Hypercars facing off with luxury limousines at Prado Zoute

We continue with the factory stages of the Prado Zoute after the first part. The second half of the tent continued along the same pattern mixing mainstream premium brands and high-end luxury manufacturers.

Ferrari showcased true exotics and novelties along with its complete range, from F8 and Portofino to Roma.

The SP2 is a special series car bearing homage to the post-war race cars of the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio.

The designation SP2 stands for the two-seater version, while the single-seater SP1 we could witness at the Casa Ferrari a few years ago.

An absolute novelty was the 296GTB, not just a Ferrari for the 2022 model year but the brands first six-cylinder car since the Dino. This car is the very first plugin hybrid of the iconic Italian brand.

Audi’s booth was announced under the theme “Reflect on the past. Celebrate the future”, which proved fitting.

The front of the booth featured two cars that could not be more different. The classic division presented the 1909 Audi Alpensieger Type C 14/35 “Liselotte” from 1913.

Designed by August Horch, it is one of the most successful race cars in the brand’s pre-World War I history, winning the Alpine races in 1912, 1913 and 1914.

The pre-war car faces off with the Audi of the future, the AI: TRAIL Quattro concept car. This electric off-roader is a concept for sustainable off-road mobility.

The design serves off-road capability with autonomous driving and a glass cabin, allowing all-around visibility enhanced by five drones.

The car was already featured in VW’s IAA 2019 show, but the contrast with Liselotte makes it even more striking.

The electric-powered Audi RS e-Tron GT represented Audi’s current offering.

Mercedes brought a luxurious specimen for each of its subbrands to ensure a worthy representation.

The S Class is a truly iconic model of the Swabian brand, the plugin hybrid version of the S-Class, the 580 e is one of the latest addition. They also added a  Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S Coupé with its 4.0-litre AMG V8 Biturbo engine, just to show some brute force.

In the past few years, Mercedes rolled out an entire model range for its recently launched EQ subbrand. The fully electric EQS premiered recently in Munich, with a range of up to 770 km.

The new interior is still breathtakingly spectacular.

The Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 is the latest model in the Mercedes-Maybach portfolio, combining the technical basis of the GLS with the luxury of a top-class limousine.

I am still waiting for the realisation of the fully electric concept car they presented in Munich. It would make a great birthday present for the 100^th anniversary of the Maybach brand.

Next up is Rolls Royce, with an impressive limo and its best-selling Cullinan model in the back.

McLaren prepared a fine stage with the brand-new McLaren 765LT Spider, a Targa version of the Longtail, unveiled last year.

The red one is the Artura, the first model to use McLaren’s brand new PHEV architecture McLaren Carbon Fibre Lightweight Architecture.

Polestar ensures a robust presence at car events this year. At the IAA, they built up a stage in the expo and downtown as well, and they also showed up at Antwerp Concours.

The Polestar 1 is a small series production model, so the two cars they exhibited in the Prado tent were familiar from these events.

Visitors were able to revel in the golden Polestar 1 (similar to the one in IAA Munich) and experimental Polestar 2.

Their cars actively participated in the events, also assisting the classic rallye. Even the shuttle cars that drove visitors from the parking locations included several Polestar 2 models, and I even saw a Polestar 1 in the fleet.

The absolute highlight of Aston Martin’s booth was its V12 Speedster. The car follows the less is more principle, as the window- and roofless car costs well over €800,000, but features a storage compartment for helmets.

You may have guessed, Aston Martin also possesses a “Q” Division that stands for its customisation services. And it’s custom alright…

Some 88 specimens of this puristic limited-edition were planned, with deliveries starting in 2021. Powered by a Twin-Turbo V12 engine, with a peak output of 700hp and 753Nm of torque, the V12 Speedster accelerates to 100km/h in just 3.5 seconds and can reach a top speed of 300km/h.

Behind the Speedster, Aston Martin showcased its DBX SUV and a series production Vantage.

One of the show’s absolute highlights were the stages of Supercars and Hypercars from four different manufacturers (or better to say Manufactories): De Tomaso, Pininfarina, Touring Superleggera and Dallara.

The cars might be familiar from Zoute Concours d’Elegance 2019, albeit this time, the car came in different colours.

The De Tomaso P72 is a sports car manufactured by the iconic Italian automobile manufacturer De Tomaso. To be fair, this company has now little to do with the legendary automotive titan Alejandro De Tomaso.

In fact, the car is based on the technology provided by German sportscar manufacture Gumpert, which is owned by the same Hongkong based company as De Tomaso.

The P72 is based on the Ferrari derived technical platform of the Apollo Intensa Emozione. Also, its design and original red colour with golden accents pay homage to the De Tomaso P70 prototype race car from the ‘60s.

I personally found this baby blue car even more fascinating. Going through my photos, I simply could not cut them down to 4-5, as the design gives a new impression from every angle. I am not saying I would order one like this, but the colour brings out the best from this design.

The next supercar is a Pininfarina Battista Anniversario, a truly European electric supercar car. The name Battista pays tribute to Pininfarina’s founder Battista Pininfarina, legendary Italian car designer coachbuilder. Yet it is manufactured by Automobili Pininfarina GmbH, which, oddly enough, is headquartered in Munich.

If that would not be enough, the car is powered by a 120 kW⋅h battery pack and drivetrain supplied by Croatian electric supercar specialist Rimac. The vehicle has four individual motors, each integrated into the wheel with a combined power output of 1,400 kW and 2,300 Nm of torque.

Last year, Automobili Pininfarina unveiled a special edition called the Anniversario. Each Battista Anniversario is hand-painted in Cambiano, a colour scheme honouring Piedmont, the home area of Battista.

The Touring Aero 3 is a sports car from the famous Milanese coachbuilder Touring Superleggera. The car pays homage to the iconic Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 Berlinetta from 1938, the ultimate version of the ultimate supercar of the ‘30s.

Of course, it’s hard to find a good platform for a supercar in the offering of Alfa Romeo, but luckily, Touring could rely on a familiar brand. The ’30s also brought the rise of Scuderia Ferrari, one of the most successful teams driving pre-war Alfa Romeos.

Thus the Aero 3 is based entirely on the Ferrari F12berlinetta, with aerodynamics recalling the 1938 Alfa Romeo 2900 Le Mans.

The last one in the line is a Dallara Stradale, a road-legal race car manufactured by Italian race car constructor Dallara.

The Stradale is the first road car manufactured by the company, powered by a 2.3-litre turbocharged Ford EcoBoost Inline four-cylinder engine derived from the Ford Focus RS. With a little help from Bosch, the engine peaks at 400 PS.

For an overview of the Zoute GP, have a look at the landing article with link to all our reports:

And for an overview of this years car events, check out Egzostive’s ultimate European automotive bucket list!