This weekend, the Flanders Collection Cars will be held at Antwerp Expo. With 350 classic cars on display and around 150 exhibitors in total, it will be busy on the exhibition floor.
Expectations are that over 10,000 visitors will descend on Antwerp Expo. The ample parking space will probably ensure that many classic car enthusiasts will bring their classics to Antwerp. If your classic car has an O-plate and you have registered it, you can drive it in the city.
Since May 2024, a regulation has been developed to allow driving with an O licence plate in both Antwerp and Ghent. Register your classic car for access in Antwerp & Ghent.
Themes
Just like in Ghent, the fair is organised around themes. In this case, there is an exhibition about 75 years of Aston Martin DB and in another hall we find an exhibition about Jaguar.
Aston Martin
The first Aston Martin that catches the eye is the exceptionally beautifully lined DBR2. The DBR2 is a racing car with a great history. For example, an Aston Martin DBR2 won the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1959. The original DBR2 had a straight-six engine. The block and head were made of an aluminium alloy. The engine had a 3910cc cylinder capacity and produced 298 bhp at 5700 rpm.
They are almost impossible to find in their original form, but a number of replicas have been made over time. The car on display may also be a replica, but we are not sure. In any case, it is a special car that even as a replica costs a small fortune.
Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato Continuation
We also saw an extremely rare Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato Continuation, a model of which only 19 were ever made. This Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato was offered as a package deal with the DBS GT Zagato described below.
Aston Martin DBS GT Zagato
Another Aston Martin that caught our eye was this DBS GT Zagato. In 2019, Aston Martin introduced a duo of models to celebrate 100 years of Zagato. In addition to the DB4 GT Zagato Continuation, this DBS GT Zagato was also produced, which you could purchase as a package. A total of 19 sets were produced and they were only offered for sale together for a price of 7 million euros. This price has since risen sharply, with a set recently auctioned for 18 million…
Striking features of this DBS GT Zagato are the missing rear window and the rather special grille. This grille consists of 108 small panels that can all move individually. This is to get enough air under the bonnet, but also to create a dynamic effect. The rear window is replaced by a camera whose image is shown in the rearview mirror.
Aston Martin DB5 ‘James Bond’
With this DB5, Aston Martin secured the most successful product placement deal in film history and was described as ‘the most famous car in the world’. The car first appeared in the 1964 film Goldfinger. For that time, the car was packed with special gadgets such as rotating number plates, an ejector seat to get rid of your passenger, a bulletproof screen and even a navigation system. Machine guns were concealed behind the parking lights. If you want to know everything about James Bond’s cars, I can definitely recommend the book Spy Octane, which we have written an article about before.
Automobilia
At every indoor classic car event you come across a few stalls selling automobilia. That is no different here in Antwerp. It is nice that they always bring different things.
There was also no shortage of car-related literature, and we were able to admire a fine selection of scale models.
Sale
Whichever way you look at it, the sale of old and young timers is and remains important at these kinds of events. You will see many dealers displaying their offerings and also offering them for sale.
Just like in the Ghent edition, you don’t see any extremely special cars for sale. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth it, though, because it only increases the supply of the ‘slightly’ more affordable cars.
The ugliest?
Every classic car event is always full of shiny cars, each one more beautiful than the last. Of course, what you find beautiful is a personal matter, but we definitely thought the Renault above was the ‘ugliest car in the show’.
Clubs
Many clubs were present. We saw the BMW Bavaria club, but also the Triumph club, the Porsche club and many others. What is becoming increasingly noticeable is that clubs are being formed for one specific model within a brand. In Ghent, for example, we saw the Ford Taunus Club and here we came across the Mercedes Club 107.
Above you see a Ford ‘Werksturbo’ Capri 2.8 Turbo that was brought along by the ‘Capri Team Belgium’. It is a rather special car that we don’t often come across.
The Werksturbo Capri is powered by a 2.8 litre V6 carburettor engine with a large Garrett turbo with a low turbo pressure of 0.4 bar. This combination squeezes 188 hp out of the engine, which is sent to the rear wheels and, thanks to the 235/70 R13 tyres, ends up on the asphalt. Considering that this car weighs a good 1170 kg, fireworks on the road are guaranteed. A beautiful appearance that we would like to see more of.
Jaguar
The Jaguar exhibition focussed on the XK, E-Type and XJ-S models. We saw an XK120, an XK140 and an XK150 neatly lined up next to each other.
Naturally, there were also a few E-Types, which many still consider to be one of the most beautiful cars ever produced.
The XJ-S models were also on display, and of course the V12 versions appeal most to the imagination. However, the story goes that these models also hit your wallet the hardest.
Flandria ‘made in Belgium’
We also saw a nice stand from the Belgian Flandria. As early as 1933, Aimé Claeys built his first four prototypes for a motorbike. It was a 500cc model with a Jap overhead valve engine. Nothing more was done with the prototypes, but the seed had been planted. After the Second World War, the family built a new factory and in 1951 the first Claeys-Flandria bicycle with a 40cc Rex engine rolled off the production line. Barely a year later, this engine was replaced by a 49cc engine developed in-house.
Flandria became a cycling sponsor in the late 1950s and later also started its own cycling team. At its peak in the mid-1970s, Flandria produced more than 100,000 mopeds annually.
Flandria moped production came to an end in 1981.
Rarities
It is not exactly our first choice, but under the heading of curiosities, we will put the Toyota Mega Cruiser in the spotlight for a moment. Almost everyone knows that Toyota is a household name in the off-road world with their Land Cruisers. The Mega Cruiser shown above is much less well known. The Mega Cruiser is an off-road machine that, like the Hummer, was initially designed for military purposes. The Mega Cruiser was built from 1996 to 2001, which is a relatively short period for such a special vehicle. A total of 3,000 Mega Cruisers were built, of which only 150 were approved for use on public roads. The fact that one of these is for sale here is quite exceptional.
Crafts
It is always nice to see someone practising a trade. For example, we saw someone here soldering the tip of a bonnet shut.
Museum
Loyal Wheels-and-Things visitors have long known that Autoworld is our favourite classic car museum. On the one hand because it is close by, but also because of the many exhibitions that are organised there.
However, it is never a bad idea to look beyond our borders every once in a while. That is how we came across a stand of the Dutch Metropole Museum. This museum is privately owned by its founder Frans van Haren and is open to the general public on Saturdays and Sundays. With a surface area of 30,000 m² and a collection of over 400 automobiles, it is one of the largest car museums in the Netherlands. What makes it special is that they also exhibit a large collection of lorries and motorbikes. We are already looking forward to a visit and will of course report back.
Conclusion
Just like Flanders Collection Cars Ghent, the Antwerp edition is a very accessible classic car fair. You will see a number of fun and often affordable cars that you are guaranteed to have a lot of fun with during one of the many organised trips in our little country of Belgium.
Highly recommended for a visit. You can still go there until Sunday 16 March.
You can get tickets via this link.
