Classics head to European capital
The anniversary of the 1948 Earls Court Motor Show has been difficult to avoid in 2018 – not so at Interclassics Brussels, which offered instead a celebration of the 1958 World Expo as its centrepiece from 16-18 November.
Held on the same site as the original show, ‘60 Years of World Expo/ Cars of ’58’ gathered a remarkable selection of groundbreaking vehicles, each displayed on a four-lane mock highway bisecting Hall 5. Among the highlights were an Alpine A106, an Opel Olympia Rekord and a Peugeot 203, plus a Jaguar MKIX and a charming Lancia Aurelia Convertible.
Away from the anniversary celebrations, attention was drawn by a two-tone Rolls-royce Phantom II, a Monteverdi 375L High Speed finished in Diamantblaumet, a Bronze Metalizatto Iso Rivolta GT and a glorious Delage D8-105 in black with contrasting cream roof, part of the Bonhams display.
Porsche added to its 70th-birthday celebrations by marking another milestone – 60 years of the 356 Speedster: the Stuttgart firm’s stand was teeming with 356s.
Meanwhile, a fine selection of younger classics provided variety, including a Renault 5 Turbo, a 1979 Toyota Land Cruiser BJ40 and a Renault Clio Williams, plus a rare Fiat Ritmo Abarth 2000 – better known as a Strada on these shores. Three generations of Ford GT, each finished in Gulf colours, proved a talking point, as did a wild custom Lamborghini tractor with a gold key encrusted with diamonds – yours for a cool €250,000.