Alexander Boucke brings us the the best cars from the first big European classic car show in 2018. What’s your favourite car from Maastricht?
The 25th annual InterClassics show in Maastricht marked an early start to the new classic car season for AROnline. Admirers and collectors from BeNeLux and western parts of Germany like this show held in the cosy heated convention centre in Maastricht. From very humble beginnings, a fine show soon emerged, drawing close to 30,000 visitors in recent years.
Sunny and relatively mild weather saw quite a few classic cars hit the road towards the show. Compared to the ugly weather from last year, an increase in visitor numbers was no surprise, but the organisers reported a solid increase of over 10% from the best year, recording close to 34,000 visitors over the long weekend.
The exhibition centre in Maastricht is not of the size of the NEC so, across four halls, a not too large, but usually exquisite display from clubs and dealers can be seen. While most dealers strive to show rare models or cars in outstanding condition, there was something for everyone. Starting at around €8000 for a nicely preserved Simca 1100 or Alfasud, the top end was well into seven figures with cars like Ferrari F40 Competizione or Pininfarina Sergio.
European classic car market watch in Maastricht
While there was no (further) big price hikes noticeable at the top end, it has to be noted that the market for 1970s and ’80s saloon cars is finally leaving the rock bottom, with some commanding prices that finally make restorations viable. Not that many of the offerings on display were in much need of restoration – the amount of unrestored, very low mileage cars of all ages was astonishing and clearly shows the strong trend towards more authentic, unrestored cars being valued more than fresh restorations.
Traditional British sports cars like MGB or Triumph TR and Spitfire seem to have fallen out of favour with continental buyers recently, making them very good value for money for those looking to buy one. Is an Austin Healey 3000 really worth four times the money of an MGC in similar condition?
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Thanks for sharing these pictures with us Alexander. I particularly like the Taunus 1.3 coupe (similar to the MK3 Cortina). I remember seeing the odd one of these in the UK many years ago. Also like the brown Mini (I think the colour might be Russet brown but I could be wrong)
I would imagine a 1.3 engine in something of that bulk would result in fairly leisurely progress….
My grandfather had a Mk 5 or Cortina80 with a 1.3 – very leisurely is more descriptive…
Yes Dave. I once drove a 1.3 Cortina MkV / 80 Hire car on Shetland and it felt underpowered compared to the 1.6’s I was used to. The Taunus 1.3 Coupe would fit the “sheep in Wolf’s clothes” tag