CONCOURS OF ELEGANCE

Yes, it has been an extremely challenging year for everyone and yes, there was a palpable sigh of great relief when the event was given the chequered flag to go ahead; but what really made this year’s event special was the convivial atmosphere and the stories we had been given the opportunity of telling. Despite the inevitable last-minute dropouts from the Concours itself by owners from across the pond and from Europe, for obvious reasons, the Steering Committee managed to pull together a magnificent selection of fine collectible motors cars from the last century, many of which are extremely rare to see gracing a Concours line-up.

And so, this leads me to thinking, what really are the key ingredients of a great Concours of Elegance or Concorso d’Eleganza? Sitting on the Steering Committee of the Concours of Elegance, this question comes-up a lot. Is it the venue that brings the event to life? Is it the histories of the motor cars entered, or aesthetics, marque, value, condition, rarity, originality? Should it be all about the flamboyant art-deco rolling sculptures of the 1920’s and 1930’s, the type of exotic motor cars that today can only really be enjoyed at a Concours of Elegance or in a museum or private collection? Should racing cars have a place on a concours field? What about replicas? Define beauty…well of course it’s in the eye of the beholder. It’s all important, but what really matters is that it’s fun, varied, elegant and a spectacle for those participating as well as those dreaming of participating in the future. And what about judging? At the Concours of Elegance we have elected, since day one, to allow the entrants to decide which car they would most like to take home and therefore be awarded the Best in Show trophy and this approach works very well indeed! The venue? The venue is certainly of major importance and it is a great honour to be part of an event that has been held at several British Royal Palaces as well as having HRH Prince Michael of Kent as its Patron – a true honour. The architectural gardens at Hampton Court Palace almost feel that they were planned and laid-out with a Concours of Elegance in mind and the Palace itself is simply splendid.

All of the above is of course crucial but in addition, what really made this year’s Concours special was the people, the special content and the features chosen by the organisers and the Steering Committee. The special content and features at this year’s Concours of Elegance were in some ways quite unique to a British Concours and our great love of motorsport and eccentricity. These themes and celebrations clearly resonated with the public, the car clubs and the entrants alike. So, from my perspective, behind the mic. alongside my partner in rhyme, Richard Charlesworth, the wonderful selection of Concours motor cars made this year’s event very special, but it was the stories that we had the privilege of re-counting, the fascinating human stories behind the motor cars and the fascinating people behind those stories that really made all the difference. 

Single seat Formula One racing cars representing six decades of the sport were on display in celebration of 70 years of the Formula One World Championship and we had the pleasure of having David Brabham up on the Live Concours Stage for a chat about the history of the sport.  David, who raced in Formula One during one of its most competitive eras, was joined on stage by Steering Committee members and highly experienced historic racers themselves, Gregor Fisken and Flavien Marcais, to share their thoughts and insights on the evolution of the cars and the sport since the beginning of the World Championship in 1950 through to the present day. It made for a fascinating dialogue.

Recalling the battle of the Titans we celebrated the momentous battle between Ford and Ferrari for domination at the Le Mans 24-hour race in the second half of the 1960’s – as fantastically portrayed in the recent movie, Le Mans ‘66. This feature was perfectly represented by a 1965 Ferrari 250 LM and a 1965 Ford GT40 and the head to head presentation of these two immensely important sports racing cars was clearly greatly enjoyed by our audience if the numbers around the fountain was anything to go by – all socially distanced of course.

A personal highlight of the event was pulling privateer racing driver, Peter Blond, away from his luncheon and popping him back into the driver’s seat of the 1955 HWM Jaguar, the very car that he raced for George Abecassis in the 1955 season. Walking over to the car with Peter (now 90 years young) I witnessed him wringing his hands in absolute joy at the prospect of getting back behind the wheel of his steed from the 1955 racing season (thanks to Gregor Fisken for bringing the car). Peter kept us all beautifully entertained with his highly entertaining and witty anecdotes before racing off the stage and tearing-up the red-carpet in the process! As Gregor said afterwards, the HWM is fitted with a pretty sharp racing clutch so Peter did a fine job of getting it off the line first time – bravo Peter!

Another hugely popular spectacle was the regular flypasts of Freddie Williams-Smith in the only propeller powered aero-car contraption that I have ever witnessed driving around the fountain at any Royal Palace, no matter how late at night. The amazing 1921 Leyat Helica was a true crowd pleaser and a masterpiece of experimental engineering and aerodynamic lightweight design from the early 1920’s.

Finally, a new addition to this year’s event was the Junior Concours. Richard Charlesworth and I did our level best to keep the proceedings in pedantic good order so I tootled-off, pen and notepad in hand, drivers and cars under starter’s orders, and compiled a neat junior driver and car running order – the seven year olds at the wheels of their cars, not being members of my Club, were not familiar faces so extra notes were crucial! On my way back to begin presenting the cars and drivers with Richard, they of course had already engaged their batteries, their ankles and where needed, their Dads, and proceeded to race across the stage in no particular order. My pen and paper were tossed aside, and Richard and I just made some stuff-up while they gleefully lapped the fountain, we gave out lots of fudge, and everyone appeared delighted with the crescendo to the weekend’s proceedings. The overall winner of the Junior Concours  was a perfect scale replica of the Best in Show winning, 1970 Le Mans winning Porsche 917K and it had apparently been a complete coincidence that the entrant had brought the Junior 917K with no prior knowledge that the real car was going to be at the show. The Junior Concours was an absolute hoot and I certainly hope it becomes a regular feature of the event.

The overall Best in Show, as selected by the other Concours entrants, was the legendary 1969 Porsche 917K, presented in its distinctive red & white Salzburg livery 50 years on from its outright victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the first victory of many more to follow for Porsche.

PHOTOS: TIM SCOTT, FLUID IMAGES