Driven personally from Turin across the Alps to Brussels…for a unique premiere
The people from Abarth Belgium have their car loving heart at the (very) right place. In order to treat the Belgian public with a very special gem, the Interclassics Brussels 2019 salon seemed to be the perfect stage to present the new Abarth 695 70 ° Anniversario for the first time in our country.
Staring from the Turin based FCA heritage HUB …
They drove personally the Abarth show car across the Alps from Turin to Brussels, and not only that. They filmed it too.
Indeed, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the brand, an accompanying video of the model was created with a perfect mise-en-scene. The ideal setting of FCA Heritage in Turin, where all collection cars are housed, served as a perfect setting and bears witness to the immense prestigious heritage that served as a source of inspiration for this unique model.
This exclusive video was produced specifically for Interclassics Brussels 2019.
One sees a pilot who takes place at the wheel of a vintage model and then takes a seat in the new Abarth 695 70 ° Anniversario.
It then follows the road from the Heritage Hub of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in Turin to arrive at the Interclassics salon in Brussels.
The iconic lights of the “pure” historic Abarth 500…
A route of approximately 1,000 kilometers to reach the European capital. You can see it by using the following link: https://vimeo.com/372916951
On his way from the Turin Heritage Museum to Brussels…
This video will of course serve to promote the presence of this exclusive model in avant-premiere in Brussels.
Starting away in Turin…
The production of this model is limited to 1949 copies, this number refers to the year that Abarth was founded…
Indeed, between the raindrops, other magnificent events were to be enjoyed, and beautiful cars came before our lens…
The ZOUTE CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE® by Degroof Petercam is another yearly highlight not to be missed. It is an excellent opportunity for your servant to take those timelessly beautiful photos of pre- and post war classics and supercars. Also this year the cars on show were absolutely stunning to say the least.
The concours was carefully scrutineered by both the expert jury members and illustrious collectors like Roland D’Ieteren… (to the left).
Hans Knol ten Bensel
I was totally impressed by a beautiful Pegaso coupé, (see photo below) and stood also eye to eye with a magnificent Alvis and 3,5 litre Delahaye.
This 1953 Pegaso Z 102 Touring Superleggera was designed by Wilfredo Ricart, who had worked then already with Ferrari and Alfa for a few years. He himself asked “Mr. Touring”, designer Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni (1916-2003) to design this body. This one-off Pegaso was the focus of a lengthy promotional tour around Europe. It won the Concorsa d’Eleganza di Stresa in 1953…
Stunning is also the dashboard of this 1960 Alfa Romeo 2000 “Praho” Touring… This car was an attempt to secure for Touring the production of the Alfa 2600 Coupé. This car was displayed in 1960 in the Turin Motor Show and was a one-off.
I had a lucky encounter with Skoda Belgium Import PR Director Catherine Van Geel and her colleague from the Skoda Museum, who both proudly showed me a very impressive 1948 Skoda Superb, which had finished a total ground up restoration just four days before this Concours. We tell you more about this unique Superb in a special report.
But there was much more. For example, in the presence of 75-year-old racing legend Jacky Ickx, Porsche unveiled a unique Porsche 911 4S Belgian Legend Edition (made on 75 copies). In addition, there were 5 super rare hypercars on Saturday and Sunday: a Bugatti Centodieci, a Bugatti Chiron Sport, a Dallara Stradale, a Pininfarina Battista and a De Tomaso P72.
The unique 3,5 litre Delahaye…
Of the more than 100 participants in the competition, the international jury named a 1936 Mercedes 540 K Cabriolet A (pre war) and a 1949 Ferrari 166 Barchetta Touring – Le Mans Winner (post war) as Best of Show winners.
And its fabulous straight six engine, which was idential in the Le Mans winning car…
Following Bugatti’s 110th birthday there was also a special “110 Years Bugatti” category this year. Winner was a 1938 Bugatti Type 57 C Coupé – Le Patron. (See first photo). Other eye-catchers were the “Beach Cars” category in which a 1958 Fiat 600 Jolly with the main prize went. The prize for the most iconic car went, finally, to a 1955 Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing.
