We never made secret out of the fact that we love the Zoute Grand Prix. 2019, it proved to be a breath of fresh air after the usual indoor car shows and also our first real high-end Concours d’Elegance. While the concept evolved over the years, facing challenges like COVID, we are always left with lasting memories.
The event offers a diverse variety of programs encompassing a classic Rallye (regularity), a GT Tour (for sports cars and supercars), an indoor car expo (the traditional car show), and an auction run by Bonhams. Some of these events are public, like the start/arrival parade and the cars exhibited on the beachside boardwalk, or the tours of the classic and GT cars in the neighbouring areas. Others might require additional investments from the spectators.
Since last year, the event ditched the Concours d’Elegance, and this year, the Bonhams Auction and the Parado car show are now housed in a single tent. This makes it the smallest Zoute we saw, and at the same time, the basic ticket cost a whopping 85 euros. The question is, was it still worth it?
Well, the answer is clearly yes. The organisers reported impressive visitor stats, and judging by the Sunday attendance, the ticked price certainly did not shy away visitors. Also, Zoute is still a unique proposition if you are looking for high-end car shows. Despite fewer exhibitors, Zoute could still boast a dozen high-end car brands that seldom attend mainstream international car shows these days.
The ticket gave you access to the Zoute Gallery, the heart of the Zoute GP, hosting the premium car show. The tent might not be a match for the massive exhibition halls of the big international car shows, but the smaller stages can pack an enormous punch of adrenaline even with a 3-5 car lineup.
The stages were elegant and featured novelties and Belgian premieres, even if we did not see many concept cars from the factory HQ. Even with the absence of a few exotics, the show featured over a dozen brands. Especially if we consider the beachside podiums, where MG showcased its Cyberster halo car with a classic MG and we also saw a few Microlinos, that did not rent a booth in the Gallery.
The VW Group was present with all premium and luxury brands. Porsche came with four cars (Porsche Taycan Turbo GT, Porsche Macan BEV, Porsche 992.2 and Porsche Panamera), Audi with three, and Bentley with two (a brand New Bentley Continental GT and the Bentley Flying Spur that saw a Belgian première).
The most expensive brands like Rimac (with a Nevara Time Attack Edition), Bugatti and Lamborghini were represented by a single car.
Alpine came with a complete stage, especially given their model range. The Alpine A290E still seems like a promising project.
Aston Martin built a really impressive stage featuring the Aston Martin Valiant concept and the brand-new Vanquish.
The British lineup continues with the McLaren and Rolls Royce booth, closing with a Land Rover Defender.
Lotus did not attend this year, thus the Geely group was represented only by Polestar. They brought along the European première Polestar Concept BST and a Polestar 4.
Ferrari showcased its brand-new 12Cilindri and Mercedes a selection of high-end models from its palette.
This year, the official auction of the Zoute Grand Prix was housed in the same pavilion. For the twelfth consecutive year, the international auction house Bonhams has enlisted an impressive lineup of unique cars that went under the hammer on Sunday.
According to the organisers, the 12th edition of the Zoute Sale raised over €22 million, making it the most important auction of the year for the auction house in 2024. This means Zoute outsold the Paris auction we covered earlier this year.
An impressive sale rate of 94%, meaning that almost all cars were sold. This is particularly impressive as the pricing made no compromises. We highlight the exclusive 2010 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss (we never thought to see a Moss edition in a colour other than aluminium silver), fetching an impressive hammer price of €3,220,000, exceeding all expectations.
Despite the more compact format, it is still worth revisiting Zoute on several days, as the Rallies give a completely different face to the event, depending on the day you visit. The mornings are dedicated to the inspections and the start of the rallies, making it a spectacle on its own. This year, we visited on Sunday, which was dedicated to the GT cars.
The Zoute GT tour features modern dream cars, primarily high-performance sportscars under 20 years of age. The organisers reported over 160 vehicles, including many rarities. It’s not like we get to see dozens of Ferraris or Aston Martins in a single spot every day.
But even among them, there are many special editions like the 911 GT3 and Targa, Ferrari Monza SP2 or Vanquish. We attended the launch, and for technical reasons, we did not go car spotting (in fact, we made ourselves a promise never to go to Knokke again). For that, we recommend our article from last year with the Photos of Inge Hollevoet.
Saturday is dedicated to classic cars, giving a completely different impression to Knokke. The Zoute Rallye is one of the main attractions during the Zoute Grand Prix days. The Rallye is for cars older than 56 years and consists of two sections, a regularity rally and a touring Rallye.
The regularity rally includes a 250 km daily drive paired with speed and skill tests. The Touring Rallye is a three-day drive at the driver’s own pace, with plenty of stops at original locations, like downtown Bruges. These rallies take place on open roads accessible to the public for taking photos. For an impression of the Saturday Rally, we recommend revisiting our article from 2021.
