Antwerp Classic Salon 2013

"Porsche 911 - 50 Years fascination Racing History"
Photos and Stories.
Car Show, 2013-03-03
Antwerp EXPO, Antwerp, Belgium

Photos and story provided by Patrick Wheeler Contact Photographer for Information.

So the cat escaped Saturday and returned less a fang (if you had seen the other cat you would be amazed he returned in even two pieces, his name has now been changed to 'Permanently Grounded') and the planned trip to the 36th showing of the Antwerpen Classic Salon was delayed until Sunday to see the boy toys ...

... no, this is not a note about the leather scene or pride parade in Antwerpen, that is for another day Nor is it exactly about Toy Boys in the current meaning of the term ....

This is a much more plebian pursuit but one no less dedicated to visceral pleasures and the appreciation of fine curves wherever they are encountered and I hope it finds you well in any case ...

Not that delaying seemed to impact the crowds or displays at all, this being Belgium, with our love for speed and going fast and stylishly. For such a tiny country we seem to have some incredible racetracks and drivers and a amateur contingent that is passionate beyond reason ... and not so amateuar, am not sure who the notables are gathered around the Porsche Paddock but from the scrum of cameras and bright lights they must be 'somebodys' ...

One thing I love about these 'smaller' shows is the presence of what I would call 'sleeper' cars, the quiet little white 911 sitting there without her air inlet grills looking for all the world as an innocent little car needing final touches on her restoration? meanwhile she is a rip-snorting giant killing 'R' version of the 911 short-wheelbase chasis, this is the car that launched an entire sub-culture in California... search on R-Gruppe in google and you will find a passionate bunch of car modies who are to this day attempting to wring just a little more speed, handling, performance and simple pleasure out of a platform that is 50 years young, and here is the real deal... in the common parlance " SUH-WEEEeeeeeeTT!!"

Something there is about staring into the abyss and it staring back at you in the end? Porsche went from the 'little car company that could' and showed that horsepower and Italian/American muscle was not all that was needed to win races, that fine balance of performance, endurance and handling could indeed win many a race day and many a fan... aha! Here is the quote:

Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you. ... Friedrich Nietzsche

and never to forget the value of a good 'go-faster' paint job!

Wheeee ... in company with the carnival atmosphere we've got our little slant-nose up on a rotisserie ... loved the three rabbits stepping out though ... reminds me ever so much of the Keep on Truckin' imagery that graced innumerable tee-shirts in my mis-spent northern California youth ... hrmmm ... Vaillant is a heating company selling boilers and whatnot ...

Oh man, how'd the little moto get in the way of my shot at the engine bay of this fine p-car? Oh, a Benelli yousay ? Cool ... Well, am seeing a decided increase in appreciation for our classic two-wheeled friends as well as the four wheeled types ... I think maybe it says as much about me as anything, you know, I hate to confess, but I do visit those Lad's Blogs a time or two (a week) to see the latest pr0nography ... it is something you know when you see it ...

So in the booth of a restorer he is demonstrating the planes of the venerable 356 and as his hands slice through the air describing the compound arcs and metal smoothing prowess his hands caress the imaginery curves and ... well, we better stop there ... a private moment, I turn away so as not to intrude ...

This is a show well presented by the local car-clubs, and likely glad they are for the excuse to dust off the cars and warm them up for the drive across town to the venue as the weather has not been the kindest for winter motoring this year, loved the gate posts on the Jaguar club, not just do they use the Jaguar leaper, but the leaper is suitably 'vintage' and pockmarked with evidence of a life well spent in the weather ...

errrr - hemmm, yes, I see ... use the spray foam insulation that comes in cans to decorate the pedestal, errr - hemmm ...

Oh my, now this is a bit of a new thing ... a 'classic car tour' that will take you up and through the Nordic lands, imagine the fjords and the vista's all connected by twisty turney curves (imagine the price of fuel an accommodation!), the fine evening knocking back some regional specialties with a group of like-minded friends ... hmmmm ... may we do it during the endless summer rather than during this interminable winter? There is an active ice racing scene up there (tyres with spikes and frozen lake beds) but NASCAR on ice is not so interesting, I'd like some gription to get to enjoy the curves and not worry about the next patch of black ice I missed ... umm, did that really say 3,775 kilometers? To paraphrase Msr Marx,"I wouldn't want to spend that much time with any group that would have me..."

Something there is about a fine oxymoron, you know, "Military Intelligence" , "smart man" so I am struck by a nice vintage oxymoron ... "Lucas Motoring Club" not that Lucas? The "Prince of Darkness" the legendary bane of all british car fans? The manufacturer of electronics that do not like to get wet, do not like to get dry, do not like much of anything and are prone to shutting down your headlamps or your entire ignition system at a moments notice? But oh, the Jaguars are such pretty little things ...

