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Old 15th January 2023, 18:37   #1
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Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands

A few days ago I visited the Interclassics car show in Maastricht, together with my friend and model car connaisseur Berndt.

This show is considered to be amongst the top classic car shows in Europe. As with just about all car shows the last couple of year, previous years had been cancelled due to Corona Restriction. This was the first time since Covid, the show was on again.

Every year they have a special theme. This year it was about the F1 car that have raced over the years on the circuit of Zandvoort.

https://interclassics.events/en/clas...ow-maastricht/

It is the same organisation that also organises the Brussel Interclassic show.
Berndt and I visited that as well a few months ago. Check it out here:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-d...ml#post5444813

Berndt and I drove south on a Friday morning. Maastricht is the most southern part of the Netherlands. Germany to the east, Belgium to the west. It is a very nice town. I can highly recommend staying there and in that area of the Netherlands. It is about an hour and 45 minutes driving from where Berndt and I live. All motorway. Pretty boring. We had booked our tickets on line. You get a special discount, and because of age we get a bit extra discount. But tickets for these events are not cheap, about Euro 18 (INR 1600) and parking for the day costs about the same!

There are hundreds and hundreds of classic cars. Most of these images I took because the car in special was a bit special (well, at least I thought so)

Most classic car enthusiast will be familiar with the brand Austin Healey. However, before Austin and Healey got together, Healey produced a couple of other quite remarkable cars, often in cooperation with other brands.

This is 1947 Westland Healey Roadster. Only 64 were made. Build between 1946 and 1950. This particular car came to the Netherlands in 1999 from the USA and has Dutch plates. It participated in the Mille Miglia six times between 2008 and 2018.

Price: Eur 189.000 (INR 16700000)

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9789.jpeg

A Jaguar 100SS

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9790.jpeg

A gorgeous Bentley!

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9791.jpeg

There were quite a few Bugatti’s about. You will see a few more. This is a replica, made to 75% scale of the original model! The guy who build this had build several of these. It has a little petrol engine and a maximum speed of about 60 km/h. Bugatti themselves have been making these 75% replica’s as well:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...-35-racer.html

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9792.jpeg

I can’t remember what this is, but it is yellow and very unusual. It was on the stand of the Auto Moto d’epoch in Italy. A huge classic car event I still need to visit. It is on my to do list, so it will happen some time!

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9793.jpeg

Here another Healey variant, a Nash Healey!

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9795.jpeg

These days, almost unavoidable at any classic car event, there will be some punters to try and sell you an electric conversion. Purist classic car enthusiast will spit on it of course. But if anything it will make your 2CV go like stink!!

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9797.jpeg

I thought this was pretty unusual, don’t think I have come across it before.

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9798.jpeg

From the very early beginning of motor cars, not really my cup of tea, but always very photogenic.

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9799.jpeg

As I mentioned at the beginning, the theme for this years event was the F1 one cars that have driven on the circuit of Zandvoort. They managed to assemble quite a few interesting cars. I am not a fan at all of F1, it just doesn’t hold my interest. When I was in my teens I did watch F1 now and then.

And I remember very well the unveiling of what became known as the John Player Special (JPS). Tamiya made a gorgeous model kit and it was the only F1 car I ever build.

It is difficult to imagine the impact the JPS had in those days. Car manufacturers starting to offer JPS version of whatever car or model they could think of. Endless accessoires in JPS colour scheme. I am not a fan of black cars at all. But this JPS is still absolutely stunning!

This is the 1976 Lotus Ford which was driven by Gunnar Nilsson. 2993cc V8 engine, 5 speeds, weight 576kg, 465BHP and a topspeed of 305 km/h.

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9806.jpeg

They also had a slight more recent JPS driven by Nigel Mansell

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9805.jpeg

As you can imagine this F1 car drew a large (Dutch) crowd. It is Max Verstappen 2021 F1 car.

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9807.jpeg

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9808.jpeg

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9801.jpeg

But again, these sort of cars and current F1 racing simply does not float my boat.

This is what a proper F1 car should look like!!

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9800.jpeg

And now for something completely different. This is a 1971 Citroen SM. These cars have a Maserati V6 engine! This particular one was presented to USSR President at the time Brezjnev by the French government during a state visit!

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9821.jpeg

Another very unusual car. This is Talbot Samba in a rally variant. You would be very hard pressed to find a Samba, any Samba these days. It is very rare to come across them even at these sort of events. We had one when we lived in Brighton, UK early eighties. It was my wife’s car and to date it has been the only car we bought new.

The Samba is also a good example of the fact that just because something is rare doesn’t make it valuable. Even if you could find a Samba it would not be worth much at all. This, being a Rallye version with a bit of provenance is probably worth a bit more.

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9823.jpeg

a little less rare, but a hell of lot more valuable are these little Fiat 500 with the top cut off.

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9810.jpeg

As always lots of Ferrari’s about. I did not take any images of the Ferrari cars, but being the nerdy engineer I did take an image of this Ferrari engine on display.

This is a Ferrari 12 cylinder V12-65o. 5474cc, 486HP and a staggering 568Nm torque.

