Salon Privé Concours d’Elegance took place at the South Lawn at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire


1948 Talbot Lago T26 GS Fastback Coupe

1948 Talbot Lago T26 GS Fastback Coupe

 

Blenheim Palace, 04 – 08 September 2019.

The 14th edition of the Salon Privé Concours d’Elegance by Chubb Insurance took place at its now regular venue, the South Lawn at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, home of the 12th Duke of Marlborough, with the splendid architecture of the palace forming a spectacular backdrop to the proceedings on the concours lawn. Each year the quality of the entry seems to get better and better, with a number of entrants from mainland Europe, together with increasing numbers from across the Atlantic. Over the course of the gathering there were more than 25,000 visitors, whilst a total of 80 luxury and automotive brands together with classic car dealers presented their offerings.


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These included debuts for 11 new cars, 5 of which were UK debuts, another 5 being European debuts, and a world debut in the form of the 1939 Bentley Corniche. In case a world debut for a 1939 car in 2019 sounds strange, Bentley and their coachbuilder Mulliner recreated a “missing link” in the company’s history, using many original parts from stock for a model that should have gone into production. However, the original car was crashed in France and then destroyed in a bombing raid during World War II on the facility where it had been stored in Dieppe. Bentley Motors Chairman & CEO, Adrian Hallmark, also announced the world’s first continuation series of a pre-war race car, confirming that they will build a 12-strong continuation series of the 1929 Team Blower. The 12 new examples, each identical to the original will be built – one for every race the original Team Blowers entered. Another celebration was the 20th anniversary of the Pagani Zonda, which made its debut at the 1999 Geneva Motor Show, with a quintet of examples on display, a C12, a F Roadster, a Cinque Roadster, the Tricolore and the one-off 760 “Oliver”.

Fortunately this year the event enjoyed dry weather for the duration, although there was an occasional chilly breeze, but Chubb were ahead of the game and provided the ladies in their finery with blanket wraps to ward off the chill. Although the main judging is taken seriously for originality and authenticity, the ethos of the event is fun to be had by all. In this vein the event kicked off with a Hawaiian themed “beach party” at the Soho Farmhouse in nearby Great Tew on the Tuesday evening. This was followed on the Wednesday by a road tour, starting and finishing at Blenheim Palace. Thursday, as always was the main concours day, with an international judging team headed by President of the Jury Ed Gilbertson and Chief Judge Adolfo Orsi, whilst on Friday it was Boodles Ladies Day, with a prize of a Boodles pendant to the lady with the finest millinery. Friday was also Honorary Judging Day for the concours cars, with a panel of judges headed by Derek Bell MBE, whilst also part of the team were Guy Berryman of the band Coldplay and Louis De Fabribeckers, Head of Design at Touring Superleggera.

For the 2019 gathering there were 3 motorcycle classes, one celebrating the centenary of Brough, and 13 car classes. The latter ranged from “Pre-War Touring (Open) to “Classics of the Future Post 2000”, the oldest of which was a 1903 Darracq 24HP Model JJ, with the newest being a 2019 Ferrari Special Project car called the SP3JC, one of a pair produced for classic Ferrari dealer John Collins. Within the classes there were four specifically for Ferrari models, Class H for Ferrari GTs, Class J for Ferrari Americas, Class M for 50 Years of the 250 GT SWB – Road, and Class N for 50 Years of the 250 GT SWB – Race, whilst examples also appeared in other classes. As noted, the quality of entries was to a very high standard, and although the class awards were presented on the Thursday afternoon, the Best of Show award was held over until the Friday afternoon, when all the eligible cars, i.e. the class winners were once again paraded before the judges before the announcement was made. It turned out to be a spectacular 1948 Talbot Lago T26 GS Fastback Coupé that took the top honours with the prestigious Best of Show award. On the Friday evening the cars from the concours departed the lawn for a drive through the new for 2019 “Woodstock Live” street party, where the locals and visitors could see what had been going on within the palace grounds, and chat with entrants whilst enjoying live music and dancing in the market place, which was closed off to traffic for the evening.

The Saturday saw a specific Bentley only concours take place on the vacated South Lawn, with a panel of judges that included Chairman and CEO of Bentley Motors, Adrian Hallmark and 5 times Le Mans Winner, Derek Bell MBE, where 52 Bentleys were assembled for the Salon Privé Bentley Masters by Chubb Insurance, Pirelli and Lockton Private Clients. The line-up  included amongst others, the oldest Bentley in existence, the 1920 EXP No.2,  the 1934 Barnato Hassan, the 1939 Corniche recreation and the 1952 R Type Continental No. 1. The Salon Privé Bentley Masters Owners’ Choice went to the 1930 4.5 Litre Supercharged by Gurney Nutting owned by American collector, Anne Brockinton Lee.

The almost week-long array of activities came to a close on the Sunday with the Salon Privé Classic & Supercar public day took hold with over 17,000 visitors on this day alone. The Bentley Drivers Club had been hoping to get over 1000 Bentleys in attendance, and easily surpassed this with a world-record 1,321 Bentleys in attendance. Five further prestigious car clubs, the Aston Martin Owners’ Club, the Ferrari Owners’ Club of Great Britain, the Lamborghini Club UK, the McLaren Owners Club, and the Porsche Club of Great Britain, amassed over 500 classic and supercars to compete for the inaugural Lockton Club Trophy. At the end of the day this went to a McLaren Senna, which the owner had only taken delivery of a few weeks before the event.