Eternally cute and endearing are also the Joly beach cars based on the Fiat Cinquecento and Seicento, and on the Concours we stood eye to eye with two magnificent examples.
Last but not least there was a very impressive 300 SL roadster to be admired, brought to the Knokke Golf Course by the works Mercedes Benz Classic team,
who lovingly and carefully dried the car with a soft chamois after every rain shower…
The fabulous collection of cars at the
grounds of the Royal Knokke Golf Club were judged by an international 25 head
jury led by Philip Kantor of the Bonhams Auction House.
More to see and admire…
Besides these highlights there was much more. Last but not least the ZOUTE SALE® by Bonhams. This auction can be considered par with the Grand Palais Sale in Paris, and the Quail Lodge Auction at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Carmel (USA).
The total revenue of the auction was not less than 11,710,104 euros, a record for Belgium. One of the eye-catchers was a unique 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB Alloy Long-Nose. The car went under the hammer for a record amount of 2,875,000 euros. A 1931 Invicta 4.5-Liter S-Type ‘Low Chassis’ was sold for 890,281 euros. A Ferrari Enzo knocked out at 1,506,500 euros.
This custom built Aurelia GT had endless panache…
Then there was on Sunday the ZOUTE GT TOUR® by EY. This drive is 120 km long, and is reserved for exclusive modern GT cars, younger than 20 years old. More than 200 cars participated, and Rob Van Loock en Jens Aerts won this event in an 2019 built Audi R8 Coupé.
We just let you enjoy the photos here of this 10th edition, and tell you here already that the ZOUTE GRAND PRIX® launches new projects in 2020,
with amongst others the RALLYE DE DURBUY®. Read soon much more in these columns!
This magnificent event is all about enjoying cars to the full, and what’s more, a very large public can participate and witness the ZOUTE GRAND PRIX® events up close, see and touch the cars, which embody the pinnacle in automotive heritage and panache.
It’s a truly stunning event, which has now grown to impressive proportions. Last year’s figures amply prove it: What to think of 645 cars, 1040 participants, 263.000 visitors?
The organisers look already into the
future, and after a decade of successes are planning even grander events. They
told us all about it at their press conference, held at the prestigious Royal
Zoute Golf Club, of which more in a further report.
But here we tell you more about this year’s
event…
Hans Knol ten Bensel
The weather gods were not altogether with us this time, but this did not dampen the enthusiasm of both participants and spectators. The ZOUTE RALLY® started for its first leg on Friday morning, and not less than about 200 pre- and post-war classic cars participated.
Media celebrities like Veronique De Cock participated…
One can choose between a “regularity” drive, where the ideal average speed is of paramount importance, with special Regularity Tests being also included in the daily 250 km course.
Exotics like this Fiat “Otto Vu” were also seen…
Enthusiasts who were looking for a more leisurely drive, opted for the “Balade” formula, and received a road book of the untimed course, which they could drive and enjoy at their own pace.
The route is different from the “regularity” drive, albeit in the same region. On Friday, the route went through the Flemish Ardennes, and lunch was enjoyed for all in the grounds of chateau Kluisbergen.
The cockpit of the “Otto Vu”…
On Saturday the ZOUTE RALLY® went through Zoutelande for a luncheon stop at the biggest Dutch yacht builder Amels Shipyard in Vlissingen. Winners of the regularity class were Ruben Maes and Bjorn Vanoverschelde with their Porsche 356c.
The founding father(s): ZOUTE Grand Prix Creator and Organiser Filip Burgoo on the left…
At the finish line, many happy faces were seen again of course. All lucky finishers got of course a fine glass of Ruinart champagne, and congratulations from David Burgoo and his colleagues.
The team Feltes/Feltes in their Bugatti T35 Grand Prix de Lyon with starting nr. 1 also finished the event in good form, with David (left) and Filip Burgoo (right) congratulating!
