Autoworld Brussels, February 2025

I’m currently in Europe for work.   This weekend I found myself in Belgium, in a two about 35km from Brussels.  it was a cold and wet weekend, which seemed perfect to go and see a car museum.

Last time I was here, back in September 2013, I visited Autoworld Brussels.  At the time I had enjoyed the museum.   Since car museum collections turn over, I figure nearly 12 years later it was worth visiting again.

Getting there was a bit more involved than I thought.   Since it was a Saturday, not all the trains were running and it took four trains, two hours and a very circuitous route to get there.   But get there I did.

The museum is in a lovely building quite close to the centre of Brussels.   There is the main collection, which turns over more slowly, and then the special exhibits, which run for about two months.   This month, the exhibit was for the cars of Maserati.   Today, Maserati seems a brand that is producing mediocre cars for yuppies that hark back to when they were something special.   Looking at the exhibit, you can see how special they were.   there were some pretty amazing cars on display, especially those that came before the mid 70s.

As much as I enjoyed the Maserati exhibition, its a shame I was not here in a few months time, when there is a special exhibit for the Citroen DS planned.   As well as the main factory in Paris, the DS was also built in Belgium.

As well as the special exhibition, the main museum collection is very good.   As you would expect, the Museum has a lot of cars that are either Belgian, or related to Belgium.  That means cars like Minervas as well as those produced in coachbuilding firms like Vanden Plas (the original Belgian coachbuilder, not the British Spin off).   They also had a nice collections of cars and bikes that had belonged to the Belgian Royal Family.

The museum also has a great collection of pre-war cars, some of them very rare.   There are quite good descriptions near each of the cars.   They even had a Daimler with an original snake skin interior.

I enjoyed my visit to Autoworld Brussels and would come again if I am in the area.