Text ... Keith Bluemel
Images ... Peter Singhof
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de



Ferrari Entry

 

Model

Colour

Chassis #

Class H, Ferrari GTs

250 Europa GT Vignale Coupé

Dark Green Metallizzato-White

0359GT*

250 GT Ellena Coupé

Maroon Metallizzato-Silver

0817GT

250 GTPF Coupé

Silver

1675GT

250 GT Lusso

Silver

5497GT

330 GT 2+2 S1

Gunmetal

7131

Class J, Ferrari Americas

342 America Vignale Cabriolet

Blue Metallizzato

0232AL*

342 America PF Coupé

Pale Green Metallizzato-Silver

0246AL

500 Superfast

White

8897SF

365 California Spider

White

9849

Class K, Post War Touring (Open)

250 GT LWB California Spider

Dark Red Metallizzato

0769GT*

330 GTS

White

9155

Class L, Post War Touring (Closed)

275 GTB4

Silver

10403

Dino 206 GT

Gunmetal

00136

Class M, Ferrari 250 GT SWB (Road)

250 GT SWB Berlinetta RHD

Red „3 FOO“

3037GT

250 GT SWB Berlinetta

Dark Blue Metallizzato

3367GT*

250 GT SWB Berlinetta

Red

3735GT

Class N, 250 GT SWB (Competition)

250 GT SWB Berlinetta

Pale Blue

1993GT

250 GT SWB Berlinetta

White-RWB Stripes

2209GT

250 GT SWB Berlinetta

Maroon

2845GT*

Class O, Classics of the Future Pre-2000

F40LM

Red

79891

Class P, Classics of the Future Post-2000

SP3JC

Matt Grey-Red Metallizzato

237530

*Indicates class winner

 

Keith Bluemel         
09/2019

 

The results for the 2019 Salon Privé Concours d’Elégance by Chubb Insurance were:-

Best of Show
Winner: 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 GS Fastback Coupé (entered by Robert and Petra Kudela)
Runner-up: 1912 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost by Barker (Katie Forrest)

People’s Choice
1930 Bentley 4.5 Litre Supercharged by Gurney Nutting (Anne Brockinton-Lee)

Honorary Awards
Duke of Marlborough Award: 1937 Delahaye 145 ‘Million Franc’ (Peter Mullin)
Chairman’s Award: 1935 Hispano Suiza K6 Cabriolet by Brandone (Richard Magides)

Class A: 100 Years of Brough Superior
Winner: 1936 Brough Superior SS100 (Howard Wilcox)
Runner-up: 1930 Brough Superior SS80 De Luxe (Dominic Jude)

Class B: Exceptional Motorcycles
Winner: 1972 Ducati 750S (Ian Clayton)
Runner-up: 1924 Norton Model 2 (Brian Glover)

Class C: Exceptional Competition Motorbikes
Winner: 1937 Triumph 5T Speed Twin Record Holder (Dick Shepherd)
Runner-up: 1968 BSA Ex Works Motocross (Mick Beech)

CLASS D: Pre-War Touring (open)
Winner: 1912 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost (Katie Forrest)
Runner-up: 1925 Bentley 3 Litre (Lawrence Moore)

CLASS E: Pre-War Touring (closed)
Winner: 1935 Voisin C-25 Aerodyne (Peter Mullin)
Runner-up: 1932 Bentley 8 Litre (Mihai Negrescu)

CLASS F: Pre-War Sports Racers
Winner: 1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport Spider (Corrado Lopresto)
Runner-up: 1930 Bentley 4.5 Litre Supercharged (Anne Brockinton Lee)

CLASS G: Competition Cars
Winner: 1937 Delahaye 145 ‘Million Franc’ (Peter Mullin)
Runner-up: 1934 Bentley Barnato Hassan Special (Jorg Lemberg)

CLASS H: Ferrari GTs
Winner: 1954 Ferrari 250 GT Europa Vignale Coupé (Jaime Muldoon)
Runner-up: 1965 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 (Mark Holmes)

CLASS I: Post-War British Coachbuilt
Winner: 1953 Bentley R-Type Continental (Jonathan Lyons)
Runner-up: 1965 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III Coupe by Mulliner Park Ward (Robert Gaines-Cooper)

CLASS J: Ferrari Americas
Winner: 1952 Ferrari 342 America Cabriolet by Vignale (Dennis Garrity)
Runner-up: 1966 Ferrari 500 Supersport by Pininfarina (David Moores)

CLASS K: Post-War Touring (open motor cars)
Winner: 1957 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spyder Prototype (Bob Bishop)
Runner-up: 1950 Jaguar XK120 Drop Head Coupé (David Alston)

CLASS L: Post-War Touring (closed motor cars)
Winner: 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 GS Fastback Coupé (Robert and Petra Kudela)
Runner-up: 1953 Fiat 8V Rapi Corsa (Jan de Reu)

CLASS M: 60 Years of the Ferrari 250GT SWB (road)
Winner: 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta (Nigel Allen)

CLASS N: 60 Years of the Ferrari 250GT SWB (competition)
Winner: 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Passo Corto Competizione SEFAC (Private Collector)

CLASS O: Classics of the Future; Pre-2000
Winner: 1990 Lamborghini Countach Anniversary (Steve Casha)
Runner-up: 1992 Lamborghini Diablo (Mark Bogard)

CLASS P: Classics of the Future; Post-2000 Winner: 2016 McLaren 650S Le Mans (John Day) Runner-up: 2019 Ferrari SP3JC (John Collins)