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HomeMediaMajor European museums combine for 15-car showcase at InterClassics Brussels

Major European museums combine for 15-car showcase at InterClassics Brussels

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For the first time, the national automobile museums from five European nations will exhibit at the same time prized vehicles from their collections November 17-19 when “The Big Five, Presenting the European National Motor Museums” will be featured at the third annual InterClassics Brussels car show at the Brussels Expo in Belgium.

The directors of the five museums — the National Motor Museum (England) at Beaulieu, Cité de l’Automobile/Schlumpf Collection (France), Museo dell’Automobile (Italy), the Louwman Museum (Netherlands), and the Autoworld Museum Brussels (Belgium) recently met and agreed to the joint exhibit.

Each museum promises to display three of its best cars — a pre-war classic, a car that typifies the museum’s collection and a race car.

Belgian museum will showcase this 1921 Minerva OO Vanden Plas | Autoworld Museum Brussels photo

So far, each museum has announced one of its cars:

The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu will show a 1930 Bentley 4 1/2-liter “Blower Bentley.”

The Schlumpf will send the only “surprofilee” version of the 1933 Bugatti Type 46. The body was displayed at the 1932 Paris Motor Show on a 46 S chassis but a year later was remounted on a Type 50 T platform. Later, an American collector discovered the body in a farm courtyard in France and had it placed atop his Type 46 chassis, making it the only such bodywork worn by three different Bugatti chassis.

The Italian museum in Torino will show a 1947 Cisitalia 202 SMM Spider Nuvolari, one of only 10 that remain from among the 20 produced.

Fro Italy, this 1947 Cisitalia 202 SMM Spider Nuvolari | Museo dell’Automobile photo

The Louwman will show a 1937 Talbor Lago T150 SS “teardrop” coupe by Figoni et Falaschi. The car was built on a race car chassis. After World War II, Rob Walker used the car to drive practice laps in preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

From the Belgian museum comes a 1921 Minerva OO Vanden Plas with a “Tulipe” body. The car was the personal vehicle of King Albert I.

In addition to the museum grouping, InterClassics Brussel will showcase “Cycle Cars and Grand Sport,” featuring “a forgotten motor history” with 20 cars built around motorcycle engines.

Maserati Levante

Petersen opens ‘Made in Italy’ exhibit

On Saturday, the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles opens “Made in Italy,” an “inside look” at the creative process used by Maserati to design its new Levante model. The exhibit spreads across five rooms, each displaying a different stage in the production line — raw materials, body shell, drivetrain, trim and finishes, and final product.

Say what? GM gallery at Henry Ford Museum

They may be intense rivals in the showrooms of dealerships across the nation, but there are goals that the automakers have in common, including innovation. Thus General Motors has made a $5 million donation to the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation.

“General Motors is working to drive sustainable change by supporting organizations that help build brighter futures for students and promote workforce development,” Mark Reuss, GM executive vice president, was quoted in a news release. “We can move toward a lot of those goals by supporting The Henry Ford.”

“We are honored to welcome General Motors as a partner in innovation,” responded Patricia Mooradian, president and chief executive of the museum in Dearborn, Michigan. “This gift of $5 million is a game changer and allows us to deepen our community impact with innovative experiences and new exhibitions and programs.”

The museum will rename its flexible gallery space that hosts national traveling exhibitions as The Gallery by General Motors. “The Science Behind Pixar” is on display there through March 2018. In the fall of 2018, the space will showcase “Enduring Ideals: Rockwell, Roosevelt & the Four Freedoms.”

Special events this weekend

It’s Trunk or Treat on Sunday from noon until 3 p.m. at the AACA Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania, with treats provided by Hershey available at various locations in the museum. It’s also Corvette Racing Weekend on Friday and Saturday with presentations by members of the racing team. And on Saturday morning, from 7:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m., it’s the Caffeine Behind the Scenes cruise-in.

Muscle Car City in Punta Gorda, Florida, stages its seventh annual National Street Rod Association Appreciation Day and Car Show from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturday. The show is open without fee to all car owners and the NSRA will be present to conduct safety inspections.

LeMay – America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington, hosts a “Trunk or Treat” cruise-in Saturday with free candy and with children 12 and under receiving free admission to the museum as well.

The 27th annual All British motorcar and motorcycle show takes place Saturday at the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, California, in conjunction with the Mini Owners of America, San Francisco chapter. As part of the event, author John Nikas will present “Rule Britannia — When British Sports Cars Saved A Nation.”

Britain’s National Motor Museum at Beaulieu offers Fantasy and Folklore, with harvest, Halloween and All Hallows-themed activities, from October 21-29.

Mark your calendar

The National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, has opened registration for two 2018 Museum in Motion events — the Spring Dragon Run, scheduled for April 29-May 2, and the Branson Experience, June 6-12. Details are available at the museum’s website.

Take two or more non-perishable food items to the Le May – America’s Car Museum during the month of November and you get $2 off the admission charge and Northwest Harvest gets the food to share with those in need.

 

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Larry Edsall
Larry Edsall
A former daily newspaper sports editor, Larry Edsall spent a dozen years as an editor at AutoWeek magazine before making the transition to writing for the web and becoming the author of more than 15 automotive books. In addition to being founding editor at ClassicCars.com, Larry has written for The New York Times and The Detroit News and was an adjunct honors professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

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