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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

hugues vanhooandt

Spa 6 Hour WEC Hypercar 2025

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At the first corner after the start, the grid order was respected with the #50, #83 and #51 Ferraris remaining in the same order as at the end of qualifying, highlighting the speed of the 499P on a timed lap.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

As every year, the 6 Hours of Spa is the final rehearsal before the biggest race of the year, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which will be held on June 14 and 15. Ferrari began this new World Endurance Championship season with three consecutive victories for the 499P and as many pole positions.

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Maserati’s 110 Years Exhibition at Autoworld Museum, Brussels

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Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

Established since 1986 in one of the palaces of the Cinquantenaire complex in Brussels, where the first motor shows were held at the beginning of the 20th century, the Autoworld museum is the most important automobile museum in Belgium. Each year, the end and beginning of the year period hosts a major temporary exhibition.

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24 hours at Spa Part 1

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The descent towards “Eau Rouge” and the ascent of Raidillon.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

This year, the 77th edition of the 24 Hours of Spa coincided with the 100th anniversary of the event. Indeed, a year after the creation (celebration) of the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1923, the famous Francorchamps circuit, located in the Belgian Ardennes, saw the advent of a new 24-hour race.

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24 hours at Spa, Part 2

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The #19 Lamborghini Huracan, seen here at La Source hairpin early in the evening, is the one that unintentionally deprived Ferrari of victory, by breaking down at the entrance to the pitlane 45 minutes from the finish and forcing the Ferrari to wait for the tow truck to clear the way.

Part 2 of spectacular photo coverage of this year’s Spa 24 hours!

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A Visitor to Indy

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On Saturday, the drivers’ parade in the center of Indianapolis is unmissable, a show like only Americans can produce!

A Talk with Hugues Vanhoolandt

May 26th, 2024

Got up super early to catch the glamorous but boring (we expected that though) Monaco Grand Prix, envisioning ourselves to be in one of those exclusive apartments overlooking the track. With that wrapped up successfully for Ferrari, we turned the free tv channel to catch the Indy 500. We knew Hugues Vanhoolandt would be there, or at least we thought he made it, the flights being affected by a variety of problems. When he returned, he told us about his U.S. adventures.

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100th Anniversary of Le Mans Goes to Ferrari

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What a way to go! And below is Vanhoolandt’s superb report on this epic Le Mans, class by class.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

On June 10-11 2023, the 24 Hours of Le Mans celebrated their 100th anniversary this year (but it was the 91st edition). It was necessary that this unique edition be so celebrated and that indeed was the case.

Thanks to new regulation, the top category of prototypes, called Hypercar, witnessed the return of the major manufacturers who had deserted the Sarthe classic as the cars complying with the previous regulations were too expensive to design and develop.

This has allowed the return of brands that have marked the history of the race such as Cadillac, Ferrari, Peugeot and Porsche and the arrival next year of Alpine, BMW and Lamborghini. Toyota had remained faithful to the 24 hours during this transition period between the two regulations, which allowed it to impose itself over the last five years. It was one of the favorites this year and therefore had a lot to lose if it failed. This is what happened, the Japanese brand being the victim of the loss of a car early in the race following an accident, and also of a late change of equivalence between the different cars, the controversial ‘Balance of Performance’.

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Pebble Beach 2016 by Hugues Vanhoolandt

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Sunday morning, 6 am, the cars are waiting to be placed on the Pebble Beach lawn. Here is another creation of Michelotti, also on Fiat 1100 chassis, and shown at the 1953 Turin Auto Show but this time the coachbuilder is Vignale. It is back to the Pebble Beach Concours 61 years after its first appearance here.

Sunday morning, 6 am, the cars are waiting to be placed on the Pebble Beach lawn. Here is another creation of Michelotti, also on Fiat 1100 chassis, and shown at the 1953 Turin Auto Show. The coachbuilder is Vignale. It was back at the Pebble Beach Concours 61 years after its first appearance here.

From our Archives, September, 2016

Photos and story by Hugues Vanhoolandt

In its 66th year, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance was celebrating among other things the Ford GT40, Chapron, Delahaye, Bizzarrini and the centennial of BMW. [Read more…] about Pebble Beach 2016 by Hugues Vanhoolandt

Zoute Grand Prix 2018

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Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
We remind our readers to click on images to double the size.

