Category: Automobilia

Brussels Salon drives into the future…

Posted in Automobilia, Car Events, Car News, Car presentations, Concept Cars, Future car technology, Future technologies, Interviews, New Models

We will treat you in the coming days ans weeks to an extensive report on the Brussels Motor Show, with some notable (world) premieres like the Range Rover Evoque, for instance. We will also let you listen in with some interviews, notably of the designer of the Evoque, and also celebrate 60 years of Mini with further interesting encounters. Driving into the future autonomously on e-power is also very much in tht foreground, like this Smart Vision EQ fortwo you see here on the photo. It is designed with car sharing in mind, and takes its passengers whenever and wherever they want to go, and it doesn’t even have a steering wheel or any commands…

Stay tuned on these columns for more!

Hans Knol ten Bensel

 

2020 Lexus RC F and RC F track edition make their debut in Detroit

Posted in Automobilia, Car News, Car presentations, Lifestyle

Whilst eagerly awaiting the delivery of our dark blue Lexus CT 200h, there is more joyful news on the Lexus front, with these two stunning Lexus models, targeted at those with a sporting heart.

Freshly updated for the 2020 model year, the RC F coupe now boasts improved performance, revised styling and an all-new, limited production Track Edition, which is called in our country RC F GT. It will be available in Belgium from May onwards. With the introduction of this #rcftrackedition, hard core driving enthusiasts no longer have to decide between a luxury car for the street and a serious performance car for the track.

Blending the luxury and craftsmanship of #Lexus with performance upgrades typically reserved for exotic sportscars, the #rcftrackedition is capable of turning hot laps all afternoon and being driven home that night. It’s the latest milestone for the F performance brand that will continue to evolve as an important pillar of the overall strategy at #Lexus….

We tell you a bit more here, and let you take a glimpse at the truly stunning photos.

Hans Knol ten Bensel

Continue reading “2020 Lexus RC F and RC F track edition make their debut in Detroit” →

European premiere in Brussels for the new 911 Carrera 2S and 911 Carrera 4S

Posted in Automobilia, Car Events, Car News, Car presentations, Lifestyle, New Models

In 2019, Porsche will once again be found in Palace 1 of Brussels Expo, exclusively reserved for the prestigious Dream Cars exhibition. This year this ‘expo-in-the-expo’ will be held throughout the Brussels Motor Show. After 2018, a commercially quite successful year with no less than 3,222 Porsches were registered in Belgium, Porsche presents the eighth generation of the mythical 911 in a European premiere.

Two versions are shown to the Belgian public: the 911 Carrera 2S and the 911 Carrera 4S. The impressive Porsche booth, 600 m2 in size, will undoubtedly become the main attraction of Palace 1.

11 cars on the stand

The three 911 type 992, undeniably the stars of the 97th Brussels Salon, are in good company.

The Panamera GTS and Sport Turismo are pinnacles of GT comfort, style and speed… 

Thanks to the 718 Boxster & 718 Cayman, Macan, Cayenne and Panamera, the entire Porsche range can be admired from 19 to 27 January.

Soon we tell you more about the magnificent 911 in our columns, so stay tuned!

Hans Knol ten Bensel

Lexus: hybrid premium class at the Brussels Motor Show

Posted in Automobilia, Car News, Car presentations, New Models

Lexus has always been synonymous with luxury and hybrid propulsion. But besides stunning technology and design, there is also reliability. This bodes well for our 2012 Lexus CT 200h which will soon join our stable and we will use with pleasure for years to come. But did you know that Lexus was chosen as the most reliable car brand in a survey of ‘Test Aankoop’ at no less than 9,000 Belgians and at the French consumer organization ‘Que Choisir’, which was based on a survey among 37,000 consumers?  The brand also came first again in the ‘J.D. Power 2018 Vehicle Dependability Study ‘of most reliable brands. It is also worth noting that 99.9% of all models that Lexus sells in Belgium are self-charging hybrids.

The elegant UX 250h, aiming  at the urban explorer, and a trendsetter in its class…

Lexus will present in Brussels the seventh generation Lexus ES 300 h as a European première. It has besides new styling also a completely revised and new GA-K (Global Architecture) platform, and has the 2,5 l engine mounted in its hybrid system. It is also elected by the Euro NCAP as Europe’s safest car in the Hybrid and electric cars/big sedans category. Its low CO2 emissions make it very interesting tax-wise.

