Autoworld Brussels: Mercedes – The story of the star
Autoworld Brussels is a rather excellent car museum in Brussels, Belgium. I’ve been a couple of times, in 2013 and 2025. While the core collection doesn’t change all that much, there is a section that is probably about 20% of the museum that is for rotating special exhibits.
When I visited last year, the special exhibit was for the cars of Maserati. I really enjoyed that exhibit, as it showcased many cars that I’ve not seen in Australia. It is easy to forget how special some of the cars were, before they moved to making unreliable SUVs for people with more money than sense.
I was back in Belgium again for work and I had a free Sunday morning. The exhibit running at the moment is ‘Mercedes – The story of the star’. Naturally, I had to go and see it.
I was pretty impressed. Not only were there nice examples of all the usual models, there were also a few special cars from the Mercedes-Benz museum, as well as cars from the King of Belgium. The first thing you see when you arrive is a W111 230S universal parked at the front entrance to the museum.
There were three parts to the exhibit. the first was on the left when you walk into the museum. In that section, there are some eye-catching cars. Of course a silver 300SL Gullwing with a red interior is the first car you see. it is probably what most people think of when they think Mercedes-Benz. I had a poster of a car in this configuration as a child. It was quite a nice example.
In that same section was a 540K roadster, which is another really iconic car. Perhaps not as iconic as a 500K, but almost. Next to the 500K was a 220Sb W111. An excellent car and the first one that would be in reach of most enthusiasts. Next to the 220Sb, was an unusual choice, an O319 minibus. People forget that trucks and buses have always been an important part of the Mercedes-Benz brand and the minibus had a lot of 50s charm.
While the minibus may have ferried regular people, it was parked next to a 600 pullman, on loan from the King of Belgium. It was the four door pullman, which is the one I would have and is still in very good condition. It is apparently known as King Baudouin, who was the uncle of the current King and King when it was purchased. I guess he must have liked it.
past that there was a 220SEb coupe and a 560SEC. This is a great pair of cars, and almost identical to the pair I owned in Detroit – except I had a 250SE. My 250SE wasn’t nearly as nice as the museum car though. There was also a 190E-16 2.5 Cosworth, and then a replica AMG 300SEL 6.3 red pig. I know everyone loves a red pig replica, but I would have preferred to see a stock 300SEL 6.3.
There were some more modern cars and then upstairs was the rest of the exhibit.
Along one whole side was an evolution of the S class and the SL, which was visually quite nice. In the first row, there was a 220S Roundie, 300SE W112, 280SEL 3.5 W108, 350SE W116 manual, a 560SEC and a W140 AMG. It was quite nice to see them all lined up like that.
The Roundie and the W112 were both driver quality cars, and their condition probably wasn’t in keeping with the rest of the museum. The Roundie was in many shades of green, and the paint job on the W112 was quite poor. However, it was good they were there as they completed the set.
The next few cars were a different matter. The 280SEL 3.5 was in much nicer shape and the velour interior was immaculate. In Australia it is highly unusual to see a W108 in veolour, and the velours are in a different pattern to the W109, which is more commonly seen with velours.
Next was a 1977 350SE manual. This car had very low kilometers and was in almost immaculate condition. Typical for a 350SE in Europe, it was not fitted with air conditioning. To my eyes it is odd seeing a W116 without A/C, even though some early cars were sold without it in Australia.
The 560SEC parked behind it was another car in great condition, in a superb colour with velours. And the W140 started out life as a 5.0 liter car, before the previous King of Belgium had it changed to a 6.0 by AMG.
The SL line up was also good, although I found it odd they had the 190SL before the 300SL. Then there was a lovely Pagoda, although it had my pet peeve of the horn pad in upholstery colour which I think looks terrible. Behind the Pagoda was a manual 300SL R107 in an excellent colour. After that there was an R129 and R230.
There were also a few other interesting sections. Near the S class was the original diesel, the 260D, fittingly in a taxi setup. This car was a hugely important car for Mercedes-Benz and set the scene for the highly popular midrange diesel saloons like the roundies, W110, W114, W123, W124 etc. It was parked next to the 300 Adenauer, which was for transporting upper class people.
Behind this car as a 220S roundie cabriolet alongside a 170S cabriolet and a 170S saloon. Behind them, almost tucked away as an afterthought was a W123 280E. Since it is 50 years of the model, I would have expected a more prominent showing. And there was no W114/W115.
There was a section that had a 190E, a W124 500E and then a W210 and W202. Its a shame we never got the V8 W124 in Australia.
Beyond those were the two highlights of the exhibit for me. They had a C111 (a rotary example) parked next to a red 300SL gullwing. Seeing the two cars together was great. It was also possible to get right up close to the C111. While I had seen one in the museum in Stuttgart before, I wasn’t able to get as close. You can see all the Mercedes parts bin stuff in the car, such as the bonnet release being the same was a W108, as well as many of the switches.
Past those cars, The 1928 630S was a car I had never seen before or even heard about. It really looked like a car from the roaring 20s.
Finally they had some period rally cars a W201 and a 500SLC. I thought the selections were pretty good. The models I was surprised were not there was a W114/W115, a 770K, a W111 Cabriolet, W123 wagon and so on.
Regardless, Mercedes – The story of the star. The rest of the museum was largely unchanged from my visit last year, so I didn’t repeat those photos.
