Prewar Days is a unique car show in Europe, offering dozens of rare specimens from long-gone epochs. A precondition for all cars to be born before World War II, some even before the Great War.
This event started in 2019 to connect professional classic car dealers and classic car clubs with an interested and targeted audience. Prewar cars require more dedication and less practicality, but they bring a substantial wow factor. Therefore, most people admire Art Deco mastodons like a giraffe: a majestic creature we love to see but would never keep one at home as a pet.
Last year, the show coincided with two events: a similar classic car show in Waregem and a classic rally around Ypres. We called this the “Flemish car triangle” we listed high on our 2023 ranking.
This year, however, the three events were scheduled to separate weekends, and Waregem was ultimately cancelled. Thus, we only got to see this event. At first glance, these changes did not greatly affect the Prewar Days. The event still occupied a single hall in Kortrijk’s massive Xpo compound, though we saw more visitors.
In Belgium, there is a flourishing industry for prewar cars, and as last year, the organisers secured exhibitors from abroad, showcasing their portfolio of vehicles and services. In addition to long-gone exotics from the region, like Belgium’s finest Minerva giants or prewar De Dietrich cars, many British, French and Italian brands were represented by impressive prewar mastodons.
This year’s central theme was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Bugatti’s iconic Type 35. The Type 35 was built from 1924 to 1930 in various variants, and it is often credited as the most successful Grand Prix race car ever, winning over 1000 races.
It was one of the first cars designed as a single construction and offered in a ready-for-the-race package, and also the first car with cast aluminium rims. Its 2.2 inline 8-cylinder engine produced over 140 PS, bringing the race car to speeds above 200 km/h.
These cars are now traded north of 5 million euros, and Prewar Days featured half a dozen of them.
There was a dedicated stage with four Type 35s and several other prewar cars, but other specialists brought along prewar Bugattis as well. Even auctioneer Bonham presented a gorgeous Type 35 advertising their Paris auction to be held along with next year’s Retromobile.
The second theme of the show revolved around cyclecars. These vehicles offered low-cost motorised means of transportation for the non-wealthy affectionate, and of course, some used it to racing too.
In our next article, we will post on our favourite cars, as we only provided a few general impressions today.
