London, 4th September, 2022 |
The Best in Show winner – uniquely chosen by the Concours car owners themselves – was the truly
exceptional 1938 Delage D8-120 ‘de Villars’, which enchanted the voters with its elegance, beauty and 1930s
design flair. |
In the 1920s category, it was a very special Vauxhall that came out on top – a 1925 Vauxhall 30/98 Wensum
Tourer. When new the high-performance, sporting car – known as the “King of Thoroughbreds” – was locked in
fierce competition with the Bentley 4.5-litre. The winning car is the most special 30/98 variant, one of just 12
cars supplied with the ‘ultra-sporting’ Wensum body, the light weight of which gave them even more sprightly
performance. With its dramatic V-shaped windshield, head-turning ‘boattail’ coachwork – inspiration for which
was taken from contemporary speedboat design – the Wensum was among the most stylish cars of its day.
Chassis OE259 is particularly striking with its gleaming chrome finish. It is believed to be one of just six
surviving cars, and likely the most original of all, its interior largely unchanged since it left the Vauxhall factory
nigh on 100 years ago. |
The Best in Show winner is one of the finest examples to emerge from the storied Delage brand – known for
producing flamboyant machines for the super-rich – which had been taken on by Delahaye in the 1930s. In
1936 the French marque created a state of the art 8-cylinder motor, based on their race proven,
high-performance straight-six. With a spot of engineer Jean François’s magic it sprouted two extra cylinders,
a 4.3-litre displacement, overhead valves and a single carburettor, to deliver around 105bhp. The D8-100 and
D8-120 were born. |
Elsewhere, there were class awards given for different eras – again voted for by the owners of the cars
themselves. In the pre-1915 category, it was a stately Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Touring from 1912 that
emerged victorious, appearing at Hampton Court Palace days after its 110th birthday. An emblem of
Edwardian engineering excellence, the Ghost was renowned for its effortless performance, exceptional
mechanical refinement and near silent 7.4-litre motor; hence the ‘Ghost; name. Chassis 2092 was a
particularly lavish example, specified with a seven-passenger cabriolet body, its fittings in gleaming brass,
rather than the usual nickel. |
In the 1930s category, a Cord L-29 was victorious. The L-29 was highly innovative, the first American car to be
offered with a front-wheel drive configuration. The new layout enabled the 2,100kg luxury machine to have an
unusually low roofline when compared with competitors. The L-29 was propelled by a silken Lycoming 4.9-litre
straight-eight engine, driving the front wheels through a 3-speed transmission. Four standard body styles were
offered; the Broughman model which will be on display later this year is the most sought after and rarest. It is
thought that only 10 examples of the Broughman have survived from the original three-year production run. |
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For the 1940s and 1950s class, it was a very special Maserati that took the top prize – the stunning
Zagato-bodied A6G. This was the ultimate evolution of Maserati’s A6 series, the marque’s first post-war
sports car. Based on a lightweight tube-frame chassis, the A6G borrowed several features from the A6GCS
sports racing car, including many of its motorsport-proven braking, steering, and suspension components.
The all-aluminium twin-cam 150 bhp 2.0-litre six-cylinder engine originally designed by Gioacchino Colombo
for racing was adapted by Vittorio Bellentani to create a dual-purpose car that blended GT civility with thrilling
performance. |
In the hotly contested 1960s category, the winner was a truly exceptional Aston Martin – to many the most
beautiful of all: the hallowed DB4GT Zagato. Combining the proven, high-performance DB4GT mechanicals
with a stunningly stylish – and light – aluminium body by Italian coachbuilding house Zagato – the DB4GT
Zagato represented the best of all worlds; the ultimate 1960s road and racing Aston Martin. The winning car,
chassis number 1093/R, was the third of the MP209 ‘ultra-lightweight’ motorsport orientated examples,
finished in the arresting hue of French Racing Blue. Built in 1962, the lightened special was delivered new to
committed Aston Martin enthusiast and racer Jean Kerguen and raced at Le Mans, where the 3.7-litre
straight-six powered machine could hit 170mph on the Mulsanne straight. |
In the 1970s class, it was perhaps the most iconic supercar of all, a 1971 Lamborghini Miura SV, that won
the hearts of voters. Unveiled at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show, the futuristic supercar – penned by Marcello
Gandini – was, predictably, a sensation. Gandini’s seductive shape went into production in 1966, using the
3.9-litre V12 from the 400GT. This first model, the P400, ran from 1966 to 1968, and delivered a peak output of
345bhp. The ultimate version of the Miura – the SV – appeared in 1971, with altered Weber carburettors and
different cam timing, which pushed output to 385bhp and torque to 295lb ft. In total, just 150 SVs were built
out of a total Miura production run of 764. |
There was another fierce contest in the post-1980 category, with a special RHD Bugatti EB110 SS from 1994
taking the top prize. The Lamborghini Countach’s crafter, Marcello Gandini had a meaningful influence on how
the EB110 looked, with the design refined into its finished form by Giampaolo Benedini. The brutalist yet
sleek aluminium-carbon body cloaked truly cutting-edge mechanicals. Power from an outlandish quad-turbo,
60 valve 3.5-litre V12 was sent to all four wheels via a manual transmission. The EB110 also featured
innovative double wishbone suspension front and rear – it was a real technical tour de force; a certain Michael
Schumacher even bought one. This example is perhaps the most special of the 139 EB110s built – the only
right-hand drive example, built for the 1994 British Motor Show. It was fitted with a prototype ‘SuperSport’
engine as well as prototype SS body parts, and was used to develop the higher-performance variant. It left the
factory with 603bhp. |
For 2022 the Concours was celebrating the 75th anniversary of Ferrari with a very special category,
assembling perhaps the finest selection of machines from Maranello ever seen in the UK. From the
astonishing line-up, it was the one-of-two, nigh-mythical Ferrari 365P Berlinetta Speciale – more commonly
known as the ‘Tre Posti’ that took victory. The wide, low, and arrestingly sleek 365 P, originally conceived to
form the basis of a Le Mans racer, was revealed to the world at the 1966 Paris Motor Show. It subsequently
toured the globe, wowing audiences with its futuristic Pininfarina body, outrageous three-seater cabin, and
mid-mounted V12 – the first Ferrari road-car to be so configured. With only two in existence, this highly
significant Ferrari is also among the rarest and most valuable. |
Elsewhere at the event, the inaugural women-only Levitt Concours, which celebrated female car enthusiasts
and collectors, was a great hit; the trophy went to a sensational 1932 Alfa Romeo Tipo B P3 Monoposto,
which delighted and deafened guests in equal measure. The show also welcomed a number of former winners
back for the tenth anniversary show, with cars including the 1938 Hispano-Suiza Dubonnet Xenia wowing the
crowds all over again. |
Pre 1915 |