The beautiful Lexus RC has some interior and dashboard refinements, introduced at the Paris Salon, and last but not least we will stand eye to eye with the UX 250h, aiming elegantly at the urban explorer. It is the first Lexus to use the GA-C or Global Architecture Compact platform.

It is all to see at the Palace 4 of the Brussels Motor Show, just take a look at the photos for now…

Hans Knol ten Bensel

 

The ZOUTE GRAND PRIX ® 2018: Sun, sea and purest car pleasure…

Posted in Automobilia, Car Events, Classic and Vintage Cars, History in photos, Lifestyle, Pre-War Classics

This year’s edition of the ZOUTE GRAND PRIX ® proved once again magnificent, and not alone because of the truly beautiful weather. There was a lot to see, enjoy and drive during the four days from 4 to 7 October.

As it is becoming a wonderful tradition now, not less than four events were organized, and besides this general (pictorial) review of the 9th edition of the global ZOUTE GP® event here on these pages, we will come back to you soon, dear reader, with separate reports on each of the venues. We also participated ourselves in the ZOUTE GT TOUR® with an Alpine A110…

So stay tuned…

Hans Knol ten Bensel

Continue reading “The ZOUTE GRAND PRIX ® 2018: Sun, sea and purest car pleasure…” →

We participate in the ZOUTE GRAND PRIX® 2018!

Posted in Automobilia, Car Events, Lifestyle, men women and cars

Next weekend, we will participate as a co-driver in the ZOUTE GT TOUR®, in a Renault Alpine A110, with  Anja Van Der Borght behind the wheel.  She is  a celebrated lifestyle journalist @naturalbornwriters.be and co-owner of WOWtrendmag.com.   Needless to say, we are looking forward to it!

The ZOUTE GT TOUR® is one the four main events of the 2018 edition of the ZOUTE GRAND PRIX®, taking place from Thursday 4 to Sunday 7 October. The ZOUTE GT TOUR® by EY is the traditional final “rolling” event of the ZOUTE GRAND PRIX® and starts on Sunday from 7 AM onwards on the Albertplein in Knokke. It consists of a tour of some 150 km through the magnificent polders and countryside around Knokke Zoute, and as is reserved for 200 exclusive and modern GT cars (younger than 20 years), where the crisp and beautiful Alpine truly belongs.

On this tour, to which we were kindly invited to participate by Anja Van Der Borght and thanks  to the dynamic PR department of Renault Belgium Luxembourg, four special stages and slalom tests are built in. There is a so-called TRACK 1 in Knokke, TRACK 2 on BRESKENS BEACH, TRACK 3 at BRESKENS PORT and TRACK 4 will be the FASTEST 1/4 MILE® at the Graaf d’Ursellaan in Heist.

Our car will be of more standard livery, and not in this configuration, here seen at Castellet… but it will be breathtaking nonetheless!

We will thus have ample occasion to put this French thoroughbred through its paces, and of course will report on our adventures and the ZOUTE GRAND PRIX® soon in these columns!

Hans Knol ten Bensel

 

 

How we prepare ourselves (in Belgium) for the mobility of the future: the BMW view…

Posted in Automobilia, Car manufacturers strategy, E-mobility R &D and solutions, Future car technology, Future technologies

Recently BMW Group Belux organized a very interesting conference at their Brand Store in Brussels, where Eddy Haesendonck, President & CEO of BMW Belux (here on the right) gave us a status update on the world wide figures and trends of the BMW Group, followed more specifically by the figures and trends in Belgium for BMW Group Belux.

But the focus at this meeting was also on the outlook he presented, namely on how we prepare ourselves for the mobility of the future. This is where we will focus on mostly in this report.

Interesting was also the presentation by Els Ampe, (see first photo)  alderman Public works, Mobility and Dutch speaking matters in Brussels, on the mobility needs of the city of Brussels. More on this in the second part of this report, which we will present soon here too in these columns.