We just let you enjoy the photos here of this 10th edition of the ZOUTE RALLY®, second part follows with more tales and images…
Charles Fuster taking the 500X Sport to the football field…
When Fiat presented the 500 X Sport, they had the very good idea to draw a parallel between its excellent sporting and stylish qualities and embed it into the language and philosophy of top football. Therefore the venue of presenting this new Fiat was at the the “Luigi Ridolfi” Federal Technical Centre in Coverciano (FIorence), a centre of excellence for teaching, training and sport, as well as the historic seat of the Italian Football Federation.
The presentation “in the field” was expertly done by Charles Fuster, Product Marketing Manager 500 X, and the qualities of dynamism, precision, control
Echoing the qualities of the National Team in the Fiat 500 X…
and Italian style of this 500 X Sport were echoed on the accompanying screen by the coaches and specialists of the Italian national team, indeed the same characteristics that lead a player to wear the blue jersey of Italy with pride and joy…
Reason enough to have an interview with
Charles Fuster here…
Hans Knol ten Bensel
HK: How did you communicate the enhanced
sporting characteristics and properties of the new 500 X to the top people of
the Italian Football Federation, how did they tune into this? What was their
reaction?
CF: Actually, the starting point and the basis was and is the car. It arrives with important improvements. The balance, the road holding, the performance, the style, and of course, when we had created this story about the car, we focused ourselves on the world of football. This had very good reasons: like Fiat, it is a very democratic world, it is a very accessible sport for everybody. And so we started to work with the Italian Football Federation to draw all these parallels, between the world of the automobile and the world of football.
Charles Fuster on the playing field…
This proved extremely interesting because all this storytelling proved extremely natural. Also the persons of the federation, who we have presented today is somebody who has worked all his life with football and has an incredible experience.
Top performance is top performance, whether one speaks about cars or people…
These people prepare the future stars of tomorrow. So we arrive at an allegory with a well perfected industrial product and a sports player, and this can be very eloquent…
HK:
indeed, this is very unique in your presentation today… we saw the comments
of Roberto Mancini, Italy’s National Team Head Coach and others…
CF: Thank You, it is indeed the work of our
whole team!
HK: Can you tell a bit more what is the
mission of this sporting version of the 500 X…
CF: Just have a look at its position within the range. The Cinquecento is a typical women’s car. 75 % of the clients are women. This is different with the 500 X, where the buyers are about fifty-fifty between men and women. The 500 X Sport will also be bought by independent women who want to be seen having personality and character.
But this is a car which is targeted to a large public. We will not discriminate. Of course the car has a look which distinguishes it from the others in the range.
HK: Can you tell a bit more about the
future electrification of the Fiat models? We think about PHEV…
CF: There will be something new in 2020.
There will be an important electrified range at FCA in 2022. That is the only
thing I can tell you right now… The first models will be launched in 2020,
and this will continue throughout 2021 to 2022. It is the strategy of the group
to be present in all forms of electrification. It will also be very important
for the fleet market.
HK: We thank you for this interview.
Of course there is (still) more. We will
treat you also shortly with further interviews with Danilo Coglianese, Head of
Fiat & Abarth Communications, EMEA, and also have a long talk with
Alessandro Grosso, Head of Fleet and Business Sales, EMEA, about the European
Fleet markets and FCA’s position therein.
We already told you, dear reader, in our “teaser” about our venue to the “Luigi Ridolfi” Federal Technical Centre in Coverciano (FIorence), to have a stint at the wheel of the new Fiat 500X Sport.
The 500 X is the most global model of the
Fiat range. This iconic compact crossover is designed and engineered in Italy
and built in the FCA factory in Melfi. It was launched in 2014, but has lost
none of its appeal, as it has been renewed last year. Now the 500 X accentuates
sportsmanship, and emerges as an alternative to compact C-segment cars with a
sporty look.
