In the past few weeks, I covered various aspects of this year’s InterClassics Brussels, this article will unload all the memories that could not fit into the thematic reports (accessible from the flash report).
Below you will find private and institutional stages and all the memorable cars that were not part of a thematic stage.
The stage of Autoworld is a recurring spectacle of InterClassics. I still recall the brilliant Big five exhibition in 2017.
Blast from the past: the Big Five at the 2017 Interclassics Brussels
Autoworld’s stages usually foreshadow their upcoming major thematic exhibition. Autoworld regularly hosts four-six major exhibitions a year, where several dozen cars occupy the main gallery on the first floor.
In less than a week, Autoworld is crossing the Channel for its major end-of-year exhibition that will take place from 13 December 2019 to 26 January 2020. Their “So British” exhibition is probably the best-prepared exhibition so far, with a So British car in the Brussels Car show, participation at the Zoute Grand Prix, a thematic stage at the InterClassics, a dedicated website and a preparatory press event in November.
There was also a dedicated stage advertising the next edition of the Circuit des Ardennes Commemoration, that is to take place in July 2020.
Unlike at the Techno Classica, the factory stages are seldom here. Only Porsche came with a representative stage via its local Classic centre, showcasing half a dozen classics from the 356 and anniversary boy 914 to a 993 Turbo.
One of my favourite stages was courtesy of Officina Caira, a workshop dedicated to the afterlife of Formula One cars, specialised on recent models, in contact with the racing teams, and providing restoration, technical assistance and authenticity certificates to owners of retired Formula One Classic.
Their stage was among the largest, and definitely among the coolest private pavilion, with a simple but elegant decoration and a trio of retired F1 cars, that are far from being senior citizens. I recommend having a peek on their website for the full inventory of a few dozen cars.
The blue BMW Sauber F1.07A-01 I consider one of the best looking F1 cars of the past decade, with an elegant blue livery on a white chassis.
The BMW Sauber F1.07 for the 2007 Formula One season was the first to have been designed fully by BMW, following their purchase of the former Sauber team. The car proved to match the looks, scoring two podium finishes notably by Nick Heidfeld taking silver at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix and a 3rd at the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix. In addition to Robert Kubica, Sebastian Vettel finished 8th in his only appearance for the team, at the United States Grand Prix.
The fact sheets did not forget to bring up one of the biggest crashes of the modern era when Kubica’ become the first UFO of modern F1. I suspect the car here was not the one that went to discover outer space. Still, to its defence, I have to remind here, that this was not the accident that crippled Kubica’s F1 career, so modern safety measures surely made a difference.
The middle of the stage is occupied by y Footwork from 1991, a car that might be buried by the crimson tide of the financial turmoil of the mid-’90s.
The second gem is a British aristocrat from the 2000s. The Jaguar R1 competed in the 2000 Formula One season. It was the first Jaguar-badged Formula 1 car following Ford’s purchase of the Stewart team the previous year.
The car proved rather disappointing, despite flashes of promise. The flashy juggernaut of the GT40 venture that one might recall from a recent Hollywood blockbuster indeed failed to materialise again, and the heirs of the Commendatore had the last laugh on the FoMoCo instead.
This is particularly true when considering, that they hired Eddie Irvine, the 1999 championship runner-up from Ferrari, who could only score 4 points, placing the team ninth overall in the Constructors’ Championship. So in this chapter of the Ford Vs Ferrari war, Henry Ford the second is played by William Clay Ford Jr, Carol Shelby is played by Bobbi Rahal, Ken Miles is played by Eddie Irvine, and Ferrari got its sweet revenge.
Autoclubs’ segment is a pretty spectacular part of InterClassics, as illustrated by the French Autoclub ACO’s stage featuring a 2019 Porsche 935 in Le Mans design. The homage to Le Mans is no coincidence, they originate and are headquartered in Le Mans. Even at present, they are responsible for the organisation of the Le Mans race.
Sticking to the same topic, AC Cobra specialist Shelby Gentleman Car extended their usual stage with a full-size poster advertising the Ford Vs Ferrari / Le Mans 66 movie. The original spec stage featuring AC Cobras and an iconic silver Motor Home is quite an eye-candy already. Still, this time it featured two Ford GTs as well.
Enter the club sandwich
Most of Palais 7 was occupied by car clubs, showcasing lovely dioramas and interesting rarities, like the colourful trio of Saab Sonetts, illustrating the evolution of the short-lived model.
After that, it is no surprise that Lotus has its own car club.
It is also lovely to see that even rarities like the BMW Z1 have its own club (flashing three specimens).
After you might wonder why the classic Microcars have a joint stage and not featured separately: :).
The stages of specialists
After all, this is also a trade show and many specialists and traders built up formidable stages, with many automotive legends and impeccable specimen.
A few exhibitors brought along a set of models without any decoration, like an Alfa specialist who probably scored well with the GTVs. Not to mention the fact that visitors could admire the interior in its full beauty.
There was another dealer that showcased Porsche 356 models only. Well, actually there were several 356 specialists exhibiting 3-6 showroom shine specimen.
There was a Lancia specialist with a brilliant collection of restored cars from various decades and project maturity (meaning some of it was missing a headlight or a door…).
Below I will list some of the favourite cars from the show, that managed to invoke particular emotions one way or another.
A favourite of mine was the Ferrari 250 GT Europa Nr. 0373 also confirmed by an InterClassic trophy.
The car also enjoyed notable racing success, finishing 3rd at the Liège-Rome-Liège in 1956 with Ferrari’s Le Mans winner Olivier Gendebien and Pierre Stasse behind the wheel. The car was in full competition mode, fitted with metal stone guards and rally lights.
You can guess the importance of a car when it is featured on a podium next to an award-winning Lancia.
The Alfa Romeo 1900 was a significant development for the Milanese brand as the marque’s first car built entirely on a production line and first production car without a separate chassis.
This was to bear major consequences to the legendary Italian coachbuilders, as the advent of the unibody chassis design was threatening to put the carrozzerie out of business.
Alfa Romeo thus offered five different variations of the 1900 unibody chassis specifically for independent coachbuilders. They contracted Touring to build the sporty 1900 Sprint coupé (like the green specimen on the podium) and to Pininfarina to build the Cabriolet and Coupé versions.
Another favourite was a unique Farina bodied Jaguar XK120, coach-built by Stabilimenti Farina (courtesy of French dealer Galerie des Damiers).
The bicolour grand tourer had initially been showcased at the 1952 Brussels Motor Show.
The white Maserati 3500 GT is already a special car among grand tourers. Still, the interior of this car is spectacular, even in its own class.
Another spectacular car was the Sbarro Ferrari Super 8 concept courtesy of Speed8Classics. The strange bullet was not a Group B prototype but a unique road car conceived and built by Franco Sbarro relying on Ferrari technical basis.
Sbarro started with a Ferrari 308 GTB frame and custom bodywork, powered by a Ferrari Quattrovalvole 3-liter 260hp V8 with a five-speed manual gearbox. It was unveiled at the 1984 Geneva auto show, but only one example was built.
The odd one out was a Heinkel Trojan for nearly 20.000 euros.
There are many exciting cars in the gallery from Alpine A110 through a few Japanese models and rarities like a Monteverdi and De Tomaso down to classic Ferraris.
There were quite a few impressive specimens on this side of the classic car eligibility, from a striking Dodge Viper through an Audi ur-Quattro down to a project car of Jaguar.
The F‑Type Project 7 is a collectors’ edition sports car from Jaguar. Designed by the Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) team, the limited production car reaches 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds and a top speed of a whopping 299km/h.