There is a web site dedicated to the humour :

The Lucas motto: "Get home before dark."
Lucas is the patent holder for the short circuit.
Lucas - Inventor of the first intermittent wiper.
Lucas - Inventor of the self-dimming headlamp.
The three position Lucas switch - Dim, Flicker and Off.
The Original Anti-Theft Device - Lucas Electrics.
...

Speaking of british cars, a slightly older vintage catches an eye and a kind stall owner suggests a 'dry test-drive' , take a seat and see how she feels? Something appropriate for a back-roads barn storming, saw a model like this on the ring around Brussels last year ... and another returning from a classic event bearing british plates passed me on the motorway from Namur to Brussels (ok, truth in advertising, I passed him, but still ...) on his way back to the tunnel/ferry boat to the island ... ahem ... is a bit of a tight fit as our friend's knee seems to be slipping up and out of the cockpit, but the throw of the tranny seems to bring pleasure ...

A fellow event-goer decides to take a pause to analyse the copper piping and the flows on a pleasant little old Rolls ... our French friend Mssr Bugatti, accused the old Bentleys and other marques of prestige of this era of being little more than 'lorries' ... am not so sure this is the insult he intended, while no-one can argue a Bugatti is anything other than lovely, but this a nice old truck has a lot going as well ... I'd haul the groceries home in her ... if only the wheel were on the correct side ...

The boys at work were looking at a classic car advertisement the other day, something about 'does it really matter to be the first' owner of a car ...

And in the case of this old racer who has seen the wars and been 'rode hard and put away wet' as they say in horse and yachting circles (although a quick search indicates a new use of the old phrase about not taking care of your horse after a long hard ride) ... well, she just needs a little TLC and is ready to turn a tyre in anger again ... and in case you were wondering, yes she is on the market '67 Triumph TR3 Sports Special 'Prix sur demande'... but as the decal on the dash says, she is looking for a 'Sportsman' ... well fellas? ... ouch! My companion of this day is not impressed ...

Awww, shift gates and toggle switches, old leather and analogue gauges .... Temperature gauges that read directly and a steering wheel wrapped in jute twine ... Jaeger ...the name of a fine gauge maker, and the maker of watches as well , later under the combined name of Jaeger Lecoutre ... the box under the second bedrrom sink in san fransico used to have a few old non-working Jaeger gauges ... they always seemed to be needing some attention and TLC ... to let them tell it themselves http://www.jaeger-lecoultre.com/WW/en/content/historical-ties.html

"Edmond Jaeger was creating an illustrious name for the company in the area of precision instruments in the automotive field. World War I seriously impeded watch production and made diversification a necessity. LeCoultre & Cie (in cooperation with Edmond Jaeger) naturally turned towards mastering other technical fields and explored new inventive horizons. In 1920, LeCoultre and Jaeger exported over 20,000 counters to the United Kingdom. In 1921, Jacques-David LeCoultre and his Parisian partners at Jaeger founded a small workshop in London, Ed Jaeger London Ltd, which, by 1925, specialised in automotive dashboard instruments. In the ensuing period, Jaeger became the prevalent supplier to the most prestigious car companies, including virtually all racing cars as 95% of car races were won by cars equipped with Jaeger counters. "

But how is this for an interior? A nice T-bird ... I cannot look at one of these without thinking about Nancy Sinatra, was doing some research on her a while back (please, do not ask) and was taken with a quote from her about this era, that her one regret was that she never kept the Thunderbird she rode in the movie(s) ...what movie you ask? Well, YouTube to the rescue (really, as a piece of California dreaminess Americana and motor history and music, it is worth a few moments to look at the trailer, and for pure kitsch factor, download the whole pop-rock-movie-operetta' that predates m-TV music videas by a long shot ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl3iP4-srms and a bit more if interested to read with our friend Wiki and it is a favorite among the lady collector's (so says the interwebs)

And the boys are out enjoying the not-so-small block v-8 that powered this little buggy around the hills of southern California , the alps, or just aobut anywhere there was a fuel station nearby ... the rumble of that v-8 is adorable and the reflected contemplative expressions on our boy's faces are as well ... check out the blower fan on the right side of the engine bay, the cabin was well ventilated for the heat ... about Nancy and her car though ...

"The TV special was unlike most musical programs of its time, with the numbers performed outdoors on locations instead of the usual stage-bound production filmed before a live audience. Sinatra sang while driving down the highway, strolling in the California countryside, and aloft in a hot-air balloon. She performed duets with the guest stars she encountered along the way, with no introductions or interstitial dialog. The general effect was of a dream-like fantasy that flows from one location to the next, with segments resembling the later format of music videos."