When you launch a sporting version of your crossover bestseller, you want it to be somewhere (very) special. And so the dynamic PR department of Fiat did. They invited us to nowhere less than the “Luigi Ridolfi” Federal Technical Centre in Coverciano (FIorence), a centre of excellence for teaching, training and sport, as well as the historic seat of the Italian Football Federation.
This had its good reasons. First of all, the
FIGC Federation headquarters was chosen to honour the 20-year cooperation
between the Fiat brand and the Federation, as well as to express the shared
values uniting the new Fiat 500X Sport with sport in general.
Indeed, what better location could there be for displaying “in the field” the qualities of dynamism, precision, control and Italian style highlighted in this new version of the already iconic 500X, a car which has won the hearts in all parts of the globe.
We will soon tell you more here
about the excellent sporting qualities of this 500X Sport, and we will also
bring you again some interviews, notably with Charles Fuster, the product
marketing manager of the 500 X, and Alessandro Grosso, Head of Fleet and
Business Sales, EMEA.
The technician at the “contrôle technique” puts a broad smile…
Indeed, this is the second part of a very happy story. As we said earlier, we took our faithful runner to the “Point S” station, and got the oil and filter changed, and the brake system cleaned and brake fluids replaced. In the meantime, the slight brake friction we had felt on the left front wheel had already disappeared.
We first went to “point S” for a checkup…
The next day we presented it to the “Securitest”, and as expected, it passed the test without a hitch. “C’est une très bonne voiture!” acclaimed the man who checked the car. We photographed him in front of our Samurai at the end of the test, after he had put the small sticker with the test validity date on the window.
Indeed, it is immediately visible for anyone in France whether the car is properly insured and has passed the MOT test, as it is obligatory to put both the insurance and the MOT test sticker on the window. Very clever!
The validity date of the last “controle technique” is put on “la carte grise” or the grey card, which are the car’s identity papers.
Contrary to Belgium, the control is valid for a period of two years instead of one, which is far more logical if you consider the present state of technology of our modern cars.
Our 1988 Samurai passed…
Indeed, even with the soaring heat wave temperatures well above 30 degrees we are experiencing at the moment of writing, our youngtimers, the 21 year old Mercedes A Class and this 31 year old Suzuki, perform perfectly without the slightest hint of overheating or whatsoever. It proves again how much superior car technology is and has been since more than thirty years ago, compared to present day public transport trains and their infrastructure, if one reads the horrible stories of thousands of people stuck in overheated, defect trains and rail infrastructure this week. Quod erat demonstrandum!
We are now enjoying our Suzuki, driving it
along vineyards and historic villages with good places to eat, and are now
putting things in place to get it registered as a “voiture de collection”…
As some readers will remember, the stable of cars at our French holiday house also includes a 1988 Suzuki Samurai, which has now reached the venerable age of more than 30 years, and is therefore now elegible to become a “collectors’ car”. It hasn’t been running last year, but that didn’t prevent it for starting right away after 2 years, after an initial 7 second burst on the starter motor to get the fuel up. After this first burst we waited for about 20 seconds or so, and then turned the key again: tchch-vrooom it shot into life right away, settling immediately in a smooth 1300 rpm on the automatic choke, without any hiccup or misfiring. Soon, after a minute or so, it ran at the 800 rpm normal tickover, and that was that. After this first start, it fires up immediately every time.
We depressed the clutch, which was free
moving, and we cautiously moved it slowly in first and reverse, to loosen
things up further. Clutch and brakes seemed OK. So we took it out of its garage
and went for a first 10 kilometer mountain drive, only to notice that the left
front brake must be not completely loose as after a 4 kilometers or so, the
Samurai started pulling a bit to the left and indeed the left front wheel rim
was running warmer, and this could be felt by hand. Luckily the rear drum
brakes were fine, as the wheels stayed cold. We stopped and luckily noticed
that even the slightest descent got the car rolling, so the friction could not
be that much. We will drive it quietly tomorrow to the service station “Point
S” to get the brakes checked and the oil and filter changed, and the day after
it will be a visit to the “contrôle technique”.
