Prewar Days was on our bucket list for a long time. The event acquired quite a reputation in Belgium, as we encountered their delegations at events like Antwerp Concours.
One of the reasons we’ve never seen this event was that it usually coincides with the Essen Motor Show. This time, however, we opted for a super dense car weekend to include all four (we didn’t quite make it, though). In parallel to Essen’s inaugural weekend, the finest of Belgium was gathering in the area of West Flanders, where three events took place at the same time. The first one is Prewar Days, a show is specialised in prewar cars in Kortrijk, another exhibition took place (with mainly post-war cars) in Waregem, while a classic rally was happening around Ypres. Unfortunately, the heavy snowfall deterred us from attending the Rally and shortened our visit to Prewar Days. Thus, our report is some hundred photos lighter than we wanted, despite the fact that there was a lot to see…
At both car shows, the selection of cars was really impressive. Belgium is so rich in automotive heritage that they could easily put together a show so specialised like Prewar Days, while another brilliant exhibition was happening in the neighbourhood (with another dozen expensive prewar specimens). Not many countries can pull that off…
Prewar Days started in 2019 with the aim of connecting professional classic car dealers and classic car clubs with an interested and targeted audience. In the course of followig our passion for cars, we met many who bought a classic car as a weekend ride sometimes even as a daily drive, but prewar cars require more dedication and offer less practicality. For most people (including us), a Bentley Blower is like a giraffe: a majestic creature we love to admire, but we would not keep one at home as a pet.
Apparently, there are more Belgians with this sense of adventure, and we also noticed on Facebook, that there are many petrolheads online, who keep an interest for these cars and join various specialised groups, even if these aficionados would never own one.
But in Belgium, there seems to be a flourishing industry for these cars with tentacles tp abroad: the organisers secured exhibitors from Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Germany and other countries, showcasing their portfolio of cars and services. While the venue was limited to a single hall in Kortrijk Xpo, but its lighting provided an elegant background, especially with the reflections on the “showroom shine” cars.
In addition to the traders and service providers, the Louwman Museum participated with a standalone stage. The Louwman is one of the best car museums in the world (also in our books), and they claim to offer the largest exhibition of prewar cars. They exhibited half a dozen prewar cars with a decoration recalling their museum building.
A few exhibitors ventured to showcase a few postwar cars from their lots, but those few are exceptional cars, like the Alfa 6C 2500 Freccia d’Oro, our personal favourite.
We saw several Bugatti road cars in various conditions, from barn find (like the green(ish?) 1938 Type 44 with Gangloff bodywork) to showroom shine (like the blue Type 49).
Those who take the word prewar literally, came with vehicles from before the Great War. If the cars from the Roaring Twenties were too luxurious, you should look for prewar motorcycles.
Prewar Days is an exhibition that is hard to categorise. The show had a relatively simple layout, occupying a single hall, and the stages featured only a modest decoration. Hard to ignore, it is clearly not in the same weight class as the continent’s high-end shows, like Retromobile or Techno Classica. While prewar cars may not be everybody’s favourite, the trio of events in the region makes this event a perfect itinerary and a must-see with lots of memorable cars. In fact, we felt much better served with the day in Flanders than the Friday we spent in Essen.