Yeah, what they said, dreamlike ...

Antwerp has a fine fascination with muscle cars and the American Marques and local clubs are well represented at this exhibit, but I love the catholic nature of the event in that the Italian, British and Gemran muscle cars are all put together in a jumble with little regard for regional distinctions but more interest in the performance and type of motoring, grand-touring, sportin' life, etc ... and no worries about getting up close and personal, attendees are invited to come in and take a look at 'please do not touch' but feel free to poke a head in or around ... very welcoming ... but just oh-em-gee some of those big American land yachts were ginormous ...

They say the younger generation cares nought about cars http://www.sportscardigest.com/collector-cars-as-investments/ and that the younger generation cares more about the stereo in their modern turn-key vehicles than they do the motoring qualities ... mayhap true, but there is little distinction between the big-boys and the little boys at this event, the expressions on the faces, the body language, the intent gaze and the frantic grabbing of a camera seems to be a universal innate trait and not one that is learned ... hmmmmmm .... The oldsters have been decrying the end of civilization as we know it due to the ills of the younger generation since we started hammering proclamations into clay tablets and rock walls ...

Although, the big fella's may not give a little local Isetta much of a look (so local in that she still carries the decal of her local dealership a few kilometers away!) but for the youngers it seems that something more their size is as attractive as the big iron and photos of guys taking photos

Something there is about the toys scattered among the toys ... nostalgia sells these days ... and what is more nostalgic than a Deco Streamliner design language? Maybe some black clod-hopper boots?

And there are plenty of other toys to warm the heart of any boy ... a steam powered launch anyone? Imagine the huffing and puffing as it sets across your local castle moat or the ponds at Luxembourg Gardens or ...

And speaking of market, the cars may be small, but you do not want to see the price tag on that little black Abarth, yes, most of the cars outside of the club paddocks are for sale for the correct price and the correct price can be a pretty penny indeed. Not that one would ever be so crass as to discuss money in such an atmosphere, well, not unless one were serous about buying ... hmmm... what about that cute little ... ouch!

My traveling companion has only that to say about my classic auto dreams of the moment ...

I have put it on record before (upon seeing the Lil'Mans powered children's carts) that I was abused as a child. I did not even know the half of my abuse. If the 'recovered memory' phenomenon has fallen largely into disrepute (our memories being much more malleable than we ever imagined) can I start a new outrage and phenomena by discovering abuse in xyxyxyxyxy ... I need a latinish-psycho-babbleish word here, I had a great childhood, entire mountain ranges to run about, horses, dogs, cats, barnyards full of animals, independence and freedom as well as responsibility ... but I did _NOT_ have a peddle cart! Parent's, do not abuse your children, make certain they have a peddle cart like this one ... um, well, may I mention, the watch face attached to the dash is from a Jaeger Lecoutre Reverso, in stainless with a second hand, going for about 3,000 euros these days, the watch, not the peddle car ... not that I would be so crass as to notice, much less discuss, monetary elements ... oh, that the word I was looking for? Does "formidilose vastata" work for 'spoiled rotten!'?

Did I mention that Classic Moto racing is getting more and more popular? A friend sent me a link to a little event in Geddinne, a small town a few moments on the motorway south of me, there in fine Belgian fasion, some boys tossed some hay-bales across the road and declared the public streets a motor track and invited some of their buddies from the island and points south , north and east of here to a couple of days of the sportin' life ...

The single engine 'thumper' is sweet, as is the Ducati cachet ... I attempt to remind my companion this day that a moto like this is no danger to the life or well-being of the household, I saw a poster a while back saying something like "Ducati, turning riders into mechanics for over 50 years" if you are always fixing it you are never on the road and never in any danger of anything worse than a skinned knuckle ... I unfortunately repeat, ... ouch! my argument does not carry the day and I walk-on ...

Aha here it is

Something there is about a quiet hall where the noise if the voices of my companions and the smoke in the air is caused by the sausages sizzling at the kiosk at the end of the conference hall (did I mention the food?, good, I took no photos, I was too hungry) ... after having seen this Lola car run hot, hard and fast at Le Mans with her engine screaming that unique racer's outlaw banshee wai, walking the pits between heats and seeing the skirts lifted as a transmission is replaced and other reparations made to send her out again ... well, seeing her all petit and well behaved sitting in the conference hall with a gleam and a polish ... well... may I invite you to the next Le Mans Classic to the big dogs run?

