Events Summary

The annual Cavallino Classics are in full swing with the first 2 days over. Traditionally the event is opened by track days on the Palm Beach International Raceway (formerly known as the Moroso Motorsports Park) where the owners can enjoy their cars on track before they are shown on the following days at the concours. Unfortunately the historic

The third day of this years Cavallino Classics saw the Concours in the famous Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach. After a rather modest attendance at the track days the previous days it was joy to see so many cars entered in the concours itself. The stream of cars coming up the driveway of the Breakers to the registration desk did not seem to stop and when all cars were guided to their designated spot one could see that there was not much room left either in the upper nor in the

This years Cavallino Classics in its 20th anniversary found their last act in the Classic Sports Sunday at the Mar-a-Lago Club. Mar-a-Lago was build between 1924 and 1927 for Mrs.Marjorie Merriweather Post as a private house that was acquired in 1987 be real estate tycoon Donald Trump who had the buildings completely restored to use them as a private club for the wealthy since. The large parkway behind the main house build in Hispano-Moresque style is the perfect location for the final concours of the weekend.

On the first weekend of April the 23rd edition of the annual Techno Classica once more broke every record. More than 175.000 visitors came to Essen to see the biggest Classic Car Show in Europe with more than 2500 cars spread over the full 18 halls with about 110.000 sqm exhibition space plus the outer area for the private car market. 1200 exhibitors had almost everything on offer one was looking for: tools, spares, accessories and cars for most wallets.

Today the Tour Auto started with its first leg that will also be the longest of the days. At 6:30 am the cars left the Place de la Concorde to head for Montlhery for the official start of this years edition. Some participants could not await to go on the road as several cars were waiting minutes before the start to be flagged of. Within minutes the cars disappeared in the Parisian traffic in several directions as coming out of Paris is usually the toughest part

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The original Tour de France started in 1899 as a road race to show the reliability of the automobiles of its time. The cars had to do more than 2000 km on open roads in several stages on a loop with the start and finish in Paris. After several editions before the war the Tour became one of the most popular road races in the early 1950th and attracted many works teams to compete in this prestigious event. As with the Mille Miglia in Italy Ferrari was the dominant marque of this period and their 250 GT model was even named after

A beautiful sunny day, with high ambient temperatures, drew a great selection of Italian cars and motorcycles, along with thousands of visitors, to the annual Auto Italia magazine Italian Car Day, in the grounds of the Brooklands Museum near Weybridge in Surrey. Apart from the spectacular and diverse array of Italian machinery, ranging from scooters to supercars, there were track display runs on the adjacent Mercedes-Benz World test track during the morning, plus the always popular feature of the runs up the steep test hill during the afternoon.

The most beautiful cars in the world
Did you plan a trip to Paris in the next months or don�t you know where to spend your next holidays ? If so, choose Paris and spend a while at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris downtown, close to Louvre museum till August 28th. Indeed, a dramatic cars collection is exposed as a temporary exhibition that features automobile as true art. Name of exhibition lets no doubt : �L�art de l�automobile�. Seventeen cars of American famous stylist and well-known car collector Ralph Lauren�s collection, amongst the most beautiful cars ever designed, celebrate automobile art in a wonderful scenery by Jean-Michel Wilmotte.

Autojumbles in Italy always provide an interesting aside during any car enthusiasts visits to Italy, as they offer a wide variety of items not normally found on home territory. The bonus being, that if you are seeking Italian car or motorcycle parts or accessories, they are usually much more reasonably priced and can normally be bartered to an even more acceptable level. Vicenza�s mostra scambio at the Fiera exhibition halls is not the largest in Italy, but it does provide a broad spectrum of predominantly Italian based car and motorcycle parts, both new and used.

Over the weekend of 16 - 17 April, the Museo Ferrari (as the Galleria Ferrari is now called) and its surroundings hosted the Musei Da Gustare Un Museo Tira L�Altro gathering, featuring a variety of activities, including a classic car display, food and wine tasting, together with the opportunity to watch the Chinese Grand Prix with like minded fans in the Auditorium Enzo Ferrari in the centre of Maranello on the Sunday morning.

Under a bright sun and with a numerous of audience, Maxime Soulet and Marc Goossens won the opening race of the Belcar Endurance Championship in the ProSpeed Competition Porsche 911 GT3-R at Circuit Zolder in Belgium.

Victory was claimed by the No. 38 All-Inkl Lamborghini Murcielago of Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock, but as the pair romped to a second consecutive win in Zolder the race provided action and drama from start to finish.

