American dreams cars in Brussels
The American dream cars and bikes will be presented at Autoworld, in Brussels, from December 15 to January 28, 2018.
In the America of the “Golden Years”, namely the 50s and 60s, everything was possible. American society underwent an enormous transition as the result of the strong economic growth, perceptible in the automotive industry and on the development and expansion of an impressive road network.
Who has never dreamt of those golden years? It’s the birth of Rock & Roll, taking drives along the epic Route 66. Life was increasingly concentrated on the road and car ownership. Drive-in restaurants and open cinemas were the new trend.
This world will be brought to life at Autoworld thank to the “American Dream Cars and Bikes, the Golden Years” exhibition. The exhibition’s scenography guides visitors towards the nocturnal atmosphere of an American Drive-in Diner, the new trend in America during the ‘50s and ‘60s. Further on, some icons of the American automotive industry are parked in front of the giant screen of a “Drive-in Movie”, projecting fragments of fabled scenes from the numerous road-movie films. Who does not recall such films as Grease, American Graffiti, Bullitt, Gone in 60 seconds or Easy Rider.
The décor would not be complete without a typical American gas station and garage, with in the background a legendary skyline.
More than 40 historical cars
The “American Dream Cars and Bikes, the Golden Years” brings together, in one unique setting, all of the most exceptional and legendary machines that America produced between 1949 and 1972. Cars fascinated several generations. With their bright colours they wanted to make everyone forget the gloomy war years. For its part, the cinema made some of them extremely popular, such as Steve McQueen’s bottle green Ford Mustang GT in Bullitt, the Ford Gran Torino of Starsky & Hutch not forgetting the 1949 Buick Roadmaster in Rain Man featuring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, to mention but a few.
The Hot Rod of the fifties will bring to mind that prohibition was not long over when the cargoes had at all costs to escape from the Federal Agents. Who does not recall those film sequences where these powerful machines were having fun sprinting along the beaches? Down the line, towards the end of the ‘60s – beginning of the ‘70s, they were replaced by the hard to avoid “muscle cars”; the “big blocks” with V8 power units.
“Selecting some forty odd cars was not a simple task” says the organisers. Loads of chrome, impressive bodywork with rear fins and bright colours. Obviously the “Big Three” – General Motors, Ford and Chrysler – share the major part of the car pool, but also makes as Packard, Studebaker, Hudson or Kaiser-Frazer, that today have disappeared, duly deserve our attention.
Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and Pontiac defend the colours of General Motors. On the Ford Motor Company front the Thunderbird, Torino, Edsel and Mercury are an absolute must. On the other hand, Plymouth, Dodge and De Soto belong to the legend of the Chrysler group. Among the Pony Cars, such as the mythical Ford Mustang or its immediate competitors Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Charger, no way were these going to miss out on the rollcall. A Plymouth Superbird is undoubtedly the cherry on the cake.
Good to know:
Opening hours: daily from 15th December 2017 until 28th January 2018 (even on Mondays, as also the 25th December and the 1st January) from 10.00hrs until 17.00hrs (Saturday and Sunday: from 10.00hrs until 18.00hrs).
Ticket price: 13€ for adults and 7€ for children aged from 6 to 12.
