Days of Elegance 2022: and the winners are…

The Concours was the highlight of the Days of Elegance 2022. This feature event showcased exclusive classic and modern cars, competing in six categories (including a peer-awarded prize) and a Best of Show award. Judging was entrusted to over a dozen selected jury members walking around inspecting the cars in their distinct uniforms.

The five categories included classic race cars (up to 1980, and they took that very seriously), gentleman’s sports cars (from 1950 to 1980), modern sports cars (an immaculate selection of supercars from 1980 to the present), and luxury touring cars (up to 1970).

The ‘When Coachwork Becomes Art’ category was the eye-catcher of the contest for tailor-made cars coachbuilt before 1960.

The main square of the exhibition featured four special stages dedicated to the above Concours categories (the guiding principles we could establish seemed like pre-war classics, post-war classics, modern era supercars and race cars).

The fleet was nothing short of incredible, with vehicles like not one but two Pegasos, a Bugatti EB110 or a magnificent Art Deco Horch mastodon. And we are talking about those who did not receive an award there…

The prizes were also awarded in seven other categories. The Louwman Museum’s Mercedes-Benz 500K Spezial Roadster was highlighted in the press materials and was deemed to be a contender for the Best of Show title. In the end, it won the Coachwork Becomes Art category and will be featured later on our very own list.

The beige Porsche 356 won the Gentleman’s Thoroughbreds class. This car is familiar from previous events (like InterClassics Brussels 2018 and Autoworld’s Porsche 356 anniversary exhibition), an early specimen, the 44th Porsche ever built, still assembled in the stables in Gmünd.

The car was one of 15 Swedish export models, and this particular won the Midnattsssollrallyt on 15 June 1950 with Cecilia Koskull behind the steering wheel.

The prize in the Racing Legends class went to the red 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial (not to be confused with Ferrari’s entry-level V8 road car from the ‘80s).

The Mondial was not the only stallion taking home an award. 1989 Ferrari F40 won in the Future Classics category, although one could argue, that this model was born to be a classic. Not on our top list, but the best of the Elegant Tourers class was a Mercedes-Benz 300S.

The Owners’ Choice Award is a particular prize. It was given among peers, as only competition participants were allowed to cast their votes. This was won by the elegant Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Villa d’Este.

Finally, an Honorary Judge Award was given to the green Pegaso Z.102 GT Berlinetta Enasa.

Although our favourite would be the blue Z102 in the front row, we have seen that on various occasions in the past (InterClassics Brussels 2019 and Zoute Concours 2021), and we could photograph it inside out (especially during the Zoute). Thus, we also picked the green Pegaso for our list this time.

Probably the same fate arrived at the gorgeous 1954 Ferrari 250 GT Europa race car with its characterful front light protection grills that already won awards at InterClassics Brussels 2019. This car 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.

And finally, the Best of Show Award of Days of Elegance 2022 went to the 1935 Lancia Astura Roadster. This luxurious 2.6-liter eight-cylinder beat all the others, at least according to the Concours of Elegance jury.

As for the rest of the main space, traders and specialists exhibited a great wealth of pre-war and post-war classics.

Around these tents, every major car nation was represented, from British classics to Dutch exotic sportscars.

Among these, usual suspects like a 911 with gulf livery were parked with one-offs like the coachbuilt Rolls Royce shooting break or an off-road Nissan GTR.

Now, we take a slight rhetorical break before we get on with our personal favourites.

For an overview of the event, have a look back at the intro article:

If you click on little icon “2” below for page 2, you will find over 80 photos in the gallery. Before clicking on the next page, take a deep breath, as loading the pictures might take some time.