MAASTRICHT, The Netherlands – The 29th edition of the Interclassics/MECC automobile show in Maastricht, the Netherlands stood out for European Ford enthusiasts thanks to a special “show within a show” sponsored partially by Ford of Europe but with strong support by Dutch Ford Motorsport fans and those of neighboring countries. Among them was Hans Hugenholtz, a longtime Ford racer who is still actively racing at the most famous circuit racing tracks in Europe. His 1966 Shelby GT350 6S108 and 1965 GT40 maintained by Milestone Motorsport were on display along with 26 other Ford touring cars, Rallye cars and Formula cars
At both ends of Ford’s 120-year racing spectrum was a 1896 Quadricycle Replica – built in Henry Ford style behind his house by a 18-year-old Dutch guy, and a 2021 Ford GT Liquid Carbon, which was #3 of just 30 made. The GT was on sale for 1.499.000 Euro from a German dealer (Esser). The Quadricycle (of course) was not for sale, but it would certainly fetch a high-level price, should the young man ever decide to let it go. No hope for that now, anyway.
Frans Lubin was present as well. Frans was the team manager of the very successful FRAMI Racing Team back then with Escorts, Mustangs and Lotus Cortinas, among others. Some of the cars such as the ex-Jochen Mass Capri, 1989 Sierra Cosworth and 1981 Zakspeed Capri Turbo were provided by the German Classic Cars collection based in the Ford Cologne factory. Ford Owners Motorsport Club representative Thilo Moerke was present as well to answer questions. He is still working at Ford Cologne and remains the main contact for all Ford classic car enthusiasts here.
Chrome Cars, which hosts a huge number of special JSP race cars, brought the 1984 JSP Roush Mustang of the SCCA Trans Am Series, and another Formula 1 JSP car. There was a Ford Racing car of some sort here for everyone, and all continue on into modern day motorsports with Ford Performance. A special vintage-style magazine was distributed at the entrance celebrating the big Ford anniversary and for sure this show left a big impression on all classic car enthusiasts looking for motorsports highlights from the past.
Other notable race drivers joining the party booth behind the special display were Arie Luyendyk und Jeroen Bleekemolen. The following is the list of all the Ford cars in the special Display area of the show:
1896 Quadricycle Replica
1917 Model T Racer cul pointu
1912 Model T Speedster
1932 Model 18 "Golden Deuce"
1964 Lotus Cortina Mk1 'A frame'
1966 Escort RS 1600
1974 Escort Mk1
1986 RS200
1998 Escort WRC
1969 Escort RS 1600 Mk1 "Frami Racing"
1975 Escort Mk2 RS 1800 WRC
1974 Capri 3200 RS Gr. 2
1981 Capri Turbo Zakspeed Gr. 5
1966 Shelby GT350
1982 Mustang GT Gr. A
1984 Mustang "Roush" SCCA Trans Am Series
1965 GT40 Replica
2021 GT "Liquid Carbon"
1989 Sierra Cosworth RS 500
1971 Brabham-Ford BT35 F2
1987 Benetton-Ford B188
1997 Formula Ford "Van Diemen" RF97
1982 Lotus-Ford 87
Some Ford highlights even greeted fans at the entrance, where a Fiesta MK1 1600 Turbo was on display. This one was built by a Belgium dealer named Croix Blanche. Ulrich Weber, manager of the dealership, had built this unique Turbo May-equipped car only once for himself. Being a yellow car let it stand out in the front row anyway, with 145-BHP vs. a standard Series 1300/66-BHP powered car. It had a lot of potential back then, but not many were privately built after this dealer test car.
Other Ford standouts at the show included a 7.2-litre Ford Ballard Special equipped with 2 engines at a dealer stand; a 1948 Ford Country Squire Woody; a 1955 Customline Coupe with a Continental Kit; a 1956 Fairlane Coupe; a 1958 Edsel Bermuda Station Wagon; plus 1955 and ’56 Thunderbirds and a T-Bird “Squarebird“ – as well as many more. German Fords were plentiful, with Capri, BDA Escorts, a ’65 Shelby 5S315 (a prototype for the ’66) and several GT40 replicas and 427 Cobra replica. Originals are rare at public exhibitions here, since such investments are made more private, and sales are fast when the word is spread of one being available.
Since the event venue is near the Dutch border with Germany and quite close to Belgium, the audience was multilingual. One could also hear French-speaking fans as well as attendees from those 3 countries. The show logged a total of 35,403 visitors, which was another slight increase over last year’s attendance number. Most of the exhibitors, among the some 300 car dealers with a total of 800 cars on sale, were quite happy about the good turnout. The prices of vintage cars for sale here covered a wide range – what with so many Aston Martins and Ferraris around, but the Ford enthusiast could select from any range between 24.000 and 239.000 Euro for classic Mustangs from 1964-1973. The big draw was a hand-built all-metal ’67 Eleanor, which was staged in a booth against other muscle cars.
The show organizers are already busy preparing for the 30th edition of the auto fair, which will be held at MECC Maastricht from Thursday, January 16 through Sunday, January 19, 2025. Next year’s theme is not yet known; and when asked, exhibition manager Erik Panis said the team “is still working on it.”
FORD PERFORMANCE PHOTOS / COURTESY WOLFGANG KOHRN