Held in Knokke-Heist and the fashionable Zoute area on the Belgian Coast the Zoute Grand Prix, already on its ninth edition, has quickly become a must-attend event for the classic car enthusiast. The event was held from October 4 to October 7, 2018. [Read more…] about Zoute Grand Prix 2018

Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2017

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A car not designed for Concours d’Elegance … the 1935 Lurani Nibbio was destined to break records. Despite its 500cc Moto Guzzi engine, the car was capable of more than 100 mph. It received the Best of Show by public referendum at Villa d’Este, better known as Coppa d’Oro.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

The Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este held on the shoreline of Lake Como is considered by many as the most exclusive and elegant classic car event in the world. Surely it is due to the unique backdrop constituted by the grounds of Villa d’Este and Villa Erba as well as to the tradition that stretches back to the year 1929 when awards were made to the most beautiful new cars of the time.

Today, the awards are sometimes given to the same cars, now considered as the most beautiful ‘old’ cars. But the selection made by the organizer committee also includes some racing or record cars never thought to parade in a Concorso d’Eleganza. Nevertheless they did impress the jury and the public as we will see below.

Below is our selection of the most interesting cars at the event on May 27, 2017. [Read more…] about Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2017

Chantilly Arts & Elegance 2016

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This Peugeot 401 D is famous for its first owner, famous music hall singer “Mistinguett” who ordered this roadster body to a small coachbuilder called Crozier.

Story and Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

2016 Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille, September 3-4

For its 3rd edition, the Arts & Elegance Concours held in the beautiful gardens of the Chantilly Castle, north of Paris, attracted some 13,500 visitors, who were not discouraged by the cloudy sky, the strong wind or the morning showers.

The Concours was divided in two parts, with the Concours d’Elegance for concept cars presented in association with renowned fashion houses, and the Concours d’Etat for more than one hundred classic cars divided into 21 classes.

We will take a closer look of the five classes of the Concours d’Etat, classes named: A great Italian coachbuilder : Zagato (Post-War) Zagato Special Alfa Romeos, The Tour de France Automobiles, Tribute to the Pozzi Racing Team and Tribute to Jean Todt – Fifty years of an outstanding career.

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Pebble Beach with Hugues Vanhoolandt

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Sunday morning, 6 am, the cars are waiting to be placed on the Pebble Beach lawn. Here is another creation of Michelotti, also on Fiat 1100 chassis, and shown at the 1953 Turin Auto Show but this time the coachbuilder is Vignale. It is back to the Pebble Beach Concours 61 years after its first appearance here.

Sunday morning, 6 am, the cars are waiting to be placed on the Pebble Beach lawn. Here is another creation of Michelotti, also on Fiat 1100 chassis, and shown at the 1953 Turin Auto Show. The coachbuilder is Vignale. It was back at the Pebble Beach Concours 61 years after its first appearance here.

Photos and story by Hugues Vanhoolandt

In its 66th year, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance was celebrating among other things the Ford GT40, Chapron, Delahaye, Bizzarrini and the centennial of BMW.

But the Concours is not just a gathering of cars on the 18th fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links.
For the past twelve years there was also a Tour a few days before the Concours itself, where people can enjoy the cars in motion. Sadly, this year, the Tour had to be shortened due to the forest fires down Highway 1 towards Big Sur. Subsequently, the Tour was not counting for the concours and many cars did not show on Thursday.

Nevertheless, we can say that this year Concours was again of very high quality and we can’t wait to discover what will be celebrated at Pebble Beach in 2017!

[In his concurrent report from Pebble Beach, Michael T. Lynch discusses many of the below cars in detail…Ed.]

Fashionable French

Delahaye was one of the featured make and Chapron was the highlighted coachbuilder. That is why you have here a 1947 Delahaye 175 S Chapron Le Dandy cabriolet and 1949 Delahaye 135 M Chapron cabriolet, the last one listed in the Postwar Preservation Class.

Delahaye was one of the featured makes and Chapron was the highlighted coachbuilder. That is why you have here a 1947 Delahaye 175 S Chapron Le Dandy cabriolet and 1949 Delahaye 135 M Chapron cabriolet, the last one listed in the Postwar Preservation Class.

[Read more…] about Pebble Beach with Hugues Vanhoolandt

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