Le Mans legends in Brussels
A record-breaking 26,865 visitors attended Interclassics Brussels at Brussels Expo, on the outskirts of the Belgian capital, from 17-19 November. A special centenary celebration for the 24 Hours of Le Mans was the highlight: 25 endurance racers and a recreation of the trackʼs famous Dunlop Bridge brought a slice of the Circuit de la Sarthe to the show (above).
Six cars lined up on the fake Tarmac, including the Le Mans-winning 1957 Jaguar D-type, XKD 606, as raced by Ron Flockhart and Ivor Bueb, courtesy of the Louwman Museum in The Netherlands. Alongside it was the ex-david Piper 1969 Porsche 917 and a Toyota GR010 Hybrid, the latter representing Le Mansʼ latest Hypercar class. More classic endurance cars flanked the track section, including a 1930 Talbot 90 PL2, the ʼ71 Matra-simca MS660 raced by Jean-pierre
Jabouille and David Hobbs, and an Alpine M65.
There were plenty of interesting classic cars to be found elsewhere in the show, too, thanks to the hundreds of local clubs and dealers in attendance. Favourites included a 1954 Bristol 404 with fewer than 10,000 miles on the clock, a disassembled Mercedes-benz 300SL Gullwing for visitors to pore over and a bright-green Lamborghini Miura, while a 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4 Mk1 was awarded Best of Show.
Modern classic greats were out in force, with everything from an E36-generation BMW M3 to a Lamborghini Diablo, the latter on hand to celebrate its makerʼs 60th anniversary.
The Volkswagen stand focused on 75 years of VW in Belgium with a selection of cars from the marqueʼs back catalogue, including a Mk2 Golf GTI, a Karmann Ghia and a Passat B1.