Last Sunday, we attended the 17th Antwerp Concours d’Elegance. For us, it was our second visit, after a truly remarkable first encounter last year. The success of last year’s event was helped by the long pause of the pandemic. If you want to know more about Antwerp Concours’ background , we recommend reading the intro post of the 2021 event explaining its concept, location and history. But of course, their website helps too… 🙂
This year’s event also looked promising with its thematics, and it did deliver on those promises. September always holds uncertainty for the weather, but it all played out fine.
Autumn weather showed all its possible faces, as the cold foggy morning brought the morning dew on the cars, but fortunately, the wet fog cleared up by noon.
The afternoon programmes took place under the bright September sun, and the parade of the Concours enjoyed perfect lighting conditions.
As usual, even the parking lot offered a pleasant sight with all the usual suspects of a perfect cars ‘n’ coffee gathering, like Alfa GTV, E-type, 911s and SLs of various generations.
But of course, it’s nothing compared to stepping through the gates of Chateau Belvedere.
As for the attractions, some really spectacular cars attended, even if the exhibition area was reduced to about 2/3 of last year. For the 2022 event, there were no cars in the backyard of the Chateau and in a few corners (though last year’s show seemed to use every possible exhibition space). There were also fewer car brands present with a few new BMWs and Maseratis showcased. But the primary function of the event (seeing breath-taking classics) was surely fulfilled.
The 8 category of the 2022 thematic was a guarantee of quality. We particularly appreciated the first theme, dedicated to the duel of the giants, that was effectively a BMW vs Mercedes face-off.
This exhibition lined up quite a few automotive icons from the pre and postwar era, like pairing up the arch-rivals: the Gullwing and the 507. But many rare pre-war masterpieces and iconic post-war cars were showcased.
Another category was honouring the 75th anniversary of Ferrari, celebrating with cars from 1947 to the current 2022 models. It was a true spectacle to see the early 166 Inter along and the current Roma, with some truly iconic cars like the 275 GTB and the F40.
Another interesting line-up was dedicated to the Auto Union celebrating 90 years. The organisers managed to assemble cars from all the former brands of the four rings (DKW, Wander, Audi and Horch) and even an NSO R80, a true automotive unicorn.
The last of the anniversary categories was dedicated to Porsche’s iconic 911RS model celebrating 50 years of success.
There were other categories, like separate pre-war affordable, race and luxury cars or modern luxury sportscars. We will come back to them in more detail, along with the proclaimed winners.
Throughout the afternoon, the front yard of the chateau hosted a show, where each car was driven to the courtyard and presented before the audience. The owners answered questions and also shared their favourite stories.
The best part of Antwerp Concours is still the jury’s work when the judges inspect the cars, and the owners open up the cars and explain stories.
These were our very first impressions from Antwerp Concours d’Elegance 2022. The detailed impressions are now linked in this article. By clicking them, you will see some our best car spotting experiences.