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9802.jpeg

Of course, any classic car show will feature some VW Beetles. My first car was a Beetle I bought for fifty Dutch guilders when I was 18. Earning fifty guilders took two weeks of delivering about 250 newspapers between 05-07 AM in the morning!

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9804.jpeg

Love these Bentleys. Did not like the grey colour on the one in the front. But it was an original Paris-Dakkar car, so I would assume that was the original colour.

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9811.jpeg

Some more details on the cockpit of these sort of cars, pieces of art!

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9812.jpeg

A few more cockpits.

This is the cockpit from a Dutch car, a Spijker!

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9816.jpeg

How about the cockpit of this very special Faces Vega Excellence Ex2 from 1962. also, notice the suicide doors!

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9817.jpeg

Here another view of the Spijker and toward the rear another Bugatti. This one was probably the most expensive car on display. Eur 1.350.000 (INR 118000000).

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9814.jpeg

We had a little chat with these guys. Burton is a Dutch company that builds these retro looking little cars. They are all based on Citroen 2CV as a donor car.

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9815.jpeg

It is still one of the most affordable and easy ways of getting into an open top car. They have a very strong a loyal following. And the owners are true diehards, always driving top down, no matter what the weather.

https://www.burtoncar.com

The company was recently sold to french company 2CV Mehari Club Cassis. Which is probably an excellent match and ensures continuousion for current and future owners.

No classic car show would be complete with a few Citroen DS thrown in, so here you are:

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9813.jpeg

And finally, another quite rare and unusual car. This is a 1938 Panhard Dynamic

Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands-img_9819.jpeg

Berndt and I spend about five hours roaming around. The show was not up to its old format yet. A couple of the renowned Dutch classic car restorers were missing. Also we felt that there were fewer market stalls selling tools, parts accessoires and all that sort of stuff.

We stopped in Valkenburg on the way home for a nice dinner and some drinks. In all a very worthwhile and enjoyable day out.

Jeroen

Last edited by Jeroen : 15th January 2023 at 18:38.
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Old 15th January 2023, 19:57   #2
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re: Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!
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Old 15th January 2023, 20:27   #3
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re: Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands

Nice report!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeroen View Post
I can’t remember what this is, but it is yellow and very unusual.
Unique shape, got me curious, and the wheel caps said Lancia. So I did a bit of searching, and it's a Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato.

Quote:
The Fulvia Sport was a fastback two-seater based on Coupé mechanicals, built for Lancia by Zagato — where it had also been designed, by Ercole Spada.[8] The Sport was commissioned by Lancia to Zagato as more aerodynamic and sportier version of the coupé, which could be used in road and track competitions.

Series I
Three peculiarities of the Sport body were the engine bonnet, which was hinged to the right hand side, the rear hatch, which could be lifted electrically by an handful of centimetres to aid cabin ventilation, and the spare wheel, which was housed in a separate compartment and accessed from a rotating panel which held the rear number plate.[9] The tail lights were sourced from the NSU Prinz.
Source
Here's another link: https://petrolicious.com/articles/st...zagato-oddball
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Old 16th January 2023, 02:57   #4
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re: Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands

Oh wow I enjoyed reading this thread.
I especially love cars like the Citroen DS which was so far ahead of its time with its phenomenal hydraulics technology. And the old 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s F1 cars. Those JPS cars are simply wonderful. Nowadays one cannot find even a scale model to buy, without having to part with an arm and a leg for it. When I was in school we used to have physical cardboard/ plastic ‘car cards’ and some of us used to play those. The JPS F1 car won on most every parameter in our game set up.

Last edited by shankar.balan : 16th January 2023 at 03:02.
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Old 16th January 2023, 06:45   #5
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re: Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands

The Citroen SM has been one of my childhood favourites! Another proud owner of this car was Idi Amin of Uganda. Rumour has it that upon presentation of the car, Brezhnev immediately took it for a spin and pranged it.

A four door convertible was commissioned for the French Presidential use for ceremonial occasions.

Name:  688252EA6105401FAFB8F1D185FD58EC.jpeg
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The Samba is a reheated blander version of the Peugeot 104. The Rallye did inspire Peugeot to come out with the 106 Rallye later on!
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Old 17th January 2023, 15:31   #6
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Re: Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands

Thanks for the report. Nice to see those well restored/maintained ones.

BTW, Do you have a calendar of sorts for all these festivals that happen in and around NL?
Would be glad to have it.
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Old 17th January 2023, 15:39   #7
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Re: Interclassics Car Show @ Maastricht, 2023 | The Netherlands

Quote:
Originally Posted by carthick1000 View Post

BTW, Do you have a calendar of sorts for all these festivals that happen in and around NL?
Would be glad to have it.
There are several online calendars

https://www.oldtimerweb.nl/oldtimer-evenementen.aspx

https://amklassiek.nl/oldtimer-evenementen-kalender/

https://www.autoweek.nl/classiccars/...-in-nederland/

https://nl-nl.facebook.com/groups/507769675995321/

The first link tends to be a pretty comprehensive list, but I do check the other ones too. What also works for me is liking classic car events on Facebook, so new events start showing up in your feed.

Jeroen
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