Tintin and his motorcars

The comic strip books of the renowned series created by Hergé are teeming with splendid vehicles. Overall, there are no less than 79 models featured in the 24 adventures.

Amongst which we have the renowned Model T Ford from Tintin in the Congo, the Lincoln Torpedo Grand Sport featured in Cigars of the Pharaoh, the Amilcar CGS from Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, the Opel Olympia of the Syldavian spies in King Ottokar's Sceptre (carbon copy of the first car Hergé bought in 1938), the Impéria TA-7 in The Crab with the Golden Claws, Emir Ben Kalish Ezab’s Lancia Aprilia from Land of Black Gold not forgetting Cutts the butcher’s van and the 2CV of Thompson and Thomson, like the numerous cars gathered in front of Marlinspike Hall in The Red Sea Sharks … which featured an incredible…motorcar rally scene.

Hergé was genuinely fascinated by motorcars. For him, the motorcar was an integral part in the domain of his imaginary stories. He made it a point of honour, depicting them with great attention to realism. As such we come across motorcars in all of the Tintin adventures, whether the latter was a driver or passenger, free or a prisoner. On a personal front Hergé owned four of the motorcars featured in the adventurous years of his fictional creation. Conversely, Tintin was rarely the owner of the motorcars he drove, with the exception of the Model T Ford and the Amilcar CGS.

Tintin’s renowned quiff is due to the sudden acceleration and speed in his first ever adventure, Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, published in 1929 in Le Petit Vingtième, the illustrated supplement of the Le Vingtième Siècle newspaper. To conjure up the impression of speed during a high-speed chase, Hergé drew a quiff. Since that memorable sequence that quiff has always remained.

What other setting than that of the prestigious Autoworld museum in Brussels could pay better homage to the motorcars that accompanied Tintin on all of his travels?

The new permanent area opens as Tintin turns 93 (Tintin was born on 10th January 1929).

Created with the support of the Loterie Nationale (*) and the Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, in partnership with Moulinsart and the Studios Hergé, this area is conceived as an evocation of the comic strip book. Thanks to a well thought out trompe-l’œil one enters Tintin’s motorcar world, via Cutts the butcher’s van.

Eight window displays exhibit the scale models of the most iconic vehicles drawn by Hergé and a screen allows one to discover the making of a 3D scale model.

As icing on the cake, tree life size cars – the Ford Model T as featured in Tintin in Congo, the red Willys Jeep from Tintin in the Land of Black Gold and the Bugatti 35 from Tintin in America – are exhibited at the entrance to the area.

Two questionnaires are distributed: a quiz and a survey on the theme of Tintin and his motorcars. You are invited to fill them in throughout your visit.

Access to the area featuring Tintin’s motorcars is included in the admission ticket to the museum.

*Quote from the Loterie Nationale “The Loterie nationale supports hundreds of projects that their players set their hearts on. As such we are proud, thanks to our players, to be in a position to help Autoworld realise this novel intiative.”

The Citroën 5CV came at the right time to inspire Hergé to create the scene of the moustachioed look-alikes and their explosive ride in the first two panels of "Land of Black Gold": in a jovial mood, our two policemen take advantage of the nice weather to drive in their old Citroën 5CV Torpedo...

Come and discover this exceptional classic car at the Hergé Museum!