Finally, another top indoor event that fortunately could take place. With themes such as Ickx or rather Mr. Le Mans and an exhibition of the historical brand Elva, it could hardly go wrong.
Patience is richly rewarded
We hWe had to wait a long time for it, but once we entered Hall 5 of Brussels Expo, our eyes started to twinkle and our hearts went a gear higher. At first sight, it was going to be a great edition, judging by this special Maserati. The four halls did not disappoint and the specials kept coming as we saw many cars for the first time :-).
Large attendance rate
I think that just before the start, every event organiser is waiting with bated breath to see what the rules will be the next day. However, this did not stop the classic car enthusiast because with almost 20000 visitors spread over the three days, we can certainly speak of a success. Also the exhibitors were positive about the show.
Theme Ickx
The main theme of Interclassics Brussels is the celebration of Jacky Ickx’s 75th birthday. His 40-year racing career will also be highlighted. The clever thing about the Ickx stand is the wide variety of vehicles. They take you through the various disciplines that Ickx left his mark on. Recently, we discussed a book dedicated to Ickx, which is worth a look.
Excelling in numerous disciplines
You will not hear me say that today’s F1 pilots or rally drivers do not manage their discipline. They may even do it very well. But at the time of Jacky Ickx, one discipline was not enough to stand out. Not only did Ickx compete in several motorsports disciplines, he won everywhere!
Mr. Le Mans
Ickx won the 24 Hours of Le Mans no less than 6 times! He also won eight races in Formula 1 and was on the podium 25 times. In 1979, he won the Can-Am championship, and the 1000km of Spa Francorchamps is also to his name five times. Even a victory in the Dakar rally is on his long record of achievements.
65 years Elva
I’ll be honest, I haven’t been around as long as Joris and I didn’t really know the Elva brand. Of course, I had heard of the brand name, but that was all. However, the Elva brand played an important role in the birth of a brand that makes every car enthusiast’s heart beat faster, namely McLaren. The exhibition was created in cooperation with Minister of State Guy Verhofstadt (Elva expert and collector).
Founded in 1955
The Elva Climax MK6 was built from 1961 onwards and was a challenger in many races, especially in America. A total of 28 examples of this model were built and they were equipped with a 1.1 litre Coventry Climax 4-cylinder engine. Thanks to the double Webers, the small engine still produced 90hp. However, it was the positioning of the engine that made it successful. The Lotus mk1 and XI (its rivals) still had their engines at the front. Elva had already made the switch to the mid-engine and this gave a clear advantage.
Elvis Presley
The Elva mk6 came to the attention of the general public through the film Viva Las Vegas (1964). It starred Elvis Presley as Lucky. Lucky was a car mechanic who wanted to become a racing driver. His car was an Elva mk6 with a Maserati Tipo 61 engine.
Elva-Porsche
In 1962, the “Sports Car Club of America” established a new championship for professional drivers. The first season started in 1963 and gave way to the ever-popular Can-Am series in 1969. The Elva-Porsche mk7 was created under the impetus of an American Porsche distributor, Olivier Schmidt. This man believed that a racing car with the Furhmann Four-Cam Porsche engine combined with the super-lightweight chassis of the Elva would be a good combination. After the necessary agreements and adjustments, the car could enter production. On 8 September 1963, the Elva-Porsche entered its first race on the Elkhart Lake circuit. This first race resulted immediately in winning, even against much faster cars from higher classes. There were 15 Elva-Porsche’s built at the then astronomical price of $ 11,000; The following years the Elva-Porsche’s remained successful.
End point Elva & start McLaren
The mk1A (also known as McLaren M1A) was both the end point for Elva and the starting point for McLaren. The result of this collaboration was a lightweight, mid-engined open-top racer designed by Bruce McLaren. Thanks to its tubular chassis, the mk1A weighed a mere 551kg. In this lightweight Bruce McLaren spooned an aluminium Oldsmobile 3.5 litre V8. Later, this engine even got a lung capacity of 4.5 litres. However, Bruce McLaren soon preferred a 5.7 litre Chevrolet engine. In combination with a modern suspension (fully independent wishbones and adjustable suspension), the mk1A was a formidable opponent on the international circuits..
Bruce McLaren
Bruce McLaren built one or two copies himself, the rest of the edition was produced by Elva. A total of 27 examples were built and it is unclear how many remain.
Tribute to Elva
In honour of the mk1A, McLaren released the Elva in 2020. Back an open-top sports car with 815 hp. By today’s standards, a lot heavier than its illustrious predecessor. But with only 1189 kg, this McLaren is the lightest since F1. A total of 149 will be built.
VW Vans
At Volkswagen, we were able to spot a number of Transporters. Especially the ‘flower power’ model caught the eye. Halfway through the sixties the Volkswagen Camper suddenly became the favourite of the hippy generation. At that time nobody would have thought that in 2021 this model would still be popular.
Youngtimer pavilion
At the Youngtimer pavilion visitors could get acquainted with the new event of InterClassics: the Youngtimer Show (9, 10, 11 September 2022 in MECC Maastricht). Several classics in the making including a Spyker C8 Laviolette were set up here to promote the new exhibition concept.
Autoclub’s
Just like the previous editions, many clubs are present at Interclassics with their stands. We saw clubs from Abarth to Volkswagen. The umbrella organisation BEHVA was also present with a large stand.
Prize-giving ceremony
Of course, an event like this should also include an award ceremony. There was a ‘Best of Show’ but also a winner in each category. E.g. ‘Best of 40s & 50s’ but also a ‘Best of 80s’ and many other series. The award ceremony took place at the Autoworld stand, where they immediately advertised their next exhibition. That will be the ‘Supercar story’ and will run from 17-12-21 to 23-01-22. We will certainly report on it.
Artwork
Every time we come across the stand of Frederic Suber Factory. That man is truly an artist. Every detail in his models is present and everything is 100% made by hand. It is therefore not surprising that the construction time of a model takes weeks or even months to be finished at this level.
Restorers
Everyone knows that many classic cars suffer from the ravages of time. Some call it a barnfind when a car is pulled out from under years of dust. We think it was even a real hype for a few years. The more ‘original’ dust on your car, the more it turned out to be worth. During this edition, we did not see many dusted cars. What we did see were perfectly restored gems. Perhaps in better condition than when they originally left the factory. The photo above shows a piece of dashboard of a 1932 Talbot 105 restored by Arie-Jean.
Souvenirs
No classic car show without memorabilia. The stands with model cars, odometer and other analogue clocks are part of it. You could call it a toy shop for young and old. They brighten up these events and it would be monotonous without them. That is why they get an honourable mention in our report.
Transformation
Most of us know Interclassics from their exhibitions in Maastricht and Brussels. But the organisers look further and want to put the brand name ‘Interclassics’ more clearly on the map. So next year there will be an ‘Interclassics Youngtimershow’ as well as a show that wants to bring the upper end of the market under the name of ‘Interclassics Days of Elegance’. In any case we are looking forward to it!
Report & photos: Patrick Verheeken