In 1886 Carl Benz applied for the patent for a motor-driven tricycle, the Benz Motorenwagen. Today this date is internationally accepted as the birth date of one of the most important inventions of the 19th century. Even 125 years after that the region of Baden-Württemberg is closely linked to the automobile being the home of two of the most famous names in the business (Porsche and Mercedes-Benz) and a strong pillar of a third marque. Being a company formerly located in the eastern occupied zone Audi had to be refound after

The organisers of Chelsea AutoLegends held a press preview day at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea on Wednesday 18 May, to showcase the themes for the 2011 edition, to be held at the venue on Sunday 04 September. The Royal Hospital was founded by King Charles II in 1682, who commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to design the

Concentration, enthusiasm, and determination. This is what it took for Giordano Mozzi and Stefania Biacca�an inseparable couple both in marriage and in racing�to drive to victory in the Mille Miglia on board a splendid 1933 Aston Martin Le Mans. They came in eleventh in 2009, and fourth in 2010, but this year they were victorious. Their success was built trial by trial, point by point, in a highly suspenseful race which saw the three top contenders battling it out kilometer after kilometer on the final leg to Brescia. The winning car

RM Auctions, the world�s largest collector car auction house for investment-quality automobiles, kicked off its 2011 European calendar in style on the weekend, posting over €23 million ($33mio) at its debut sale at the Concorso d�Eleganza Villa d�Este in Cernobbio, Italy. Held in conjunction with the celebrated Italian concorso d�eleganza, the two-hour sale treated a discerning international audience to one of the most significant offerings of collector cars presented in recent auction

This weekend just gone the town of Cernobbio on the banks of Lake Como reprised its status as the centre of attention for all car enthusiasts � and this year motorcycle fans also had much to admire. The Concorso d�Eleganza Villa d�Este brought together a selection of classic models and new concept cars to the acclaim of the assembled audience. And for the first time the cars were joined by motorcycles competing for class and overall victory in a competition of their own, as fans of two-wheeled

This year's Alpenrallye was held in its 24th edition in the last week in May around Kitzbuehel. 207 classics and their crew found their way to Austria to enjoy 3 days of driving around the famous winter sports domicile. The scrutineering was on Wednesday and Thursday morning on the car park of the Hahnenkamm, place of the famous ski downhill. Chassis Numbers and registration were checked in beautiful sunshine but the forecast already predicted the forthcoming bad weather of the next days. With a long hot and

The Crystal Palace race circuit in South East London was a popular and easily accessible venue for motor racing fans up until1972, but complaints from local residents about noise, and mounting circuit safety issues forced its closure. In the late nineties, the Sevenoaks & District Motor Club organised some sprint meetings, using part of the original

The prelude to the 2011 Motorexpo show was a cavalcade of around 50 Jaguar E-Types, , which ran from the organiser�s headquarters near Hyde Park Corner, taking in famous landmarks like The Mall, Trafalgar Square and The Tower of London, on to the exhibition at Canary Wharf in the east of London. Despite inclement wet weather on the

After the usual week long build-up, with all the regular technical verifications, practice and qualifying sessions, the 79th running of the race took place over the weekend of 11 � 12 June in front of 249,500 spectators. In qualifying the works Audis just proved to have the quicker pace, with the # 2 R18 TDI of Fassler / Lotterer / Treluyer claiming pole position from the sister # 1 car of Bernhard / Dumas / Rockenfeller by a mere 0.061sec. Next up were a pair of works Peugeot

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The first weekend of June saw the 9th edition of the annual Gaisbergrennen. After the original hillclimb in the 1930s-1960s the Salzburg Rallye Club revived the event as a regularity trial for historic cars back in 2003. In this short period the Gaisberg race established itself in the classic car calender and it is one of the few events that can proclaim an increasing quality over the last years. With so many other events challenging for the good cars and the steadily increasing values of the classics preventing owners to use them this is not a self-evidence.

