donderdag 8 januari 2015

Top 10 Events 2014


1 Zoute GrandPrix / 3 days of Classic Car Mania @ Knokke/Zoute
1st day: Start of the Zoute rally with the flying quarter mile / Topmarques / Bonhams Auction with the ex-Nigel Mansell Ferrari F40, Mercedes 600 Pullman and Rijkspolitie-Porsche (bought by Evert Louman/Louwman Museum) Very special treat:  the ex-Ecurie Francorchamps Ferrari 275 GBT2 (#6507GT), hidden away in the Guy Pieters art-gallery and surroundend by ‘Gilbert and George’…

2nd day: chasing the Zoute Rally! Beautiful Mercedes 300SL Panamericana, driven by Jochen Mass and of course lots of Bentley-boys!(more pics here)
3rd day: Zoute Concours d’élégance @ the Royal Zoute Golf with an insane line-up. 1937 Mercedes 540K Streamliner, driven by Jochen Mass! (One-off, originally build to compete in the 1938 Berlin-Rome-Berlin rally, but due to the 2nd World War, the car was left to decay in storage. Last year, Mercedes Classic restored the car to it’s original condition and presented the 540k @ Pebble’s Beach 2014.) 
Fiat 1100E Zagato (Most sensitive restoration), Bizzarini 5300GT StradaErmini 1100 Sport, Bentley Old number 1, Volkswagen 'Porsche Renndienst', 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Pininfarina Cabriolet 'Series 1' (Chassis 0791 GT) Class B: Post-war open cars / Best in show)

Bugatti Type 29/30 (Most creative design), 1951 Lancia Aurelia B52 Bertone (Best preserved car by the jury) , Delage D6 3-litre (Most original car), Ford Granada Rally Service Car, Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet SII.

Ferrari 166MM Oblin (# 0030M, the only Ferrari with an Oblin-bodywork, extensive racing history, 1955 Brussels Motorshow-car, bolt and nut restoration, original motor, chassis, gearbox and the orginal wooden box of tools!  ‘Most special and unique bodywork’-trophy)
Very cool surprise @ the concours: exceptional Ferrari line-up with a 288GTO, F40, F50, Enzo and the brandnew LaFerrari! (More pics of the concours are coming soon)


2 Spa Six Hours 2014: As always, what a weekend! Back to the golden age of motorsport! Jaguar C-Type & D-types (short / Ecurie Ecosse), Ferrari Dino 246S (N.A.R.T.), classic F1-cars, 10 orginal Ford GT40’s (start of the 6hours-race here)! Very cool Vauxhall Firenza (Baby Bertha), HWM Alta, BMW 3.0 CSL, Chevron, Masters Historic Sports Cars Championship and once again... lots of rain!

3 Spa 24hours 2014: A room with a view @ Spa. On Wednesday, arrival of the racecars @ Spa. (With the brandnew Bentley Continental GT3, Nissan GTR GT3 'GT Academy' , Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo, BRCC and others!) All cars were parked around the casino and right in front of our hotel! (Also some cool roadcars: brandnew Nissan GTR Nismo Lamborghini LP720-4)

4 Domein Guldenspoor Kortrijk:  Fancy Classic Car meeting 'Goodwood-style' and roadtrip with my Lotus! Ferrari 250 Tour de France, Jaguar Le Mans (One-off), 1937 Lancia Aprillia 1350 Sport (One-off), Jaguar Ghia (One-off), Fiat 8V Rapi Berlinetta, Porsche 904 GTS, Arnolt Bristol, Bandini, Bugatti and much more... 

5 Spa Classic : Roadtrip with the C63 AMG and the BMW 1M Coupé! Starting off with the Bonhams Auction (with an amazing Porsche 930/935 Turbo, Ferrari 308 GTB Michelotto...) and lots of crazy classic racingcars in action: Sauber C9, Nissan 767B, Porsche 935, Porsche 908/02 and Porsche 908/03, Maserati 300SFiat 8V ZagatoRondeau M378, the classic Group C-race...


6 Gumball @ Calais: Arrival of the Gumball-rally in Calais/France. Jon Olsson and his R2K Rebellion, ‘Team Galag’ McLaren P1, Brabus 6x6, BMWZ4 GT3, brandnew Dodge Viper, The Hoff & ‘Pimp My Ride’ X-Zibit… True Gumball-madness! Cu next year in Amsterdam for the 2015 Gumball start?



7 SuperCarSunday @ Zandvoort: Supercar-gathering @ Circuitpark Zandvoort with 4 Koeningseggs (CCXR, Agera, AgeraR), a yellow Ferrari F50, Maserati MC12 (stradale), Mercedes G63 AMG 6x6,  Pagani Zonda C12-S Roadster, Porsche 918, McLaren P1, Porsche959, Toyota 2000GT…. and lots of rain!

8 Concours d’élégance/Antwerpen: ‘The Ferrari Edition’. (Ex-Jaques Swaters) Ferrari 166MM TouringBarchetta (two-tone) , One-off Ferrari 166M Coupé Berlinetta, Ferrari F50, Ferrari Daytona Spider , a couple of F40’s... ! There were also a lot of Prewars. One of the coolest cars at the concours: 1929 Bugatti Type 44 Roadster, bodywork by Gamette (Liège/Be). Strange, some of my pics have been posted on the Antwerp Concours fb-page? Wtf?
9 Borderrun: Chasing a Mercedes AMG G63 6x6 in the C63 AMG! ‘Gumball-style’ rally from Sluis to Terneuzen with supercars: Mercedes SLR, Lamborghini Murcielago SV, Audi R8GT, …



10 Louwman Museum: Disneyland for petrolheads
Amazing private-car collection/museum by Evert Louwman in The Hague/The Netherlands. VeteranCars, Talbot Lago, Bugatti, Maserati 4CM, Jaguar XKSS, Jaguar D-Type (Le Mans-winner), Original James Bond AstonMartin DB5, the Swan Car, Ex-McQueen Baga Buggy, Mercedes SSK