Belgian premiere for the Porsche Taycan at the Auto Salon in Brussels
The Auto Salon in Brussels is the first car salon in 2020. And I guess it won’t be a surprise that electromobility, hybrid cars and electric cars are the key-words at a modern car show nowadays. Nothing else is the truth at the Auto Salon in Brussels. After the world premiere of the Porsche Taycan last september , the car now had its Belgian premiere.
We all know that in the mean time, 3 versions of the Porsche Taycan exist. The Porsche Taycan 4S, the Porsche Taycan Turbo, and the most powerful of them , the Porsche Taycan Turbo S. Unfortunately, not all 3 versions were present during our visit at the press day. Porsche Belgium decided to bring 2 Porsche Taycan Turbos and 1 Porsche Taycan Turbo S. With 3 of the new models on the exhibition, the Porsche Taycan was ofcourse best represented of all Porsche models. You can see a Porsche Cayman GT4, and both an open and closed version of the Porsche 911. Further there was Porsche Macan and a Porsche Panamera Sports Turismo.
Porsche Taycan, 100% Porsche DNA
During the info session on the new Porsche Taycan, the sporty character of the car was emphasized. We heard several times that the Porsche Taycan is 100% Porsche. It has all the DNA a Porsche customer can expect. The speaker told the audience about the importance of the Formula-E. That is he new race series Porsche is heavily involved in. However, we think it is a missed opportunity not to have the Porsche 99X Electric, the Formula E race car at the exhibition. We do believe that would have made the connection to the audience even more clear. It would have emphasized stronger the performance of the new Porsche Taycan.
Dream Car Exhibition
The ‘dream car exhibition’ at the Auto Salon in Brussels is an exhibition in the exhibition. Unfortunately visitors have to open their wallet again. To be allowed to the part where the most exclusive cars are on display, they have to pay another entrance fee. That’s too bad, we think. In that ‘Dream Car exhibition’, Porsche had a Porsche Boxster Spyder. That made the street model range of Porsche at the Auto Salon Brussel complete.
Jacky Ickx, Michel Vaillant and the race-track of Spa Francorchamps
With the circuit of Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium has definitely a track to be proud on. The circuit, which is regularly referred to as a favourite by racing drivers from all over the world, is part of the legendary tracks of motor racing, as are those of Le Mans, Indianapolis and Monaco. The track celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
The name of Jacky Ickx sounds like a bell among motorsports fans. The 6 times winner of the Le Mans 24Hours celebrated his 75th anniversary just a few days ago, on New Years Day 2020.
That is a unique combination. And it brought the management of the Spa-Francorchamps, together with the Hankook 25H VW Fun Cup, to the idea of a great celebration. On that celebration, the imaginary race-hero Michel Vaillant could not be missed. The brainchild of Jean Graton, the French cartoonist, is a motorsports celebrity and succesful racer in dozens of comic books.
Philippe Graton, son of Jean Graton was in Brussels to unveil 2 pieces of artwork dedicated to Jacky Ickx. Honoured guests were ofcourse Jacky Ickx in person, and Nathalie Maillet, CEO of the Circuit of Spa-Francorchamps. Ickx himself was very honoured and showed much gratitude. During the unveiling of the artwork, Jacky Ickx told some amazing stories and said : “This artwork is my favorite. After all, for 1 time I was leading the race before Michel Vaillant.”
Picture gallery Porsche at the Auto Salon Brussels
Pictures by Vintage Race Photography and Wilfried Geerts.