The 3rd edition of the Lions Historic took its participants along the winding roads of Belgium�s Tournaisis region between Brussels and Lille. More than 100 classic cars gathered for the start at the Chateau L�Hermitage in the French town of Condé sur l�Escaut. Among the many Jaguar XK�s, Porsche 356 and Austin Healey�s there was also

RM Auctions, the world�s largest collector car auction house for investment-quality automobiles, posted over £5.1 million* (over $8.2 million USD) in total sales with a solid 77% sell-through at its debut Salon Privé sale in West London last night. Held in conjunction with the Salon Privé Luxury Super Car Show and Concours d�Elegance, the new

In what has been heralded as the best Salon Privé Concours d�Elégance ever, a simply exquisite 1939 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 S Berlinetta claimed the honour of �Best in Show� alongside eleven other beautiful category winners, on Friday 24th June, at Syon Park. The world renowned London-based concours presented its rarest and most stylish collection to date, with over 80 cars displayed and paraded in the palatial grounds of Syon House, the London home of the Duke of Northumberland.

The biennial Modena Motorsport Track Days were held on the full Grand Prix circuit at the Nurburgring on Wednesday and Thursday, 29th & 30th June. The event always attracts a splendid array of Ferrari road and competition cars, including around a dozen F1 cars, together with a wide variety of other marques. This year these included a trio of fifties

The Dolomites are the location for several classic car rallies during the season but the most important ones should be the Coppa d´Oro delle Dolomiti in September and the Mitiche Sport a Bassano in June. Since 1995 the ASSI Club (Auto sportive storiche italiane) organizes this fantastic event for open sport cars built prior 1960 and what started with a small selection of 36 cars back then became a well known event among the owners of these �barchettas�.

Dan Collins brought the 2011 Goodwood Festival of Speed to a suitably stirring conclusion with an epic performance in the Top Ten Shootout finale. Times recorded in the previous batch were eclipsed by Andrew Willis in the wailing Matra MS670B in the opening run with a time of 53.18s but this was just the warm-up act. Minutes later, Andrew

Many events in the world like to use the nickname �little Goodwood� what is a good valuation of the original, the concept is often copied but never achieved. Over the years the Festival of Speed and the Revival became so famous that today´s events attract the best cars, drivers and support from most of the large manufacturer who send their

RM will perform it's Monterey auction August 19 & 20, 2011 and the Gooding & Company will take place in the Pebble Beach on August 20 & 21, 2011, both offer a nice range of Classic Ferraris

�Vernasca Silver Flag� is not really a hill climb as there�s no time keeping. It�s more a car show where you can see some of the most exciting road and race cars driven on a closed road between Castell�Arquato and Vernasca in Italy. Every year the event is starring a different manufacturer. Last year it was Abarth, and this year was dedicated to Ferrari. Around 20 Ferrari from 125 S to 512 M were entered.

Every year the Bugatti community comes together for the International Bugatti Meeting that is organized by one of the national Bugatti Clubs. Two years ago the Italian event agency 2fast4you organized the centenary meeting for the Italian Bugatti Club to set up a new standard for the coming meetings. In 2010 the meeting was organized by the Austrian Bugatti Club, a meeting that suffered from heavy rain and severe weather to throw over most of the organization. Unfortunately the small organization crew was not able to compensate for that as a professional might have been making clear that a meeting for up to 100 cars is a task that is not

The second weekend in July saw this years Oldtimer-Meeting in Baden-Baden. In its 35th edition this concours attracted 363 classic cars of 84 different brands to the chic spa town to be displayed in the gardens in front of the casino. Although the event is officially a concours with many different classes both pre- and post-war and a massive 120 trophies (including prizes for the funniest dog on the passenger seat) it is much more a relaxed meeting than serious competition. Purists of the concours scene and regular visitors might criticize the fact that many cars could be seen at every edition but a good balance of high-profile and more common classics was found over the years.

Last weekend saw the 19th edition of the popular classic car rallye in Austria with the slogan �driving in the last paradise�. A paradise it is indeed although the weather did not show to much of it as you might read later. A new record number of more than 350 teams applied for the 225 starting places in the largest field of the Ennstal-Classic ever. So the organisation team had the agony of choice to select a list of 48 different makes ranging from 1924 to 1972.

The history of the Solitude racetrack dates back to 1903 when the first hill climb for motorcycles went up to the name giving Schloß Solitude at the gates of Stuttgart. This hill climb was held until 1925 when a new circuit on public roads was introduced with a total length of 22 km including parts of the original hill climb course. In a short period this

Paris, Musee Les Arts Decoratifs, April 28th � August 28th 2011

There are few collections in the world that could match with Ralph Laurens both in quality and quantity. Although it is not a secret collection (as many of the cars are known) the cars are rarely seen by the public as they do not often leave their stable.