Just read on…

Hans Knol ten Bensel

Continue reading “How we prepare ourselves (in Belgium) for the mobility of the future: the BMW view…” →

We drove the Fiat 500 L: your perfect travel companion

Posted in Automobilia, Car presentations, Car Tests, Lifestyle

The stylish 500 L in front of the Amphitheatre in Nîmes…

We were always quite charmed by the clever rounded shape and styling of the Fiat 500 L. Its curves and lines are drawn by Italian designers which have an uncanny genial talent to hit those ideal, timeless proportions. Indeed, this compact people carrier will still hit the tune of the times within say, fifteen or twenty years. It came to us this time with a restyled front end, clad in charming Donatello bronze metallic and a black gleaming roof which sported a large glass panorama ceiling. We took it on an extensive continental tour through France, and it filled our car loving hearts with joy, every meter we drove it…

Hans Knol ten Bensel

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FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne: A genial automotive manager has passed away…

Posted in Automobilia, Automotive drawings and art, Car manufacturers strategy, Men

 

He was born in Chieti, on the Italian Adriatic coast, as the son of a carabiniere or state police officer, on June 17, 1952. His father was a wise man, with a keen sense of money and savings, and he had invested enough to retire early. He decided to give his family a bright future in Canada. When young Sergio was 14, they moved across the ocean to Toronto.

His studies gave him a broad view…

Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of FCA, was not altogether a pure “auto” person, rather on the contrary. This prepared him to become an outstanding manager. Just look at what he studied. He started at the University of Toronto with philosophy, earned himself a master’s degree in business administration at the University of Windsor, in Ontario, and finally obtained a law degree in 1983 at the Osgoode Hall of York University. He began his career as … a tax specialist.

Luca De Meo, CEO Fiat Automobiles, and Sergio Marchionne, then CEO Fiat Group Automobiles, with the Fiat 500 (2007)

Broad business experience made him an ideal crisis manager…

This keen sense for numbers and figures made him the ideal manager to work out successful turnarounds and save companies from the brink. He moved to a metals trading firm and was also very successful in a trade services company. A broad experience in trading and business together with an excellent mastery of English, French and Italian gave him many possibilities, and having forged himself an enviable reputation of a crisis manager, he was spotted by the Agnelli family, seen as the right person on the right place to save the ailing Fiat company. The fact that he had a broad non-automotive experience was rather seen as an asset. He was appointed CEO of Fiat in 2004, and started with the necessary reforms to lighten the debt burden as soon as possible. He knew soon enough about the existing deal between G.M. and Fiat, and first tried to force G.M. into purchasing Fiat. General Motors had other plans, so Marchionne obtained 2 billion USD in compensation from G.M. to allow them to step out of the alliance. Money he put to good use to rejuvenate the model range, with the 500 being the all-time star.

Mike Manley and Sergio Marchionne with the new Jeep Renegade (09/2014)

A second success with Chrysler/Jeep…

Marchionne knew that automakers with global ambitions also need to have a solid base in the US market, and amidst the 2008 crisis he made clear to the US Treasury that he would be prepared to take control of Chrysler and revive it using the excellent state of the art Fiat group technology he had at his disposal.

He also knew very well that the Chrysler creditors and unions were putting hard pressure on the US Treasury, so he decided to up the ante to the beleaguered US government to ask them to hand over Chrysler to him… for free.

He succeeded, and the good results are known to everybody. Especially the dramatic turnaround of Jeep made the FCA Group now a profitable giant.

He was planning to retire in 2019, but fate has decided otherwise, as a result of unexpected complications after a shoulder surgery on July 5.

Fate has it too that his last official public appearance on last June 26, was to hand over in Rome at a ceremony in the grounds of the Carabinieri High Command, in the presence of Commander-in-Chief Giovanni Nistri, the liveried Jeep Wrangler.(see the accompanying photo).

He is succeeded by Mike Manley, (see photo above),  the head of Fiat Chrysler’s North America operations and its Jeep and Ram truck brands.

