Prewar Days 2023: the festival of early motoring returns to Kortrijk

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December through to March can be a bleak time, with freezing temperatures, dark evenings and few opportunities to enjoy our cars, but you don't have to spend it all moping around disconsolately at home, not when there are so many indoor car shows to enjoy. Without doubt, one of the best of them is Prewar Days, which takes place next weekend, 1-3rd December, at Kortrijk Xpo.

What must surely be the world's premier indoor-only pre-war car show is also one of the newest additions to the calendar, having been established in 2019 and steadily grown in popularity since. Cars will be brought from all over Europe for the event, with exhibitors confirmed not just from Belgium but also from Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France and Great Britain. In addition to dealers and restoration shops, the event will also be supported by the likes of the Louwman Museum, Oldtimer Museum Bossaert, Mahy Museum and Belgium's Royal Veteran Car Club.

Now, of course, it surely goes without saying that we at PreWarCar.com will be giving the event our wholehearted support, too. Come and see us and say hello, and while your there be sure to take a good look at our star exhibit, a 1912 Overland Model 61 tourer. A very fine example of a Brass Era touring car, the Model 61 was the flagship of Overland's model range and, indeed, was the largest car ever constructed by the Toledo, Ohio, manufacturer. With a mighty 4.4-litre L-head four-cylinder engine producing 45hp, there really was no finer way to travel along the dirt roads of pre-Great War America.

Our example is one of just seven known survivors, and was first restored in the 1960s by the great Brass Era enthusiasts, Wendell 'Ohlly' Ohlendorf and his wife Marilyn, who had fell for it when they saw it taking part in a Glidden Tour. In 1979, it was sold to Don and Nancy Sonicsen of Illinois, with whom it continued to be enjoyed on tours and rallies for another 25 years. Treated to a second mechanical and cosmetic restoration in 2008, retaining its 1960s upholstery. Recently arrived in Europe, it really is deserving of a close look, so be sure to come and find us in Kortrijk next weekend.

Kortrijk Xpo is located at President Kennedylaan 100, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium. Prewar Days opens at 2.00 p.m. on Friday, 1st December and runs until 6.00 p.m. on Sunday, 3rd December. Day tickets are €14 in advance or €16, and tickets for all three days are €30 in advance or €35 on the door. Children up to 12 go free.
More info can be found here. Tickets can be ordered here.

See you there!
 

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