This weekend the annual Monterey car week was kicked off by the Pre-Reunion races at Laguna Seca. All the cars entered in next weeks Reunion had the chance to test end set up their car in 2 days practice and race sessions. The cars were divided in 10 classes including a pre-war class, GT, IMSA and Formula Juniors.

Early in the morning the day started with the beginning of the Quail Rallye at the Quail Lodge. The hills were still lying in the fog when the participants met for the breakfast and the last instructions for the ride of the day. Among the participating cars a Ferrari 250 GTO and a 166 MM beside 2 Superamericas were joined by a few pre-war cars, post war sport cars like a pair of 300 SL plus a few new ones.

Wednesday is the day for the auction previews before the cars go over the block at the weekend. The day started with a visit at RM Auctions in center Monterey at the Portola Hotel just to find out that there was a delay with the deliverance of the cars so at the beginning of the viewing just a part of the lots were set up already. During all the day cars were brought in their final position in the preview space behind the hotel as the main lots were set up in the hotel itself. This years auction will feature a wonderful selection of

The day starts early in the morning with the annual Pebble Beach Tour were the cars entered in the concours on Sunday can show that they are ready to drive and not just looking good. Not all cars entered in the concours show up but nevertheless this gives the public a good impression what to expect on the field later that week. Sir Stirling Moss led the first group on its way through the hills over Monterey down highway 1 to the turning point at Big Sur.

The Friday is usually on of the most busiest day of the week. Two major events are held on the last day before the weekend and should be visited. In the morning the Quail features a media preview that is held before the opening of the gates at 10 o´clock. Unfortunately the weather was still not very good today and so many owners kept the covers on the car for

The Monterey classic car week finally came to an end with the highlight of the days, the Concours d´Elegance at the Pebble Beach golf course. Many visitors found their way to the Pebble Beach Lodge early in the morning to welcome the first cars just after 6:30 at the entrance. In the next hours all the cars came in and were directed to their spot

Beside many static events during the Monterey classic week there are a few driving events as well. One of these is the Quail Rally, first initiated in '97 by Sir Michael Kadoorie (proprietor of the Quail Lodge Resort and host of the following Motorsport Gathering) for some of his friends. As most of the serious collectors are present during the week this is a good opportunity to come together and to enjoy some of the cars displayed during the following days at the various events. This year about 3 dozen of Sir Kadoories

This year, 119 teams coming from 13 different countries gathered March 11 through 13 2011 for the 9th edition of this nice commemorative race from Monza and Milano to the Italian Riviera. Eligible cars must have been built between 1906 and 1981, and many different marques and models were represented, including a nice selection of Jaguar Type E to honor the 50th birthday of that model.

The 59th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida, saw the revival of the Audi � Peugeot battle for the overall LMP1 race honours, the former giving the R15+ its swansong outing, whilst the latter had a pair of new 2011 908s with which to do battle, backed up by the earlier 908HDi-FAP of the Oreca Team Matmut. The race also marked the debut of the Ferrari 458 Italia GT, with four examples running in the GT category, together with three examples of the model it replaces, the F430 GT

After hosting their opening ceremony during the Cavallino Classic, Ferrari of Palm Beach, the latest official US Ferrari dealership, became fully operational in their new facility, on Okeechobee Road in Palm Beach, in early March. The brand new two storey showroom and workshop has been purpose built and decorated to the very latest Ferrari

Top sales honors of the weekend went to a rare 1952 Ferrari 340 Mexico Vignale Coupé, chassis number 0224 AT, offered from the private collection of former GM designer and Ferrari Club of America co-founder, Larry Nicklin. One of just three built and boasting a superlative racing pedigree, the hugely valuable competition coupé sparked a spirited bidding war in the room and on the phones, exceeding its pre-sale estimate to sell for an extraordinary $4,290,000.

Gooding & Company's auction room energy was palpable, especially with several thrilling moments driven by Charlie Ross. Bidding escalated between those in the room and callers on the phone, resulting in the exceptional sales of the $1.87 Million 1951 Ferrari 212 Export Cabriolet and $1.705 Million 1971 Lamborghini Miura P400 SV Prototype.

The second weekend of March saw the 16th annual Amelia Island Concours at the Ritz-Carlton. The event started on Friday morning with the tour for this year's featured marques Allard, Kurtis and Duesenberg. This was the first opportunity to see some of the entered cars driving down the coastal road to the turning point at the Amelia Island State Park before heading north again for a parade at downtown Fernandina Beach. Especially with the very usable Allards one could see what to

Bremen Classic Motorshow counted a total 40,502 fairgoers in the seven exhibition halls last weekend (February 4th-6th, 2011). �We are now in the Champions League� assesses Hans Peter Schneider the excellent results. The Managing Director of Bremen Fair explains: �That is an increase of ten percent against last year�. The organizers counted at total of approximately 36,000 visitors in 2010.

