Written by Rosemarijn Atalante Veenenbos

As promised, here is a report about Interclassics Maastricht. It was my first time visiting this “Premiere Classic Car Show of the Benelux”, and I did not expect all that much, since Retromobile really is the holy exhibition for my dad and me. Earlier on I wrote you a report of Interclassics Brussels, which is a nice exhibition, but it needs to mature, which is not unusual for such a young show… So there I was with my lovely dad, the most popular day, Friday. In the parking it seemed that there was quite a crowd accompanying us. While entering the arena, a DB5 and a DB4 welcomed us with a tempting wink. I was already in trance ; )

 

Divided in three spacious halls, there was a wide range of stands and cars. Obviously you see that post-war sports cars are high in demand, especially the famous classic Porches 911, of course. Classic sports cars continue to gain compared with for instance prewar cars, because the mid-aged generation is now able to purchase their dream poster car that was once hanging above their beds when they were a kid. Not many of them may have had a poster of a 1947 Alfa 6C 2500S Pinin Farina drophead above their bed.

Also many Jaguar XK’s and E-Types ruled Interclassics, and on Friday many cars were already sold, one of which was the magnificent 1967 one-off BMW Glas 3000 V8 Fastback by Frua. For me this was the best car of the show, a great icon, exemplifying the 100 years of BMW theme. This Glas V8 owned that title! To come back to the XK’s, my dad once owned a XK140 coupe and seeing the XK120 FHC’s, with Atalante-like body, we agreed that it is just a most wonderful automobile. By the way, an XK with the open bonnet looks just like a hungry alligator.

Here and there you see a replica, even very bad ones like a Cobra. There was really something for everybody, even the smallest… Click here to see the ‘smallest’. The marque that stole the show, beside BMW, was for my dad and me Bentley. We saw some examples that made us seriously consider if and a Frenchman should leave our stables to make room for a new British friend, adding some post-Barnato history : ) It became even more interesting when visiting the Bentley and RR club stand. Interclassics had the honor to have these yet truly English motorcars as a second theme. On display I saw so much quality. In the center the shining king of an original (!) Bentley 4 1/2 Vanden Plas that belongs to the Louwman collection. A very elegant 4 1/4 Litre Derby Drophead Coupe from 1936 by Gurney Nutting caught our attention. I instantly feel in love with that one. From the RR’s I was very impressed by the Rolls Phantom I, which was probably as huge as our Hispano-Suiza H6B Grand Sport, and it carried a magnificent wooden boat tail body. In addition to a truly great micro automobilia garage, the club has a lot to offer. The Mascotte Club, the Dutch RR-Bentley club, appears to be a very active club, even with technical days, to name just a nice example. After a long and very enjoyable conversation, we had to carry on, because my to-do-list was still enormous. It was a great advance-retard meeting and the two-toned Bentley S2 coupe looked so sleek and classy, just wonderful.

I also noticed a strange little thing, although it was one that looked familiar… Of course it was a 1960 Messerschmitt KR200! Click here to see what I mean. It is a weird ‘car’, but it is actually more spacious than I thought… a very cool and remarkable vehicle, without a doubt. The Ford that I really appreciated was the French Comète, very nice and affordable for the young generation. Racing junkies, no worries, there were some fast and furious as well, like a red Abarth 2.0 S SE010 circuit scorpio, that raced with the Scuderia Brescia Corse. The neighboring car was a surprise for me… It was exactly the Lambo 400GT Superleggera on which I had worked, doing the 6-double Weber carburetors. I cannot say if it was THE 400GT I had worked on, but if it wasn’t, it was a very good look-a-like.

Somewhere lost in front of the entrance, I looked in the 3-eyed headlight face of a very special RR, a 1928 Phantom I boat-tail tourer. This 2600 kilo weighing beast (with top speed of 140 km/h) showed me his heart, a passionate 6-cylinder 7668cc engine.

You know I am a pre-war lover, but when I see a Miura… And yes there she was, a red P400S (she because of the famous Bull lashes…). Close to her was a fearsome looking Ford, just look at the engine from outer space… The weirdest sportscars definitely was the 1974 VW SP2, a classic master piece. The rear engine told me that it was not one to mess with, a weird master piece with elegant louvres : ) Another great supercar, which has started to awaken, is the Maserati Mistral. For the fearful people who want a historic monster, I have good news. It seems that you can even buy a racing car with racing driver in one package… Then I saw a nice white Alfa. My dad taught me, as he learns me A LOT, that the Alfa Romeo Giulietta or Giulia SS is an excellent collectable car which you don’t see very often. Guess what, a few cars later there was again a Giulietta or Giulia SS, also a white one!

I can give a price to Jean Prick for the stand packed with the most interesting items and looking very ‘brocante’. Damn, I didn’t know where to look, especially on THE table… Sadly this was one of the stands I had not enough time to take a more extended look, plus a nice chat of course. At least I met Jean’s green T57 Ventoux.

Soon after followed the barn find section. I had already noticed that the Aston Martin DB2-4 Mk III has a very pretty face, but then I saw this pretty face again, now covered in dust and mystery. I fell in love and so did my dad. Sorry Miura and all of my other rolling friends. For me this was the most spectacular original car of this event. Had I not been a ‘poor man’s Bugattist’, then I would have married with this car without a doubt! The Aston Martin was discovered in the USA and was now showing off its intriguing and dusty history. The stand exhibiting this dream was actually very interesting as well. Satnik Restauraties is a restoration company and after I had a nice chat with their sheetmetal artist, I now look forward to visiting them soon, like I need to with so many other interesting companies… Such visit will be great for more fascinating workshop reports.

Since we were now in the barn find corner, I spotted another ‘dans son jus’. This was again a very special experience…

Next up we take a look at the ‘dans son jus’ surprise, but not only that… There is much more and one very very special surprise that might change my life…