Our own Belgian offerring's are not so hard to find ... has been many a year since one of our own marques rolled off the assembly line (and considering Ford/Opel and Caterpillar shuttering their plants, well, ouch for our local econoamy) but we are still the proud producer's of Audi's little A-1 hot mini-hatch that seems to be selling very well ... but it has not hood ornament like this old Minerva ... you can truly see the boatbuilding history in the car body here ... looks like an amphibian car without half trying ... and gives some of the big American offerrings in the hall next door a run for the money in the 'boat' category ... bummer about the little yellow moto jumping in front of the photo again ... damn, keeps happening ...

From a boat to a real horseless carriage ... and the evidence of the carriage maker's art could not be more evident than here ... only the lack of a horse connector and a tell-tale sprocket and chain running out from the undercarriage give away that this is motor powered (no comments about the recent horsemeat debacle please, a sensitive and sore subject considering how many riding ponies and horses find their way to the knackerman when they grorw too old to entrance the little 'uns anymore)

Enough public service announcements and discussing matters of the day ... can I interest you in some decals on the rear, decals bearing the name of an old insurance company and the famed Le Mans race track? Tell me they did not race this old buggy (literally) at Le Mans?!?! Am sure it was just a fan's car and someone affixed the ancient relfectors for use about town ... right ?

No mention is made on the brochure, nice woodwork, the carriage maker's craft was a fine one indeed to have held up so very well this length of time ... but I utterly love the one-lung engine and flywheel along with the heavy duty chains to transfer power ... oh, wait a minute .. I was not abused as a child .. we dug an old one lung engine out of an abandoned homestead along the river a few miles further on Burr Valley Road, my older brother and dad fixed up the old engine (blew the mouse leavings and acorns out of the cylinder, fitted a repaired spark plug they dug out of a different pile of garbage) to some sort of a cart, if I recall correctly ... much fun was had with the old underpowered single thumper engine and a wooden chassis that was always breaking down ... wonder if that is why I still have a soft spot for the old dears ...

Speaking of old dears and carts ... OK, so this also hase been re-imagined for the recent market an you can buy a modern engined trike from Morgan .. will return many many smiles per mile , but this old one can be found in some incarnations still running at the classic Le Mans, two underpowered cylinders and she is dangerously slow! But the smiles per mile are incalculable ... truly brings meaning to the sentiment it is not how fast you go, but it is how fast you _feel_ you are going ...

As the brochure to the event states "Spare Part Eldorado: Two halls with new and used spare parts, the destination for collectors and restoration companies all over europe." I suppose you would consider me of if I were to tell you my heart stopped at the sight of piles and piles of rubber tubing and weather stripping? No, then you understand the need to replace an irreplaceable rubber part that is preventing a window/door/hatch to seal and allowing the winter weather and rain into the cabin .. oh man!

It may not look like much, a simple box of old bulbs, but this is the root of a billion Euro industry ... and the source of many a heartbreak and marital breakup and many a tear has been shed, but also, measured in 'smiles per mile' rather than liters per 100 kilometers (ok, this is the only instance I can see why the brits and 'mericans retain the miles per gallon non-metric conversion) classic car ownership returns great value on investment, sometimes ... but it always allows endless spinning of stories , if I had only bought IBM at 'x', ATT at 'y' Microsfot at 'z' Google at 'g' and Apple at 'aleph' ... instead it is 'if only I had kept that Jaguar XK150 I saw for sale down the street int eh '70s for 200 pounds' and 'if only I had bought that Bugatti for 150,000 francs back in the day, it is worth x,000,000 Euro now!' and 'you know my uncle owned a.... I wonder what ever happened to that car, sure wish I had it today...'

I am surprised at the quality of the spare parts, Essen across the border in Germany is in a month or so , they are reputed to be the grand-daddy of continental jumble sales, however I argue the better selection, friendlier venders and much better prices are to be had here ... seeing happy couples depart with cardboard boxes and a spare steering wheel clutch tightly and hapy smiles indicate this is a market that is doing well despite the doom and gloom in the rest of the economy ... I may not be able to remodel my kitchen, but I can still put a Momo wheel on my little runabout in time for spring ...

Nice layout ... as I find myself barnstorming the back roads I see plenty of the old signs still affixed to houses and old businesses ... no shortage of nostalgic memorabilia any time soon and the prices are quite reasonable (not that I would be so crass as to mention cost)

Did I say I would not mention cost? Well, better not ... but ... ouch! walk on ...

May I wish you best wishes from a very well done:

36th ANTWERP CLASSIC SALON 2013 ONE OF THE BEST IN EUROPE Showthema: "Porsche 911 - 50 Years fascination Racing History"

Four halls, more than 20.000 m2

Exhibitors and participants 2012

With 350 exhibitors and participants from 14 nations, amongst others from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Austria, the USA, Great Britain, Sweden and Switzerland, the ANTWERP CLASSIC SALON had a very successful record in 2012.