The 81st Geneva International Motor Show opened its doors to the press on 01 March, for two preview days prior to the official public opening on the Thursday. After a couple of years where the stands have been more restrained, it was back to its glistening self, with all the major manufacturers having expansive and opulent settings to display their latest offerings, and concept cars. There were also numerous specialist high end new models from a number of manufacturers, both well established like Bentley,

The 36th edition of the Classic Car Show saw some changes as it was shortened from the former 10 days with two full weekends to a 5-day event. Especially the clubs, small car and automobilia dealers appreciated the new format as this reduces the costs and the amount of time. 300 exhibitors found their way to the Palais des Congrès at the Porte de Versailles and filled Hall 7.3 that houses the fair since several years and as the organizer does not seem to have plans for an expansion the space stays highly

The Concours on the Avenue in Carmel is the first of several events held in the week prior to the Pebble Beach concours. What started many years ago (in the 1950s) with just one event became a busy week some call the �Monterey Madness�. A newer part in the calender is the Concours in Carmel on Tuesday that was first held in 2007 by the Ocean Avenue Motor Club as a by-invitation-only multi-marque gathering with a focus on Porsche and Ferrari.

As mentioned in our report of the Carmel-by-the-Sea Concours earlier this week the days before the grand final at the Pebble Beach Concours feature many car events at the Monterey Peninsula. One of the older ones is the Concorso Italiano, now in its 26th year, traditionally held on Friday. Founded in 1985 the Concorso celebrates

When visiting Monterey in August for the car week one has to plan well in advance what events to visit as most of the tickets are sold just in advance sale. The most difficult event to get in is the Motorsport Gathering at the Quail Lodge resort on Friday. Although this is the most expensive of all events it is sold out months in advance due to the limited amount of

RM Auctions confirmed its standing as the world�s leading collector car auction house for investment-quality automobiles on the weekend, posting the highest auction results of this year�s famed Pebble Beach motoring week with a record $80,142,000* in total sales, including a select series of private after sales, and 88% of all lots sold.

Gooding & Company, the official auction house of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, sold more than $78 million in collector cars at its Pebble Beach Auctions on Saturday and Sunday. A two-day sale of unprecedented results for the leading auction house, Gooding & Company achieved a $13.6 million increase from last year with 19 world

After the great success of the inaugural Chelsea Auto Legends show in 2010, the second running was held on 4th September 2011, with the main theme being �The Swinging Sixties�. Unfortunately the weather was rather inclement during the mid part of the day, which turned the �Swinging Sixties� into the �Sodden Sixties�! However, it did not deter the vast majority of attendees from braving initially light precipitation then a squally rain storm, seeking shelter where they could, to get the full benefit of the great selection of cars and motorcycles on display.

Carroll Shelby, a giant of a man and a giant name in motor sport circles, with his successful racing career through the fifties being highlighted by winning the 1959 Le Mans 24 Hour Race in an Aston Martin DBR1 with Roy Salvadori. Heart problems brought his racing career to an end in 1960, although he finished on a high by winning the 1960 USAC Championship. His business activities in the early sixties, brought him further worldwide recognition, with the announcement of the Shelby Cobra in 1962, a car based on the AC Ace fitted with a small block Ford V8 engine, which took the fight to the Ferraris in international GT racing through the middle part of the decade.

The centre of the famous �strip� in Las Vegas may seem a strange venue for a classic car museum, but then again Vegas has almost everything else, so why not a car museum! The Auto Collections Museum & Showroom is situated on the 5th floor of the parking building at the Imperial Palace Hotel, which is right across the street from Caesars Palace, if you need a more prominent landmark. The publicity claims that it is the world�s largest classic car museum, with around 300 vehicles on display, in a 125,000 Sq. Ft. display area, at any one time.

