Autoworld’s supercar exhibition kicked in the afterburners

Belgium’s national car museum has a way to ensure dramatic twists and turns. Just when Autoworld’s Supercar exhibition reached its climax in a long kiss goodbye nocturnal event, the Museum announced a one-month extension (until 27 February).

Since mid-December, Autoworld’s top gallery has been filled with high-end post-war supercars from every continent and decade, from the late ’40s to the present. This was hardly a first, as the Museum celebrated the first deconfinement with a supercar exhibition last year, albeit with fewer vehicles.

As long as the Spa Francorchamps exhibition was still on, cars of the permanent collection were brought down to the ground floor. With more space now, a new segment was added with an impressive selection of the luxury supercars of the VW Group.

In addition to the blue Bentley Flying Spur and the grey Aventador LP780, there is a Chiron Supersport (in addition to another Chiron and a Veyron upstairs).

The most important novelty was arguably the car to end the ICE supercar era: the 2000PS Rimac Nevera. So far, it almost ended Richard Hammond’s life, as he crashed it spectacularly in their Grand Tour show.

This car is one of the most awaited high-end models to premiere this year. With over 2000PS, it is expected to end the era of petrol engine supercars.

Even beyond this new stage, changes are constant and even during our short visit, cars were parked and brought in. The blue Sciadipersia was familiar from the Zoute 2019, but I can’t help wondering how many versions of the small production car circulates in Belgium.

By the afternoon, the blue Maserati was moved out of the main hall and parked outside the glass wall, trading places with new arrivals. Along with these two guys were on their way out.

The vast majority of the supercars are parked on the gallery, organised into periodic or thematic groups.

The first group of cars by the stairway starts with a 1955 Mercedes 300SL, the famous Gullwing door car often credited as the first modern supercar.

The line-up continues with a white 1954 Maserati A6G CS Zagato, the full-blooded GT of its time, with enhanced Zagato coachwork that made it look even cooler.

The neighbouring cars ensure a diverse selection in every aspect. The green Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato that is actually a Continuation project.

Thus it is actually a model-year 2020 vehicle and, in our books,  one of the finest cars from Newport Pagnell.

The next car is a rare Japanese classic, a 1969 Toyota 2000GT, a car that now fetches seven-digit sales process at overseas auctions.

Back to the old continent, the red 1960 BMW 507 roadster is a real competitor to the Gullwing, now also at sales auctions.

The last two cars are from Italy: the 1960 Ferrari 250 SWB is our favourite model of Ferrari’s 250 era (one can’t call it a model, really), paired with its arch-rival, a 1967 Lamborghini 400GT.

For the next decade, we had to pass by a bunch of jaw-dropping classic and modern supercars. The 60’s timeline starts with the Lamborghini Miura, another car often cited as the first true supercar.

With its mid-engined layout, it is nothing short of revolutionary. The renegade ex-Ferrari engineers realised their wildest dreams at Lamborghini.

The 1966 Bizzarrini 5300GT was the lovechild of another breakaway Ferrari engineer, Giotto Bizzarrini. Even if the 5300GT did not prove to be a major hit, quite a few Bizzarrinis are still among us today, stealing the show at exhibitions and actions.

Between the two, a Ferrari Daytona represents the origo of high-end sports car manufacturing of that time. While its official name was the not so sexy 365 GTB/4, it became known for its nickname, credited to journalists citing Ferrari’s 1-2-3 finish in the 24 Hours of Daytona race of 1967.

The remaining cars include a red De Tomaso Pantera, a black BMW M1 and a yellow Lancia Stratos.

Curiously, we had to skip a line again, as the ‘80s line-up is located back to back with the cars from the ’50s.

The decade of excess brought us cars like the high-tech Porsche 959, and the beefed-up Countach LP500S widened with an aero kit.

The Ferrari F40 is the quintessence of a supercar using Maranello’s race tech paired with a breathtaking design. In fact, Ferrari no longer calls them supercars, but Hypercars, as I could witness at their factory exhibition.

The last car in the row is a special one from France despite its Italian name. The 1986 Venturi 400GT was a sports car produced by the short-lived French car manufacturer Venturi. Some 15 road legal versions and 73 race cars were built, and the name is telling: the car peaked beyond 400PS.

The noughties’ line-up is located back to back with the ’60s cars (see above with the yellow Miura). This selection is probably the most impressive, with several dream cars and unicorns from the decade.

One way to measure sportscars is top speed, and what better way to gain acceptance into this category than to break the world record.

The exhibition features three record-holders from the 90s: the 1994 Bugatti EB110 with a rare steel blue finish, a Jaguar XJ220 and a McLaren F1.

The British corner is also reinforced with a Lotus Espirit Sport 300, in its coolest form, the modern 3^rd generation with a 2.2 inline four supercharged to 300 PS (shall we say, above and overcharged? 🙂 ).

The decade is completed with a Ferrari F50 hypercar and the road-legal homologation version of the Porsche 911GT.