Motorclassica 2023 cancelled

Classic car enthusiasts were stunned by the cancellation of this year’s Motorclassica car show and Australian International Concours d’Elegance, with the announcement made barely two weeks out from the event’s opening.

A post on the event’s Facebook page on 21 September read as follows:

‘An important announcement from the Motorclassica Team.

We'd like to confirm that the 2023 edition of the event will not be taking place this year.

Thank you again for all your support.’

No further posts explaining the reasons for the cancellation have been made and the Motorclassica website has since been taken down.

The wording of the Facebook post, referring to the “2023 edition of the event” not taking place, leaves the door open for a return in 2024, but this is speculation on JUST CARS’ part.

When interviewed by JUST CARS soon after Motorclassica 2022, Chief Curator Mark Jansen said plans for the 2023 event were already underway (after a rush to bring the 2022 event to fruition), which makes the last-minute cancellation all the more baffling.

Scheduled for 6-8 October at the Royal Exhibition Buildings in Melbourne, this year’s Motorclassica would have been the twelfth edition overall and the second to be held after COVID-19 forced cancellations in 2020 and 2021. The 2022 event was well received and included manufacturer support from BMW, amongst others, as well as an ‘Icons of Speed’ display, a large-scale celebration of Ferrari’s 75th birthday and other attractions that proved popular with attendees.

Motorclassica 2022 had also consciously introduced more modern supercars and hypercars, in an effort to broaden the audience and attract more ‘youngtimer’ car enthusiasts to the event – an approach which was likely to have continued this year.

At time of writing, there was no word on whether Motorclassica would return in 2024, if at all. Once more information on the event’s future becomes available, JUST CARS will share it.