Hans Knol ten Bensel

 

 

A feast for the senses: we visited BMW Artville in Knokke

Posted in Automobilia, Automotive drawings and art, Car Events, Lifestyle, men women and cars

BMW’s very first Art Car which also actually raced: the BMW 3.0 CSL created by Alexander Calder… 

Summer is the time to let the creative spirits flow, and enjoy nature and art. An ideal time to regenerate body and mind. Besides enjoying the outdoors, enriching experiences like a visit to exhibitions and art galleries are always firmly on the agenda of your servant. Therefore a visit to the BMW Artville in Knokke (see our previous report in these columns) was a must, and we let you enjoy it here…

Hans Knol ten Bensel

Jan Fabre takes centre stage…

An “autoportrait”  sculpture of Jan Fabre himself adorns the BMW Artville beach…

As we announced already in our previous report, artist Jan Fabre showed a very intriguing “performance” film, displayed on five different screens simultaneously, titled “Schande übers ganze Erdenreich”. The performance of priestess Stella Höttler is very gripping indeed. For photos of this performance film we refer to our previous report in these columns. The two turtles she carries in both hands during her ecstatic performances are for Jan Fabre the “oracle stones” because their shields carry the weight and the memory of centuries. Especially the shield is an object of fascination that breathes life into dream images. The shield and its geometric patterns were already used in the Oracle of Delphi…

A landmark on the Knokke beach: BMW Artville 

In this performance, “Schande übers ganze Erdenreich”, the perforer implores the gods to teach mankind to treat the inheritance of the world more kindly.

Jan Fabre is fascinated by the relations man-animal and animal-man and by the analogy in their nomadic nature. As an artist, he wants to put into language the mystery of the cycle of death, decay, birth and renaissance. In this quest, he uses as his inner compass the synergy between his personal instinct, intelligence and intuition. He constantly searches the changing face of existence.

This is also seen in his series of fourteen new skulls, clad in ballpoint ink, which hold the skeletons of a bird or animal in their mouth. It evokes the “Blue Hour” of Jean-Henri Fabre, where at daybreak the blue night is chased away. Just as the night is eternally changed into day, life is also a constant stream of (re)birth and death.

‘BMW Artville – Jan Fabre curated by BOZAR’ announces two future projects of the artist in BOZAR. “Schande übers Ganze Erdenreich!” takes place in the framework of the Theodoor van Loon exhibition (December 2018-January 2019). The art works from the cycle “The Hour Blue” are the harbinger of Fabre’s solo exhibition “The years of the Hour Blue” (May-September 2021).

The BMW Art Car Collection

On BMW Artville, BMW Belux presents two cars from the BMW ART CAR Collection. We stood admiringly eye to eye with the BMW 3.0 CSL created by Alexander Calder (1975).

Alexander Calder’s design was executed by car painting specialist W. Maurer…

Using the creativity of an artist on a (racing) car was the brainchild of racing driver, art lover and auctioneer Hervé Poulain, who actually raced this car in Le Mans, together with the American Sam Posey and Jean Guichet. After 7 hours, the car had to give up due to a defective prop shaft. The car was never raced again and has been on diplay since then.

The unique collection of BMW Art Cars consists today of 19 cars, designed by the following artists: Alexander Calder (1975), Roy Lichtenstein (1976), Frank Stella (1977), Andy Warhol (1979), Ernst Fuchs (1982), Robert Rauschenberg (1986), Ken Done (1989), Michael Jagamara Nelson (1989), Matazo Kayama (1990), César Manrique (1990), A.R. Penck (1991), Esther Mahlangu (1991), Sandro Chia (1992), David Hockney (1995), Jenny Holzer (1999), Olafur Eliasson (2007), Jeff Koons (2010), John Baldessari (2016) en Cao Fei with her BMW M6 GT3.(2017). Artists for the BMW Art Car Project are chosen by a panel of international judges.

According to Thomas Girst, who has been in charge of the BMW Art Cars project since 2004, the purpose of the project has changed over time: “In the beginning the cars were raced. There wasn’t much of a public relations effort around them… Since then, some of the Art Cars have been used in advertisements to show that BMW is a player in the arts.”

Besides the stunning i8 roadster, BMW Belux Corporate Communications Officer Saschia De Rudder kindly showed us two forthcoming BMW models in preview, which formed also a highlight of this artful experience on the sunny Knokke beach and stylish BMW Artville premises… We just let you enjoy the photos here!

Hans Knol ten Bensel