AUTOWORLD BELGIUM
Historic Car Collection in the Cinquantenaire
Today,
Brussels is the political epicenter of Europe. New government and ministerial
buildings pop up in the district between the old center
of town and the great park King Leopold imagined to celebrate the economic
and industrial place his country held at the turn of the last century.
The Cinquantenaire Park was built for the 50th Anniversary of the founding
of modern Belgium to present a national exhibition of industrial and
art production. In the quarter century between 1880 and 1905, until 75th
anniversary a number of grand exhibitions were held in the exhibition
halls of the park, the Palais du Cinquantenaire, culminating with the
opening of the great archway which frames the city in distance down the
long Avenue de Tervueren. But what to do with your exhibition halls after
the anniversaries are over? A car lot? Army surplus? Maybe both. In one
great hall of the palace in the park is the military museum of Belgium
(see Belgian
Royal Army Museum). In the other hall the Palais du Mondial
across the open courtyard is the Autoworld Belgium Car Collection.
Autoworld
does sound rather like a giant used car dealership, but in Brussels
it is the marvelous gathering of several collections of historic,
classic vehicles under one great roof. The first great Motor Show was
held in the Cinquantenaire Mondial Pavilion in 1902 with grand horse
coaches and carriages rights beside the newly developing automobiles.
Later editions featured the great cars of the pre-WWI years, until the
cavalcade of motoring moved to the Heysel Brussels Exhibition Park in
1937 (see Atomium), just in
time for another war.
The
permanent exhibition of cars at the Palais Mondial in the Cinquantenaire
Park
was formed from combined collections. Ghislain Mahy first started
collecting autos in 1944 with the purchase of a Model T Ford for 150
Belgian Francs. The Mahy Collection, one of the world's largest and significant
individual collections of over 600 vehicles - from Cords to Bentleys
and Bugattis - with a large collection of Belgian makes which pretty
much ended with the wars (see Auto
Collection Schlumpf - France).
Some curious
one-of-a-kind examples include the Cyclops headlamp Peugeot Baby with
a body by Bugatti before he started
his own car line and the Belgian Minerva Phaeton from 1910. Marcel
Thiry, a motorcycle salesman turned his love of two-wheel locomotion
into a
collection of motorcycles as well as cars, while the Motor Show collection
of the Royal Museum of Art and History features the beautiful coaches
of 19th Century royalty, including the Gala Carriage state coach used
to celebrate the marriage of Napoleon III and his Empress Eugenie (see Napoleon
III Arenenberg).
Debeur Fencing Museum
In a corner
of the upstairs deck of the pavilion is the Fencing Museum of Charles
Debeur, the Belgian fencing champion from the 1928, 1936 and
1948 Olympics (see Olympic Museum Lausanne). The small museum features
a library and archive of fencing books and articles, a collection of
fencing gear -, swords, foils, blades and clothing on display, surrounded
by medals, posters, illustrations and caricatures featuring the sport
from renowned artists. In addition to perusing the display of fencing
artifacts, the museum also offers a fencing lesson (with a reservation)
to amateurs who visit with an interest in the sport. Admission is free. Musee
Escrime
Visiting Autoworld Belgium
While other car museums
are housed in old garages or basements (see Spa Stavelot Race
Car Museum)
the car collection at the Autoworld Belgium
are displayed under the great art nouveau steel and glasswork of architect
Gédéon Bordiau. The Autoworld Belgium Museum is open from
April to September 10am to 6pm and October to March 10am to 5pm. There
is a small boutique shop and a snack bar restaurant. The nearest Metro
stops are Schuman or Merode if you want
to stroll through the park. © Bargain
Travel Europe
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Autowold
Belgium
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SEE ALSO:
MONASTIC LUXURY - THE DOMINICAN
BRUSSELS JAZZ MARATHON WEEKEND
CHOCOLATE & COCOA MUSEUM - BRUSSELS
