Photo credit: Hampton Court Concours d’Elegance, Tim Scott
Collectors and enthusiasts couldn’t wait to finally attend a great International Concourse live. After all the various cancellations of the major events since March, like Pebble Beach, Villa d’Este or Amelia Island, the most prestigious English classic car event returns to the scene: “The Concours of Elegance”.
The Concours of Elegance, presented by A.Lange & Söhne, took place, like in previous years, in the spectacular gardens of Hampton Court Palace on 4-6 September 2020. With audience welfare in mind, the organisers created a new operational plan that including revised hospitality, restricted audience capacity and the introduction of separate morning and afternoon tickets.
The Concours of Elegance brought together a selection of 60 of the rarest automobiles from around the world, many of which have never been admired before in the UK. The most coveted award, the “Best of Show”, went to the fully original Porsche 917 KH, in red and white livery, which gave Porsche the very first victory at Le Mans in 1970. Truly a spectacular and historically significant automobile.
Other highlights of the event were the Ferrari 250LM, chassis 6313, that arrived 2nd overall at Le Mans in 1965. This Ferrari, in its yellow paint, attracted a lot of interest at the show, especially when they turned the engine on, as you might imagine.
“The Bridge of Weir Design Award” went to another beautiful car, a Bugatti Type 57 Atalante by Gangloff. Perfectly restored by its current owners, this car was one of the most elegant vehicles at the show.
The pre-war selection was also very attractive. The best example, which won the Pre-1915s award, was a 1904 Fiat Type 24/32, also restored in all its details and fully running.
A funny car, the Messerschmitt KR200, also gained a lot of interest from the public, being the smallest car at the event. It went home with the Royal Automobile Club Trophy, one of the most prestigious awards!
Apart from the classic automobiles, the event also gathered some of the world’s most interesting modern concept cars. The award for the best “Future Classic” went to the mesmerizing Aston Martin Victor, a one-off example built by the customization department at Aston Martin Lagonda.
Many of the Concours cars also took part in a 2-day driving tour in the days running up to the main Concours event. Uniquely, the Concours of Elegance winner wasn’t selected by a panel of judges but by the Owners of the cars themselves. Each participant was asked to vote on the other models on display to decide which car is considered to be the ‘Best of Show’. Complementing the Concours of Elegance were displays of hundreds of other fine motor cars, including entrants to The Club Trophy. Now in its seventh year, The Club Trophy saw some of the UK’s most prestigious car clubs offering up their finest examples to an independent panel of judges, with the winning Club Trophy car securing a place in the following year’s main Concours of Elegance event.