The seventh edition of InterClassics Brussels opened its gates today. Semi-official stages, Museums and stages announcing events to come, this year’s show’s still got all the ingredients that make classic car shows so much fun. With 3 large exhibition halls and a couple of exciting themes, you can prepare for an action-packed afternoon.
InterClassics is located at the premises of the Brussels Expo area (metro station Heysel, with a generous amount of parking places from the other side). This year’s InterClassics occupied only three halls, which makes it the smallest InterClassics to date.
But to be fair, almost every show reduced in size compared to last year, and we should be thankful that the organisers managed to pull off this show.
The show will end this Sunday, and opening hours start at 10:00 and finish at 18:00. For more information, visit their official website. Prepare for at least half a day of intensive walking with the regular dropping of anchor (and our jaw too).
Honouring 75 years of Ferrari with the history of Ecurie Francorchamps
As usual, InterClassics follows a lead topic and a few additional themes. This year’s show is dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Ferrari, with a dedicated stage featuring iconic models from every decade.
In addition, the relationship between Belgium’s Ecurie Francorchamps and the Scuderia was also put in the spotlight with selected race cars in the corner stages. For those who are unaware, since 1952, the Belgian privateer racing organisation was there at the beginning of the Le Mans and many F1 races with its distinctive yellow Ferraris.
The second theme was dedicated to the 50 Years BMW M
The organisers conjured a selection of BMW’s classics prepared by its now legendary Motorsport division.
We are going to present these stages in more detail in the following articles, but there are plenty of other things to see in the three halls of the Brussels Expo area.
InterClassics is still an excellent announcement board for exhibitions
As usual, the organisers had help from friends… Several exhibitors rented space to publicise their upcoming car events.
Autoworld brought the newest car of their current Ferrari exhibition that we thoroughly reported a few weeks ago.
The exhibition is still on, but they already plan to open another Supercar exhibition without repeating the same exercise from last year. This time, their focus will be sports cars with racing aspirations.
The other show we can’t wait to see is a James Bond exhibition featuring dozens of cars with a history in the James Bond franchise.
Brands are still there, showing the strength of the Belgian classic car culture.
Porsche came with the largest and most comprehensive stage this year. That is less than you think, as Porsche did not participate in any car show this year with a factory presence. The only European international cars show of 2022, the Mondiale, was practically free of any import brands.
Surprisingly, all factory stages reported missing at Techno Classica too. There was a Porsche stage at Zoute, but that was all we can recall. InterClassics was the best show from Porsche this year.
The main stage featured every series of 911s, some of them wore a “sold” badge already on Friday. Others were borrowed from the Factory Museum, so they are priceless.
The 911s are surrounded by smaller booths specialising in restoring and merchandising. If you need a cup with the lines of the “pink pig”, fitting clothing or just a showroom shine 911 Turbo, don’t miss this part of the show.
While BMW did not bring 2022 models to shine in the anniversary candlelight of its M Division, Still, quite a few dealers came with treats from Bavaria. VW arrived with a complete line-up of Minivans to honour the introduction of the latest T7 model.
Smart and Shelby American were also represented by stages. While these stages may be no substitute for the golden days of Techno Classica, this places InterCLassics in the top tier of 2022 car shows in terms of brand representation.
This is partly thanks to the participation of car clubs in the BEHVA Village. BEHVA stands for Belgian Historic Vehicle Association, with over 80,000 members and more than 500 affiliated clubs. In the club area of the fair, BEHVA and its members showcased their favourites.
Of course, you are still best served if you are looking for a classic car for your collection.
The most substantial part of the show is still about selling cars. Every car show is a trade show, but when it comes to classic car shows, the sales aspects are the most obvious.
Classic car shows offer the densest experience with small stages with only light decorations and as many cars as possible.
Traders and collectors rent space and bring cars to stand out, resulting in an armaments war of exotics and extremes. Modern cars like Alfa 8C Cabrio, Aston Martin Zagato, or an MG X Power (built in a few dozen specimens).
You will see some incredible cars here, exotics and true rarities. In fact, the need to strike out resulted in quite a few strange pairings, where traders exhibited a Golf II next to a recent Aston Martin.
Art sections, flea markets and shops, paired with interactive attractions.
Hall 2 contains an Art Area with booths filled with 2D, 3D and even 4D artworks. Creative artists shared their passion for vintage cars and classics.
The selection is highly diverse, from paintings through statutes to model cars and furniture. There was even an Art Car with a Belgian racing history.
As for the fourth dimension, there were live presentations, like artists performing paintings live during the show.
For fans of more down-to-earth entertainment, a simulator stage awaits visitors in Hall 3.
Stay tuned for more articles on the show in the coming weeks, you will still have Sunday to catch up with InterClassics Brussels.
