The Brussels Motor Show through the years – photo book
1. Museum Pieces (1902)
Officially, the Motor Show takes place for the first time in 1902, in the Cinquantenaire Park, on the same spot where the Autoworld museum will later be located. Before that, various and competing two and four-wheeler fairs have been organized in our country, including in the Madeleinemarkt or in the Noordpool room.
2. War Tourism (1920)
The Michelin stand at the 1920 Motor Show. To promote the use of the car (and therefore tires) and the French also publish road maps and travel guides. Even the battlefields of Ypres and Verdun, which had only been trodden two years earlier, are touted as worth a visit.
3. Regional Products (1930)
One of the last Motor Shows in the Cinquantenaire Park, on the eve of the severe economic crisis of the 1930s. American products are very popular, although Belgium also has a few of its own car manufacturers with Minerva and Impéria.
4. Signposts (1964)
The Belgian Road Federation strives at the Motor Show, which has since died at the Heysel, for a faster expansion of the motorway network, in 1964. It divides “the American and secret roads with the questionable traffic volumes of our country” on a map.
5. Running Heads (1967)
In 1967, 650,000 visitors showed up for the motor show. However, the most visited edition of all time is that of 2002, with 756,900 spectators, or a good 7% of the Belgian population.
6. Highnesses (1968)
The Royal Family, represented here by the then Prince Albert, is always there. To his left Ferruccio Lamborghini, who will show his new Miura S in Brussels.
7. School Trip (1980)
The combustion engine for beginners.
8. Unload Carefully (1992)
Spectacular toy, this BMW Nazca M12 concept car, created by Italdesign. Only one was built, so care is advised when unloading.
9. Temple (2015)
Still an impressive structure, Palace 5 of Heysel, with its concrete arch structure. Brussels built the complex on the occasion of the 1935 World Exhibition.
10. Swan song? (2020)
The 99th edition of the Brussels Motor Show, not long before the outbreak of the corona pandemic. Due to the latter, both the 2021 and 2022 volumes are cancelled. Will the 100th edition in 2023 go down in history as the last in a long line? Joost should know.
All information (news, practical information, salon conditions) about the Brussels Motor Show 2023 can be found on our special salon website!
Photos: Febiac archive