4 days long, it was pretty obvious to any unknown visitor of the mundane coastal city Knokke : king car ruled the world. From thursday early morning on, even the blind could see that the city wouldn’t look like usual. The streets near the Albert Plein, in the common world “ the m’as-tu vu plein”, were transformed into a race-track look-a-like with the straw next to the streets, and the lanterns covered with a black-and-white chequered canvas. The city of Knokke literally breathed the atmosphere of the early days of motor sports
The Zoute Grand-Prix was in its 5th edition, and it is hard to believe an event, no older than that, has reached the maturity it showed. The event consists of 6 different events, placed together under the brand Zoute Grand-Prix.
The Zoute Top Marques shows the top models of 14 premium car manufacturers (Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Land Rover, Maserati, McLaren, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Rolls Royce) spread over 14 podia in the streets of Knokke-Zoute. One giant show-room filled with the cars any car-nut dreams of.
Zoute Expo is an exhibition of both classic and modern cars. 3 squares in the city had a country (Germany, Italy and Britain) as a theme, and everyone owner of a car of that country could subscribe to put its car on display on the square.
The Zoute Sale is an auction at the Albert Plein, organized by Bonhams. About 40 cars went under the hammer, among them the ex Nigel Mansell Ferrari F40 that sold for 600.000 Euro. Some great Porsches at the auction too, with a police Porsche 356 Cabriolet, used by the dutch police (Rijkspolitie) that found a new owner for the stunning hammer price of 205.000 Euro. Far less for the car that was described as one of 6 prototypes of the Porsche 911 Cabriolets, based on a 1970 911 Targa. Probably the lack of acknowledgment by the Porsche factory whether this was a true prototype, made the car sell for a mere 60.000 Euro.
On Sunday, owners of modern GT’s can start at the Zoute GT Tour. About 100 exclusive cars of maximum 20years old, are allowed at the start. The tour takes the participants through the coastal region, covering about 120kms to be back at the Albert Plein shortly after noon.
Both on Saturday and Sunday, the Zoute Concours d’Elegance shows some very exclusive cars of different ages, makes and styles. For many visitors to the concours d’elegance it is a unique opportunity to admire those rare cars, in the luxurious environment of the Zoute Golf Club. For us Porsche fans, a belgian collector showed a Formel V on a VW van, and the ex Gaban Porsche 911 SCRS (1 of 25) on a trailer behind a Ford Granada service car that has been meticulously rebuilt, to look exactly like the service car of back then.
The Zoute Rally is a regularity race for vintage cars. On Thursday you could see how the BFOV (Belgian Federation of Old Vehicles) did the technical scrutineering of the cars. Each car had to be authentic, and fulfill the security demands the organization asked, assuring the high-quality of the participating cars. No less than 170 cars entered, which was the maximum allowed. Better be quick next year if you want to be part of the party too, as there’s a long waiting list.
Friday early morning, the first cars appeared at the Albert Plein again at the start of the Rally, which would lead the cars and pilots during a 250km long trip through the wide and beautiful region of the Belgian coast, with a surprise lunch at the Koksijde military airport at noon. Same scenario on Saturday, even though the weather slightly changed with some clouds and rain. No problem for the die-hard aficionados to start the race with a big smile and take the challenge of the day : drive as close as possible to the imposed time and speed to achieve a top result at the end of the race.
Big success in the end for Porsche, with 3 Porsches 356 on the podium
1. Ruben Maes en Filip Deplancke
2. Yves Despiegelaere & Marc Coucke
3. Jeffrey Van Hooydonck & Philippe Quatennens
In contradiction to last year, despite some rain on saturday, the weather was magnificent for an autumn weekend in Belgium. Overall about 130.000 visitors brought the event to a never seen before open-air car-event in Belgium. Congratulations to Philip and David Bourgoo and Philippe Van de Ryse, the Zoute Automobile Club and the city council of Knokke for this wonderful event.
The 6th edition will without any doubt reach the same quality, if not surpass it.
Text : Tim Havermans
Pictures : Tim Havermans
