On the outskirts of Antwerp in Belgium, there’s a place that’s home to a schoolboy’s dreamland of cars. American muscle, racing legends, Italian beauties, you name it, this place has it or has seen them over their years in the industry. Gaze through the glass windows to wonder at the bodylines of classic cars seldom seen in Belgium, or around the world for that matter, as Speed 8 Classics specialises in the finest of speed-loving cocktails – American brute force with silky-smooth Italian design. Koen Heuts, owner and founder of the highly coveted dealership has enjoyed a life-long love affair with speed, turning a boyhood passion into a successful business, one recognised for the love and care for these cross-continental creations. We chatted to Koen inside his freshly-refurbished showroom…
It’s wonderful to catch-up with you Koen, thank you for your time today. Please, give us a small summary of what it is you sell and specialise in at Speed 8 Classics?
I'm specialised in European cars with American V8 engines! Just love the European design and the genius simplicity, sound and raw power of the American V8 engines.
We see a truly mouth-watering array of De Tomasos, Bizzarrinis and Isos within your inventory, what is it about those particular exotics that you’re drawn to?
The most important is that I only try to buy and sell cars I like myself! I have a very wide range of interests and taste of cars. I can be fascinated by a 1920's Rolls-Royce Picadilly Roadster or the newest Bugatti hypercar, but my personal favourite brand is Bizzarrini. I was lucky to meet Giotto himself several times in person in his workshop and later at his home address in Livorno.
Take us back to the beginning, was there a moment in your life that sparked your love of cars?
From a little boy I was already fascinated for special cars, I had the typical dreamcar posters in my room with a Lamborghini Countach, Ferrari F40 and Testarossa, trying to sit in every special car when I got the opportunity! My grandfather started a garage in 1938 with the motorcycle brand Gillet, and later cars including Austin, Rover and MG. Later, my father had a tyre shop in the 1970s and then a Mercedes-Benz dealership in the 1980s, with me playing around in my pedalcars. We always had some special cars in the family.
One of my most memorable moments in my youth, around 12-years-old, was a passenger drive with a professional rally driver in a brand new white 1992 Lancia Integrale Evo! A Fantastic and crazy experience with high speed cornering on a big industrial estate. When we got back, the driver asked me to touch the tyres to feel the heat! My father went crazy and told me if he had known that the driver was driving so fast he had never let me go for the drive. An unforgetable experience that sparked my love of special cars.
I started my career as a mechanic in a dealership named Cars of Excellence in Belgium. They were official Rolls-Royce and Bentley dealer but also specialized in Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lotus, Maserati, Lamborghini!...all kind of exotic cars! This is were I got in contact with the first De Tomaso's and fell in love with the US V8 engines. It was a fantastic and unforgetable chapter in my career I can write a bestseller off!!
Therefore, being able to turn your passion into a business of your own must be a wonderful feeling. Any standout moments or incredible cars that have passed through your doors?
It’s fantastic to turn my passion into a worldwide business, the most special is that it's not only the unusual cars but also the amazing people you meet. The nicest thing about this business is that the clients are also very passionated about the same thing and become more friends than clients. I was lucky to meet a lot of great clients worldwide from Japan, USA to Sweden and Switzerland, all passionate collectors with some stunnning cars, one always nicer and more special than the other - the sky is the limit!
We interviewed you back in 2017, how has the classic car industry changed in those nine years?
In 2017, the classic car market was booming with a lot of investors buying cars with no interest in condition and quality. What I see and feel now is that the market has cooled down and people are looking for good quality cars again, rather than quantity. Thankfully, after 2020, the market is all back to normal, much better and from our opinion, the real passionate clients and dealers stay in the business.
And we see it’s not just the industry changing, but your showroom too – tell us about the new space…
Two years ago we renovated our building and extended the workshop area with some extra space for vehicle ramps. We always stock a nice selection of cars that are prepared in our own specialized workshop, where we think it's very important to give an extra after sale service to our clients, especially when they are purchasing such rare and unusual machines.
Do you have any predictions for 2026 and beyond regarding brands or specific models increasing in value?
The market is always changing with the generations, and we try to keep up with this change as good as possible. Everybody knows youngtimers are very high in demand at the moment, I think the most important key is quality and the numbers built, the rarer the better. The brands that are selling well in new cars today have an advantage over the forgotten marques, and we see the trend with a lot of online auctions today. People don't make time to email, call and come over to see the car in person anymore, meaning photography and video are vital to help close the deal, everything needs to go faster and faster.
What does the future of Speed 8 Classics look like?
I think the most important thing in the future of Speed 8 Classics is to stay passionate and to never forget a saying we use often - "What you like the most, you do the best!"
