The summer is over, and it’s time for Antwerp Concours d’Elegance. This show has been a personal favourite since the world recovered from COVID-19, and this show never fails to impress. With a selection of about 70 cars parked around a castle, the Antwerp Concours might not compete with top-tier car events like Retromobile or Chantilly, but the quality is astonishing.
The Concours has two decades of history, and the concept has remained pretty constant in the past few years. The main focus of the event is a beauty competition of prewar and postwar classics, but we always spot rare and exotic sports, and also, few high-end brands come with tents and test car fleets.
Even the event’s VIP parking can fill a standalone classic car show. The event’s official parking lot (opposite the Castle) is reserved for oldtimers, and we particularly loved the lineup of 300SLs and modern SLSs, but the variety was again impressive.
If you did not arrive with a classic car, you must pass the VIP parking lot and park in the neighbouring streets or the dedicated parking lots with shuttles. This was a novelty this year and premium electric cars (mainly Lotus and Polestar, but also a few VWs) drove the guests between the parking lots and the main entrance.
The Antwerp Concours follows an elaborated timetable:
At 8:00, the participants arrive
This is already a spectacle to follow, even if visitors have to wait by the gates.
At 10:00, the show is open to visitors
At 11:00, the referees start judging cars
The event follows the tradition of Concours, where a jury inspects each car, and the owners open up the cars and start the engine for them. So you can see all the beauties in action, from prewar Bugattis to modern V12 cars. All you have to do is follow the referees in their distinctive uniforms while they are inspecting the vehicles, and you got yourself a priceless spectacle. The Jury includes experts and sportsmen, and since last year’s show, there is a jury section with young members.
13h30 Parade and presentation
All the participants make a victory lap around the main team, stop by the castle and tell their favourite stories about the car.
16h45 Prize-giving ceremony
More on that in a bit. The winners are coming soon…
17h30 Closing event
The Belvédère Castle in Wijnegem hosted the event as usual, offering the large open spaces in the gardens around the Castle. The cars were lined up per topic, which the organisers announced well before the event.
The main theme honoured one of the greatest designers of all time, who passed away this year. The ‘Tributo Marcello Gandini 1938-2024’catogory went to the gigantic silver 1974/6 Maserati Quattroporte II designed at Bertone.
The prewar cars were parked near the parade route of the event in a side garden. There was an impressive lineup of classics, some even before the First World War. Best in class in the category Prewar style & luxury was a 1929 Rolls Royce Phantom 1 Salamanca coachbuilt by Letourneur & Marchand.
The other Prewar category drafted from the other end, lining up Cyclecars & Voiturettes. This category was won by a 1928 D’yrsan Course Compresseur. We did not find it among our photos, but at least we can offer you a few photos on cyclecars.
The organisers also wished “Bonne anniversaire” to the 100-year-old Bugatti’s Type 35. Three of the legendary cars were lined up, so the winner was less of a surprise. In the end, the blue 1925 Bugatti Type 35A race car won this category.
The iconic Mercedes 300SL Gullwing celebrated its 70th birthday, and for this occasion, the chateau hosted three cars while the parking lot was filled with 300SL specimens (and two modern-day SLSs). The winner was a 1958 MERCEDES 300SL Roadster.
There was an exciting category commemorating the iconic Liège-Rome-Liège race. The Marathon de la route cars 1931-1959 category was won by a 1952 Porsche 356SL Gmünd chassis 061.
The best Postwar Preservation Affordable was a 1957 Zelensis Coupe Prototype, the only model of a small short-lived Belgian car manufacturer, while the best in the Postwar European Exotics 1948-1965 was an impressive 1955 Ferrari 250GT Boano Prototipo.
One of the most exciting categories was titled Big in Japan, which listed the most essential Japanese automotive icons from various decades. We are quite surprised to see the 1982 Toyota TA64 Celica Homologation special taking the win. The Calica is a rather recent car, next to the NSX or the 2000GT.
Also, quite an unusual category was titled “Ever Greens” and featured 1940-1960 American cars (all in green colour). The best of the class was a 1960 Chevrolet Corvair Coupe (known for being unsafe at speeds… ), but from this epoch, any mastodon will command respect.
The last category was titled Supercar Mania and was dedicated to engineering marvels. Each car was a design masterpiece and technological marvel, but the Jury went for the 2023 RUF SCR 008.
Now, we take a rhetorical break but will continue with the best-of-show awards and our personal favourites. Stay tuned!
