Kortrijk Expo, Belgium 13/14th April 2024:It’s that time of year again to hit the Belgium highway and reroute ourselves to Kortrijk Expo for the ninth edition of GR8’s International Car Show (GR8’s ICS). ICS is a diverse car show and one of Belgium’s biggest indoor car shows. This year, it’s again 39,000 square meters of car heaven, with 75 well-known exhibitors for merchandise and 800 of Europe’s finest rides. The show attracted thousands of petrol heads from all over Europe. ICS had it all: five limited edition Koenigseggs, tuned cars, trucks, boats, a moment to buy merchandise, and more. There was something to ignite the passion of every car enthusiast.
Text: Benjamin Wefer
Pictures: Benjamin Wefer
Video:Willem van Lamoen
once again, the GR8 team worked their magic, transforming the Kortrijk Expo into a heaven for car enthusiasts. Each hall had a unique theme. The Air-cooled (Hall 1), custom cars (Hall 2), Trucks (Hall 3), Mix of Styles (Hall 4), Tuned cars (Hall 5), Sport/Supercars (Hall 6), and crème de la crème of supercars theme were called dream cars in the XXL Hall.
Let’s start with the Dreamcars in the XXL hall, where the highlight was the 10 million euro Koenigsegg Agera One. Only six full cars were made alongside one prototype, making it the most expensive car in the building and the rarest one. And if you’re wondering what the name One means, the One comes from the power-to-weight ratio (1,360 hp to 1360 kg), giving the car one horsepower per 1 kg mass. The One, among other Koenigseggs, was brought by Zach’s garage. The team from Zach’s Garage organized a rally (with 17 cars total), which started in the UK, went through the southern part of The Netherlands, and finished at the Kortrijk expo for The Gr8’s International Car Show.
Also the Koenigsegg Regera, the Yesko Plus, the Agera N and the CCX were center of attention in kortrijk. It’s a breathtaking view to see five Koenigsegg at one location simultaneously.
Like last year, Hall number one was the exhibition place for all air-cooled cars. Petrol Brothers (A well-known air-cooled car club) gave Hall-1 the air-cool makeover from old to young timers. The club also reveal the Porsche 356 B Cabriolet 1600 Super from their newest member, Stijn Vande Walle.
If you love custom cars, Hall Two was the place to be, from a fully customized Opel Corsa B to a Toyota G86 or Honda S2000. Also, two Volkswagen race cars represented the drag racing community.
ICS had something for every taste and sure remembered one of the backbones of our society: truckers! Hall 3 was the place to be for all the big rigs.
ICS was a car show and a place to buy merchandise and car parts. Several brands were present at ISC, like Foxed, Liberty Walk, etc. One of the brands in Hall 4 was the 4645 forged team. 4645 Forged is a Dutch brand based in Putte, The Netherlands, specializing in custom-made rims. Putte is a small village south of the Netherlands with postal code 4645, which is why the name 4645 Forged. Joffrey Westbroek is the founder and owner, and he and his team work together with designer Frank Ricci from Frank Ricci Extreme Graphics, who designed the graphic for the boat of the Belgium Latte Machiatto racing team. Yes, you read that right! GR8 selected a racing boat this year, as ICS is much more than a car show.
The team from Banditos Motorsport was also present during ICS and just announced their partnership with Wrapped My Ride and Frank Ricci Extreme Graphics. So, we can expect a new look for the entire car collection very soon. We Can’t wait to see Steve Okkerman’s Camaro with the latest design!
Another team located in Hall 4 was Revworks. Rewworks is a Dutch group of enthusiasts to bring the car community together like a movement! They transformed a part of this hall into their home garage with a glimpse of their finest rides. From old timers to youngtimers, from RX-7 to Porsches. Revworks also revealed the newest ride of one of their members: A Nissan 350Z with carbon fiber touches.
The ninth edition of the GR8 international car show was a success. Several petrolheads found their way to the Kortrijk Expo in Belgium. ICS had much to offer the average petrolhead and had something for all tastes: air-cooled cars, a boat, big trucks, old-timers, supercars, and, of course, Europe’s finest tuning cars.