned Ferdinand’s son, Ferry Porsche’s dream of a sports car into a reality. This is the day on which the Porsche brand was born, and the date marks an official anniversary year that reached many museums and events.
In addition to the factory presence at classic car shows, and activities at the Porsche Museums (including the Porsche Pavillon in VW’s Autocity), many other players joined the celebrations on several continents (like the American Petersen Automotive Museum, the Goodwood Festival of Speed or the Cité de l’Automobile).
Autoworld’s exhibition was inaugurated in an evening reception yesterday, and opened its gates to visitors since 14th December.
As preliminary impressions, the exhibition seems to live up to my expectation in every aspect. It really covers every era, from the Gmünd stables to the latest models, from crazy concepts (like the 928 station wagon and a Lego car) to race cars (including the current 919 Evo, that trolls former competitors with absolute lap records).
The above gallery from the inaugural reception should give an overview of what to expect, but I still saw a few Porsches on a heavy hauler being unloaded, so this article is more of an intro with first impression and a heads up for those, who look for something interesting to do in the next two months. The exhibition is scheduled to finish on 27 January.
