In these difficult times, every friend of the rolling cultural heritage is delighted to see a presentation of exquisite classic automobiles - especially when it takes place "open air". With the premiere of the "Days of Elegance" on June 18 and 19, the organizers of the Interclassics Maastricht and Brussels trade fairs have made a successful start in this segment. The choice of venue, Château St. Gerlach in Valkenburg an der Göhl in the Netherlands, proved to be a good one, as the pretty castle is located in the middle of the scenic Dutch region of Zuid-Limburg between Aachen and Maastricht.
The venue - a former monastery site - is now a luxury hotel surrounded by a magnificent park. This special occasion was complemented by an art exhibition on the grounds. In addition to fine dining, the two-day event offered a one-day rally for classic and modern supercars, which led through the Dutch hills and the neighboring Belgian province of Limburg. The focus of the "Days of Elegance" was, of course, the Concours d'Elégance with its international jury.
In addition, classic car dealers offered high-class vehicles on nine sub-areas. Lifestyle products and luxurious new vehicles were also exhibited on the extensive castle grounds. This mixture was a perfect fit here, as the classic cars were given the space they deserved. Brand clubs were not represented, although this would have been appropriate for this event.
On what was probably the hottest day of the year, we started our tour of the Concours d'Elégance field of participants. 36 cars competed for the prizes in five categories. In addition to the winners in the five categories mentioned above, there was also a prize awarded by the competitors and an honorary prize from the jury.
Over a century of breed and class in five categories
Two Pegasos competed in the "gentleman's thoroughbreds" category. The early Z 102 GT Berlinetta Enasa from 1951 and a two-tone, Touring-bodied Z 102 from 1955. British motoring was represented by an Aston Martin DB4 Works from 1959 and the "Gmünd" Porsche 356 from 1949 was joined by a red Porsche 904 from 1964.
As expected, a Ferrari 250 GT Europa from 1955 was also painted red and a black Facel Vega Facel II from 1962 stood on the sidelines.
There were six cars to choose from in the "elegant tourers" section. The oldest was a 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Dual-Cowl Tourer coachbuilt by London coachbuilder Trupp & Maberly, which competed with a 1928 Bentley 3 Litre and a 1939 Lagonda V12 Drophead Coupé.
A Packard 120 Two Seater Convertible from 1941 and another open-top Nash 998 Phaeton from 1932 were entered in the race for the USA, where they had to compete with a Mercedes-Benz 300 S Cabriolet from 1953.
The category "when coachwork becomes art" was represented by seven exhibits from 1909 to 1954. The oldest car, a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, had just been restored. The Alfa Romeo and Lancia brands were represented with one pre-war and one post-war model each. These were a two-tone blue Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport Zagato and an elegant dark blue Alfa 6C 2500 SS Villa d'Este from 1951.
An Astura Roadster from 1935 and an Aprilia Farina Cabrio from 1948 were in competition for Lancia. French elegance was embodied by a Delage D6 with bodywork by Pennock. The Mercedes-Benz 500 K Special Roadster (W 29) from 1936, otherwise housed in the Louwman Museum in The Hague, also faced the scrutiny of the public and the jury.
The "racing legends" category featured eight racing cars, starting with the oldest car in the competition, a Züst Targa Florio from 1907, which produced a lot of exhaust fumes during its presentation. The 1930s were represented by three cars: a Talbot AV90 PL2 from 1930 was joined by an Alfa Romeo 8C Le Mans from 1931 and a Maserati 6C from 1936.
The field of Italian racing cars was completed by a Ferrari 500 Mondial from 1954, while a Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Prix from 1948 and a Renault Alpine A211 from 1967, otherwise based at Autoworld Brussels, represented the French Tricolore. The eighth car was a British Lola T70 Spyder from 1965.
Eight cars were also entered in the fifth and final category, "future classics & supercars". A black Lamborghini Countach 5000 S from1988 and the red Ferrari F40, which was one year younger, came from the 1980s. The following decade was represented by a yellow De Tomaso Pantera Si from 1992, a silver Jaguar XJ220 from 1993 and a blue Bugatti EB110 from 1994.
The host country was represented by a Spyker C8 Double 12S from 2007, which competed with a gleaming chrome McLaren P1 GTR from 2015. The luxurious Bentley Mulliner Bacalar convertible was from 2021, making it the youngest vehicle in the field.
And the winners are...
It was eagerly awaited which vehicle would be crowned "Best of Show" and some predicted the Mercedes-Benz 500 K Special Roadster from the Louwman Museum. For the jury, however, there was no doubt that this title went to the 1935 Lancia Astura Roadster. The winner in the "gentleman's thoroughbred" category was the Porsche 356 "Gmünd".
The Mercedes-Benz 300 S Cabriolet came out on top in the "elegant tourers" category and a Mercedes-Benz also won in the "when coachwork becomes art" category, namely the aforementioned 1936 Mercedes 500 K Special Roadster.
Ferrari was also successful in two categories, namely in the "racing legends" category with the 500 Mondial from 1954 and the F40 from 1989 in the "future classics & supercars" category. The competitors' prize went to the Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Villa d'Este from 1951 and the jury's prize of honor went to the Pegaso Z 102 GT Enasa from the same year.
Noble and diverse range of classic cars
Nine classic car dealers presented a high-quality range at the usual level of the Interclassics trade fairs. And as with these, the Stuttgart car brands, which are omnipresent elsewhere, were commendably not over-represented. Instead, lovers of Italian and British classics got their money's worth, with pre-war cars also strongly represented.
The range of Maserati, Lancia and Ferrari as well as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Alvis and Lagonda was therefore plentiful. With a few exceptions, sales prices started around the 200,000 euro mark. For example, there was a 1953 Lancia Aurelia Allemano for 175,000 euros, a bright yellow Alfa Romeo 1900 CS from the following year for 250,000, a 1970 Maserati Ghibli 4.9 SS with just 21,000 kilometers on the clock for a thousand less or a left-hand drive 1964 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III James Young for 195,000 euros.
Probably fewer cars with the discreet addition "POR" were on offer in Valkenburg than usual. Prices of 585,000 euros for a Ferrari 330 GTC from 1966 or 465,000 euros for a Bugatti Type 23 "Bescia" from 1925 were listed directly on the offer signs or on the dealers' homepages.
There were certainly interesting alternatives in this price segment: Anyone prepared to spend 495,000 euros on a brand-new Rolls-Royce Silver Spectre Shooting Brake could have bought a 1928 Rolls-Royce Phantom Shooting Brake instead and still saved almost 200,000 euros. Or you could have chosen between a 1969 Mercedes-Benz 280 SL Pagoda and a 190 SL ten years older, both of which were on offer for 190,000 euros.
The number of high-quality replicas and recreations on offer was also remarkable. While a replica of the Bugatti Type 35 could often be seen on the stand of the Argentinian company Pur Sang at the last classic car fairs, a dealer at Château St. Gerlach showed a real rarity: an Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Spider built by Pur Sang.
The reporter was also impressed by the recreation of the Maserati Tipo 61 "Birdcage", which was built by the British company Crosthwaite & Gardiner for a Californian collector in the 1990s. With the hood open, you could admire the filigree lattice tube frame.
After this year's successful debut, you can already make a note of the date for the next "Days of Elegance". They will take place from June 3 to 4, 2023 at the same location.
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