As will be clear from last week’s article on the 10th Hampton Court Concours of Elegance, the event attracts some of the world’s most exclusive classic cars. It also attracts some of the UK’s most high-end dealers and car clubs, and for this article we’ll take a look at some of the classics brought to the Palace by dealers, clubs and some visitors.
Starting with the visitors’ car park, I mentioned in last week’s piece that I was disappointed by the number of classics in the Pre-1990 section of the public car park, certainly compared to previous years. There were, however, still some interesting classics there, not least a very early TVR, a 1959 Grantura and a genuine 1954 Jaguar C-Type, which would not have been out of place inside the grounds. Also in that car park, our International Editor’s recently acquired 1965 Sunbeam Tiger alongside a well-worn 1968 Scimitar GTC, and my own 911 was parked between a very contrasting pair – a Ferrari 512TR and a Citroën 2CV.
Entering the grounds from the rear gardens, to the right of the central wing of the Palace as you look at it, the first thing visitors saw was a long line of Jaguars – E-types and XK sports cars as well as saloons. Regardless of your opinion of the E-type, they made a fine sight parked in front of the Palace’s Real Tennis court, one of only a handful in the UK, and in this case, one used by Henry VIII as long ago as 1528. It was a Jaguar – an early Series 1 XJ6, exactly 440 years newer than the tennis court, that won the Best Club Car prize on Saturday.
Heading over to the other side of the Palace, the Aston Martin Owners’ Club had a stronger classic presence than in recent years, with a decent number of proper classics among the moderns.; I particularly liked the 1960 DB4 GT and the British Racing Green 1958 DB Mark III. The Ferrari section however was biased towards post 1990 cars – fortunately the non-club Ferrari’s in both the Concours and around other parts of the grounds more than made up for this.
The Jensen Owners’ Club excelled itself, with fine examples of Interceptors through the ages, a couple of FF’s, as well as 541’s – including a very lovely maroon 1960 541R – a menacing-looking row of CV8’s and half a dozen Jensen Healey’s – a very good effort, and for me the best club display of the day.
There was more traditional British sports car fare to be found assembled together in a marvellous line of what I think were all – or nearly all – MG J-Types, the first time I’ve seen so many in one place – I thought they looked great.
Among the dealer displays from the likes of Frank Dale, Tom Hartley, JD Classics and others were some absolutely fabulous cars for those with very deep pockets. Joe Macari had a superb pair of Ferrari’s – a 275GTS and a 250GT Lusso – available, for a mere £1.75m each, making the lovely Maserati 3500GT convertible a relative bargain at £800k. On the JD Classics stand was a fantastic1938 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante in burgundy and black, one of only a dozen aluminium-bodied examples, and Price On Application, naturally. These iconic French cars never fail to make an impression.
Within the overall event was another concours, the Levitt Concours, named in honour of Dorothy Levitt, the first female English racing driver and skilled aviator. The cars in this mini-Concours were all owned by women and covered a pretty wide range, with the cars driven on the day from the Guards Polo Club in London to Hampton Court.
The winner of the Levitt Concours was a magnificent 1932 Alfa Romeo P3 Tipo B which stood alongside a 911 Carrera 2.7RS, while elsewhere around the grounds a glorious Citroën DS Chapron-bodied Le Paris coupé made a grand arrival before taking up its allocated space among the Levitt cars. Other delights in this female-oriented concours included a stunning green 1934 Invicta 4 ½ litre, and a pair of US muscle cars in the shapes of a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 and a mighty 1967 7.2-litre Plymouth Belvedere GTX.
Among other miscellaneous classics on show was some fine Italian exotica in the shapely forms of a 1966 Lamborghini 400GT in red – not the best colour for this superb 2+2 GT in my opinion, a silver 1967 Maserati Mistral, a very elegant 1960 Ferrari 250GT Series II Coupé also in silver and a purple – and previously seen at the Palace – 1970 Ferrari Daytona, dramatic in any colour, even more so in this.
A delightful surprise among all this exotica was an absolutely pristine 1965 Vauxhall Cresta PB – this car had been beautifully restored, probably at a cost far beyond it’s market value. It warms the heart that there are people prepared to spend time and money to keep such relatively ordinary cars in such condition for us to enjoy.
Another, even more unexpected surprise was the presence of the unique Peugeot 504 Break Riviera in metallic blue – based on a 1971 saloon, this was a car that both our International Editor and I believed that Peugeot should have produced in numbers; it would surely have been a success; we loved it. There was originally a single prototype, now lost in the mists of time, and this car was a recreation built following a request from a private collector – we both really liked it.
For my Non-Concours Car of the Day, however, we return to the dealers, in this case Fiskens, who included on their stand a line up that featured a 1954 Aston Martin DB3S, a 1936 Delahaye 135 (sold during the show) and a 1956 Maserati 300S driven to victory by Juan Manuel Fangio in four events in 1957 – what a history, and what a trio!
And yet… they also had the most gorgeous black 1934 Triumph 8C Dolomite – basically a British Alfa Romeo 8C – on show, one of only two in existence and that sold while at the show for a healthy seven-figure sum. I didn’t know such a Triumph existed, it had both Anders and I in raptures, and it was the winner of my entirely imaginary Non-Concours Car of the Day trophy.
More photos in the gallery below. It’s hard to imagine a more exquisite setting than Hampton Court Palace for such an array of classics and the event has never failed to enthral on each of my visits to it; it was certainly worth the 235-mile round trip on Saturday. It helped that the weather stayed friendly, and I’m already looking forward to next year, same time, same place.