More than 550 extraordinary race cars gathered over the weekend of 19 -21 August to compete on one of America's most challenging race tracks, the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. The demanding 2.238 mile road course with its 11 turns and 300 ft change in elevation provides thrills in equal amounts for competiors and spectators alike, the latter being able to enjoy panoramic views of the racing action from the grandstands and viewing areas around the track. They were also able to enjoy close contact

The majestic Baroque architecture of the garden front of Heythrop House, deep in the Oxfordshire countryside, provided the backdrop for the 2011 Ferrari Owners� Club concours. The house was designed by the architect Thomas Archer, with heavy influences from the Italian Baroque style of the period, as both he and the client, Charles Talbot the 1st Duke of Shrewsbury, had travelled extensively in Italy, and were joint admirers of this grandiose architecture. Building work commenced in 1706, and although

The 14th running of the Goodwood Revival Meeting was blessed with a mixture of sunshine and showers, the heaviest being a torrential downpour during the RAC TT Celebration Race on the Sunday afternoon. Friday�s qualifying practice sessions were held in fine conditions on a warm late summer�s day, whilst the forecast poor weather for Saturday didn�t really materialise, with only some early light rain. The forecast for Sunday was supposedly good, but it proved to be wide of the mark, as the skies blackened

At the end of September the well known classic car dealers Jack Braam Ruben and Klaus Werner invited for the third time to their exclusive Alfa Romeo 8C Tour in Europe. Once again the agency 2fast4you was entrusted with the organization but with the premise to do it in Austria this year after the last editions were held in Italy. As the previous events were just perfect and the agency has proved in the past (for example with the Bugatti in Spain) that they are able to organize an event outside their native country it

In its forth edition the Porsche Rennsport Reunion was held at the famous racetrack in California for the first time after previous editions on the other side of the continent in Lime Rock and Daytona. The move to the new location of the 3-days event by inviting Porsche North America shows the importance of the west coast market as the Reunion was also intended to present the all new 911 to the North American public and there are few possibilities to reach more aficionados of the marque than with a huge race

Last week we reported about the Porsche Rennsport Reunion in Laguna Seca organized by Porsche America but this was not the only event during that weekend on the Monterey Peninsula. When the move of the Reunion to the west coast was announced Porsche enthusiast, historian and book author Steve Heinrichs came up with the idea of

Another of the �Old Guard� at Ferrari, Sergio Scaglietti, passed away at his home in Modena on the morning of 20 November at the age of 91 years, only a little over two months short of his 92nd birthday. A man from humble beginnings, he was born in the farming village of Tre Olmi, just to the north west of Modena, on 09 January 1920, the youngest of the

Another season with many different driving and show events tends to an end and the cars are going to their winter dormancy in temperature-controlled garages. This is a good time to set up a special display like the one currently visible in the Pantheon in Basel, Switzerland. The initiators Stephan Musfeld (chef of the Pantheon), Niki Hasler

During our visit to Los Angeles in October we took the opportunity to visit several museums in the area, two of them we reported earlier on. Last but not least we take a look at the Petersen Automotive Museum that is located directly in Los Angeles on the famous Wilshire Boulevard about half way from downtown LA to Santa Monica.

J.B.Nethercutt made his fortune with Cosmetics and bought his first two classic cars back in 1956, a Duesenberg and a 1930 DuPont Town Car, both in unrestored condition. Although estimated with just a few weeks the restoration of the DuPont took more than 18 months to perfection with a lot of research for originality so the car was driven

The Belgian Racing Legends exhibition is running at the Autoworld Museum at the Cinquantenaire in Brussels, for five weeks, closing on Sunday 15 January 2012. As the name implies, it is a celebration of, and dedicated to, the Belgian men and women racing drivers who brought fame to themselves and their country in the post war years, through their exploits in many fields of motorsport. The adventure started in 1947, when a wealthy young Belgian, Johnny Claes, attended the ACF Grand Prix in Lyon, France

The Cinquantenaire Park in the centre of Brussels was built as part of the vision of King Leopold II, in the late part of the 19th Century, although it was not completed until early in the 20th Century. Central to the park is the majestic triumphal arch from either side of which spread the colonnades to the exhibition centres, which were used for the first time in 1880 to exhibit products of Belgian art and industry, and later for the 1897 World Exposition. Today the architecturally impressive complex is devoted to museums, the north wing housing the Aviation & Army Museum, and the south wing the Autoworld Automobile Museum, which was inaugurated in 1985.

When visiting the numerous prestigious Concours d´Elegance around the world, like Pebble Beach, Amelia Island or the Villa d´Este, some names reappear regularly on the list of the award winners and one becomes aware that there are some serious collectors who never seem to run out of superb cars. Some of those names have been around for decades showing that they started to collect classic cars well before the boom time of the late 1980s and early 90s, when collecting cars was more a question