Regarding the weather, Western Europe had a bumpy start into the New Year. Well-timed the first hours of sunshine in 2013 occurred on Thursday with a full day of sunshine on Friday when we decided to take the 150 kms ride to Maastricht to visit the first event of the year, the InterClassics TopMobiel at the MECC.
The first thing that did surprise us was how easy it was to get a space in the car park. Parking level 2 close to the opening hour of the fair is something remarkable. This was as remarkable as was the length of the waiting line at the counters. All in all - and this will have to be confirmed by the official announcement of the attendance figures – we suspect that the attendance was lower than in previous years. However, the usual crowd shuffled in (hi, Guus Bierman, hi, Peter Welters), male predominately, aged 50+ and very experienced. The main theme of this year’s 25th anniversary issue of InterClassics TopMobiel was Aston Martin’s 100th anniversary and even if we keep our special focus on Ferrari, it good to always keep an eye on the other brands. I remember well the special Ferrari display in 2008 that was as nice to see as this year’s Aston Martin exhibition.
Back to the Prancing Horses. There have been 24 of them, a number, that doubles our previous catch at Essen Motor Show in December. Four of them, modern cars of course, have been spotted parking outside: two 599 GTB, one of them with a fine dark Blue met. exterior combined with beautiful pale Blue Daytona seats with Blu Scuro inserts (#162945), a US-F430 Spider F1 on Dutch plates and the most beautiful of them, a 458 Italia in Grigio Medio with the Grigio Silverstone Opaco Roof and Alcantara Nera Racing seats (#183136). Spotting this was helped by the wide space in the car park. So every thing has its good side…
Entering the halls it was the typical impression: classic cars together with the obviously Dutch-admired crowd of 308 and 328 and only two recent cars, # 110659, a 550 Maranello in Rosso Corsa/Beige and a Manual Modena Spider. A real highlight was missing. Three Queen Marys, one of those being the 365 California conversion on # 11967, the 250 GT TdF-Replica that is said to be done on the remains of the 250 GT PF Coupé #1303 and the beautiful 365 GTC # 11997 featured to “elder fraction”. One 330 GT 2+2, #9221, was displayed in Argento and was nearly a 100 % more complete than its four headlights-sister # 6219. Its body in Black primer was displayed by a professional body workshop.
246 Dino GTS #03214 of Potomac Motors followed us from Essen to Maastricht, still for sale, still with an asking price that is remarkable low compared to the most recent trades in the US. Its sister #00998 was probably the most beautiful car on display by CC-Cars, however, I have to admit to be a sucker for 246 GTBs, especially in Giallo Fly and being perfectly restored.
The Dino-section was completed by a 308 and a 208. The 308, # 12454, was on auction with Classic Car Auctions with a starting bid of 19,000 EUR. It sure needs some attention on the paint and more than 112k kms on the clock are something.
The Book “The Ferrari Serial Number Manual 1947 – 2007” was on display as well by Gilena as every year as well as the newly published “The Official Ferrari Opus” with 37 kg of weight, starting at 2,500 EUR and the Diamond Edition that is topping a amazing 250,000 EUR!
The ugliest thing to see was a 328 GTB Replica with totally wrong lines and a moonroof…
Next exit: Paris. Thanks for your hospitality, Netherlands, we will return.