More then just a sales show, this year’s Interclassics Brussels edition turned into a small classic car heaven, with a few surprises waiting round the corner.
Let’s not get drawn into parallels with major players (Retromobile, Techno Classica…). But for just its third edition on Belgian soil, Interclassics is definitely on the rise. Putting two themes forward – ‘the big five’ motor museums and cyclecars. Interclassics put up a very fine display of old- and youngtimers, bridging prewar-times with the 1990s.
The big five museums
The Beaulieu National Motor Museum (UK), the Schlumpf Collection (France), the Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile (Italy). Louwman Museum (Netherlands) and Autoworld (Belgium) were invited to bring in total 15 of their priced possessions to Brussels for the weekend, resulting in five magnificent displays in the main hall.
Among them Beaulieu sent a 1930 Bentley 4½ Litre Supercharged. The Museo Nazionale had a 1947 Cisitalia 202 SMM Spider Nuvolari on the truck from Turin. The Schlumpf Collection brought a one of a kind ‘surprofilée’ Bugatti type 46 from 1933 over from Molsheim. Louwman shipped a 1937 Figoni & Falaschi bodied ‘teardrop’ Talbot Lago T150 SS Coupé over from The Hague. Whilst Autoworld chose for proper Belgian heritage with the 1921 Minerva OO Vandenplas.
Microcars and more
Less spectacular then the museum-display, but equally impressive. The cyclecar expo was set-up with these tiny predecessors of the Japanese kei-cars being shown next to period pictures of the car in equal size. It made clear that however tiny they may have been, breaking. The 200kph-barrier in a barely-there 1927 Amilcar C6. The Monthléry banking must have been quite an achievement for Maurice Trintignant.
Other surprises were to be found as well. For instance the one-off Neretti, coachbuilt by D’Ieteren in 1964 on the basis of a. You wouldn’t believe it – humble Beetle. With over 23.000 visitors over the weekend, Interclassics Brussels performed better than expected.
Photography by Dirk de Jager