I was reading a marvellous novel by Koen Peeters during my French holiday, called “Kamer in Oostende”, or “Room in Ostend”, which tells about his wanderings with his friend painter through the streets of Ostend, looking for its history, its people, who can still recall the history of this iconic seaside city of the last century. Notably they looked for some remembrances of its famous painters James Ensor and Leon Spillaert. Understandably, as Koen Peeters made this research voyage with his friend painter.
It inspired me to look for motoring history which took place in famous cities, and make this into an interesting series with an original and interesting view on car history. Fortune has it that in my French holiday house I just stumbled on a little booklet – an annuary- of the “Touring Club de Belgique” from as early as 1911. Why not focus on Ostend here first, I thought, and I started to look more closely in the booklet. It lists all the members of the Touring Club de Belgique, many of them being in Brussels and Antwerp, and other major cities like Liège, then the heart of industrial Belgium. In Ostend I found in this booklet only three members, a rather bleak result.
One is the “arrondissement” member of the
club, Mr. Pierre Laroye, an industrial, living at n°2, quai du Chantier.
The other local members are Mr. H. Geysen, a joint member of the “Génie”, at the avenue Serruys, and Mr. De Meuninck, a trader/shopkeeper, in the West Street, or Rue de l’Ouest.
All members or “délégués” were offered a
special “plaque”, 27 by 10 centimetres, which they were suggested to put at
their front door. The T.C.B. even suggested proper maintenance procedures, like
polishing the “plaque” vigourously regularly, after having put it on a woollen
cloth.
Driving from Brussels to Ostend was not an easy affair. The annuary even describes the road as excellent for cyclists, but horrible for motorists…
Interesting and intriguing is the long list of hotels, amongst others the Hotel Kursaal and “du Beau- Site”, at the promenade or “Digue de Mer”, which was then the most expensive hotel in Ostend, with a bed for 4 Belgian francs, a Dinner for 5 francs, full pension from 12,50 francs onwards. A breakfast would set you back 1,5 francs.
Of course there is parking provided for your car. The guide describes the Kursaal as “the biggest and most sumptuous of its kind” in Europe. It also ranks Ostend as “an important seaside resort” with a beautiful 8 kilometre long promenade, a Wellington horse race track and an 8 hectare park, actually the “Parc Leopold”.
The annuary includes of course street plans of the most important cities, and notably Ostend…
This is what this “annuaire” tells us. In a
further report, we will investigate the motor (sport) history of Ostend. In
such a posh seaside place, the home of royals and the famous, there must have
been much more at hand…
In our stable we also have some “French” cars, which live in our French country house, where they serve as holiday transport when we enjoy “time out” in la Douce France. One of these is a 1998 A Class 160 with a five speed automatic which we bought used now more than 14 years ago and which has seen intensive (professional) daily use by my wife for more than a decade; it has since 3 years found a new home in France. It is an ideal fit for the winding roads in the French Midi, its zesty 1,6 litre petrol engine is well mated to the auto box, and it is our favoured transport for outings and shopping.
In France, older cars have to pass a
“contrôle technique” every two years, and they are checked for brakes,
steering, windows/wipers, lights, suspension, chassis corrosion, seats and seat
belts, interior, all commands, door locks, etc. With of course last but not
least brake efficiency and emissions testing included. The multinational SGS
actually is the company organising technical car controls under its “securitest”
label in France and the test items and procedures can be found on their website
securitest.fr.
Our trusted A Class passed the test with flying colours, not very surprising as the car is properly maintained. The “contrôle technique” is done by appointment, so you don’t waste any time, and is concluded by a very kind and detailed personal comment about the points which need attention on the car in the coming two years. On our A Class, it was the condition of the last muffler and of course brake pads, although not critical, the latter which indeed are due for renewal within the coming months.
So our A Class, with now 248.000 km on the
clock, is soldiering on still further!
Autoprova - for the Connaisseur 