The Antwerp Concours d’Elegance proved to be one of our favourite car spotting programs. The selection of cars is sublime, and the castle with its lovely park provides an impressive scenery.
Our favourite part of a Concours is the jury’s work when the members start the inspect the cars, and the owners open up the cars and start the engine. Seeing classic legends like prewar Bugattis and post-war Ferrari 250 being revived is a whole different ballgame, all you have to do is follow the referees in their distinctive uniforms while they are inspecting the cars.
The dozens of cars participating in the Antwerp Concours are divided into classes. This makes sure that each classic is competing in its own weight within a particular group. In this article, we will go through the themes dedicated to automotive anniversaries.
Indeed, themes they surely got: four themes were dedicated to brands and models with a special birthday. We already covered the duel of the giants with many iconic Mercs and BMWs who stole the show even without a particular anniversary.
When it comes to Ferrari, every year is worth celebrating
Ferrari’s glorious past and presence make it a thankful topic for any exhibition, no wonder that even a 75 will make a good opportunity to celebrate. Ferrari had it all, even before the birth of the marque (winning many Grand Prix as Alfa Romeos factory team). In fact, they still got it… 😊 And indeed, the organisers brought together quite a selection from the earliest cars to the modern days with the 2022 Ferrari Roma. Seeing these masterpieces here is one thing. What strikes us even more, that most of these cars were not present at other events this year (which all greeted Ferrari with a category or a programme).
The oldest car is a 1949 Ferrari 166 Inter with a Touring body that premiered at the Geneva car show. The Ferrari 166 was the second model Enzo Ferrari developed. With its two-litre V12, this model was one of the first true Ferrari Grant Turismos. Their racing versions became successful in several Grand Prix events such as Le Mans, Mille Miglia and the Targa Florio.
Next up is a white 195 Inter from 1950 and a blue metallic 1995 Ferrari 225 Europa, this one was the most photogenic car of the selection.
The timeline continues with a blue 250 with an elegant Boano bodywork from 1956 and a green 275 GTB with a short nose design from 1965.
If that would not be enough, another short-nose GTB was showcased, this silver one was in the Lemepreur family since its delivery. Practically a first-owner car…
The silver Daytona brings us over to the modern-age Ferraris, and the timeline continues with the red cars from the 80s and 90s.
The red 1968 Dino 206GT boasts the fact that it was once owned by Eric Clapton.
The modern iconic 80s car is the 308GTB Quattrovalvole from 1984, followed by one of the most iconic cars of all time, the F40 from 1989. This car is often credited as the first hypercar, a car using pure racing technology to achieve the ultimate driver’s car without any compromise in speed or cost. The car was created to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the brand, and the project was supervised by Enzo Ferrari.
The organisers managed to fetch the F40’s successor, an F50 from 1997, and also a 512TR from 1993. This car was the evolution of the Testarossa, one of the most iconic Ferraris.
The modern-day Ferraris were represented by a blue Ferrari Roma (next to the grey 275 GTB) and an SF90 in the supercar segment. Below you will find a lot more photos an all these cars sometimes with interior and engine bay open, if we got lucky…
Antwerp Concours honoured the 90th anniversary of the Auto Union with a diverse selection
Auto Union is a legendary German car brand, a conglomerate that merged four reputable German automobile manufacturers (Audi, Horch, DKW and Wanderer). It is considered an immediate predecessor of Audi, but in today’s world, it is closer to that of multi-brand conglomerates like the VW group or GMC. So the few pre-war vehicles wearing the four rings were race cars with impressive lining.
The company is no longer active, as the majority of the infrastructure was located in the DDR area, but the surviving brands NSU and Audi kept the spirit alive, Audi even adopted the Auto Union logo with four rings.
Their museum Audi Forum in Ingolstadt keeps their memory alive, and so does the August Horch Museum in Zwickau. and Audi even ensured a modern-style ghost presence of NSU The Concours honoured Auto Union with a selection of models from its past.
The first car under this theme was a truly impressive 1935 Horch 853 Sport Cabriolet. Horch’s impressive 853 was produced in different series with styling that evolved over time. The long bonnet provides an impression of having more under the bonnet than the actual inline 5-litre engine.
This Horch was so well restored that it could have left the showroom just a few hours ago.
Next up is a Wanderer 25K from 1936, from the collection of the D’Ieteren Gallery. The 25K is a lightweight six-cylinder roadster to compete with BMW’s 328. The owner is a well-known Belgian industrialist and Belgium’s VW importer, so the perfect condition of the car should be no surprise.
The green 1936 Audi 920 Cabriolet represented the brand created by August Horch after he lost the rights to the company bearing his own name.
The DKW F7 from 1938 was the company’s best hope to revolutionise the market, but WWII dashed their hopes to steamroll the competition. Instead, the red army steamrolled the country and nationalised the factory.
The pre-war cars are opened with a DKW Apal, category winner of last year’s event, followed by a green 1970 NSU RO80, winner of the car of the year 1968 award. This model was well ahead of its time with its Wankel engine, which ultimately ruined the future of the entire company.
This specimen boasts a distinctive 70s colour combination, and the organisers claimed a “Time-capsule survivor” unrestored condition in its original condition. The claim that it has its original engine is even more baffling, as even the most modern Mazda RX8s have trouble keeping its original engine after a few years.
The modern days are invoked by two red Quattro cars, the more colourful was a 1981 Coupé and a Sport Quattro from 1985.
50 years of Porsche RS was honoured with a car from each generation
The third-anniversary topic was dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Porsche’s iconic 911 RS series. Each Porsche car had an inherent racing DNA, but the RS editions were always special even among the 911 models.
The organisers fetched 8 specimens to showcase, parked in a dense grouping. We will not go through each, but we will tell you who won the category in the next segment of this article, along with the other two other anniversaries.
Again, we will tell you our picks for the favourite if we did not agree with the choice of the Jury (sometimes it happens), and even if we did agree, we will try to nominate a viable alternative.
I agree with your choice in the Ferraris. They were so beatifoul in the 60s!
DKW F8 should be F7 😉
Thank you for the comment. Indeed it was an F7, and we corrected it in the article.