Woodstock, 1st September, 2022 |
The 17th edition of the Salon Privé Concours d’Elegance
presented by Aviva was held between 31 August and 01
September, taking place at its regular venue of the majestic
Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. It actually started
with a pre-concours scenic tour for participants on Tuesday 30
August, which saw attendees assemble in the Great Court, in
either their concours car or another suitable classic or sporting
vehicle for the touring rally. From here they headed west through
the Cotswolds, then meandered on scenic byways northwards
to the luncheon venue at Compton Verney House. This is an
18th Century Grade I listed building in Warwickshire, which is
located less than ten miles to the south-east of
Stratford-upon-Avon, featuring grounds modelled by the
renowned landscape architect of the time, “Capability” Brown.
After a leisurely lunch, the entourage returned by a different
scenic route through the countryside to Blenheim Palace to
prepare for the concours on the following day. |
The concours entry comprised of 72 cars spread across seventeen classes, with three of these being
for Ferraris in recognition of the company’s 75th anniversary, with two for road cars and a further one for
competition variants of the marque, plus further examples in other classes. The spread of classes ranged
from Class A for Pioneering Motor Cars, the oldest examples being a Knox Model “C” and a Berliet 20hp
Closed Swing Seat Tourer, both from 1903, with the latter example taking the class honours, to Class Q, for
Supercar Icons Post 1990, where a 2005 Maserati MC12 was the winning car. The judging is to ICJAG rules
(International Chief Judges Advisory Group), which focus on originality of the cars being presented for
judging. Each car starts with a 100 point score, and deductions are then made for items not deemed to be
to the original specification, apart from some items which are deemed to be consumables. Should there be
a tie on points for Best in Class, then there is an elegance/provenance points factor that can be applied to
determine the worthiest winner. |
All cars on the show field are eligible for the honorary judging, whether display only or for ICJAG Judging
parameters. The Churchill Cup was won by a Display Only car from the collection of Lord Bamford, this being
a splendid 1933 Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Sports Coupé by Freestone & Webb, featuring some
exquisite styling details emphasising its sporting intent. Ferraris did quite well in these awards with the 365
P, chassis 0828, winning the Duke of Marlborough Award, the 250 GTO, chassis 3387GT, winning the
Chairman’s Award and the Most Iconic Award, the 250 GT SWB California, chassis 2591GT winning the
Most Elegant Award, and the 365 GTB4, chassis 16191, winning the Spirit Award – The Margaret
Bagley Trophy. |
After completion of the judging during the morning, all the concours cars take place in a parade across the
stage, with a brief description of each example given by the Master of Ceremonies, Max Girardo, who always
finds some nice anecdotal stories to accompany the description. At this time the Best of Class winners are
announced and presented with their trophy and a magnum of Pommery Champagne, along with the trophy for
Honourable Mention runner-up in each class. The Best of Show award has not been decided at this time, as it
is probably the first opportunity that the judges, who are assembled on the presentation stage, to have seen
all the class winners, due to their individual class judging duties during the morning. The Best of Show award
was determined by ballot at a judges meeting on the Thursday morning, with all sworn to secrecy until the
official announcement on the Friday afternoon. |
The three Ferrari classes saw wins going to the 250 GT LWB Berlietta Zagato, chassis 0515GT, in Class
H – Ferrari 75th Celebration Class 1, with the runner-up being the 275GTS4 NART Spider, chassis
09751. In Class I – Ferrari Celebration Class 2, it was the supremely elegant pale green 330 GTC,
chassis 09069, freshly restored by Bell Classics, of Christy Chiltern-Hunt that took the honours, and had
been driven by her on the tour the previous day, whilst in Class J – Ferrari 75th Celebration Class-Race,
it was the 275 GTB/C, chassis 09041, entered by Tom Hartley Jnr, that was victorious. |
It should be noted that apart from all the cars in the concours, there are also a large number of
manufacturer or their dealers with displays, with Alpine, Aston Martin, Bugatti, De Tomaso, Dallara, Jaguar
Land Rover, Lamborghini, McLaren, Pagani and Rolls Royce amongst them. Prodrive had a prominent
display near the main concours field entrance, this featured their recently announced all-terrain vehicle,
together with a selection of the rally cars that they have produced through the years, plus an array of their
Aston Martin GT race cars along with a Ferrari 550 Maranello GT1. Ferrari was represented by Dick Lovett
Ferrari, with Ferrari sending their re-creation of the first model, the 125 S, for display. A number of
classic car dealers also had impressive displays, ranging from classics to supercars. One of the more
interesting being the Ferrari F50 on Furlongers stand, which was displayed in partly dissembled form,
attracting a great deal of attention. There was also a feature display “The Platinum Collection”, which
featured a wide range of marques, all the cars being a variety of shades of silver, one of which was the
ex-Gianni Agnelli Testarossa Spider, chassis 62897, owned by Ronald Stern. If one wanted a change
of scenery from cars, the perimeter of the show field is always a haven of luxury and lifestyle stations,
ranging from designer Gin, through art, indoor and outdoor furniture, fashion, motorcycles and much more,
to helicopters and private jets, not forgetting the expansive Boodles jewellery emporium. Respite and
refreshment from “shop till you drop” could be found in the Pommery Champagne bars! |
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On Saturday eleven one make car clubs, with around a thousand cars in total, converged on Blenheim
Palace for Car Club Day, one of which was the Ferrari Owners’ Club, with a fine array of models on display.
All cars on display are eligible to be judged for two trophies for each club, the Manufacturer’s Award and the
Secretary’s Award, with an overall award being the Salon Privé Club Trophy presented by Lockton. In the
Ferrari Club group the Manufacturer’s Award went to the immaculate Ferrari F40, chassis 90353, of Brian
Grove, with the Secretary’s Award going to the beautifully restored 308 GTS, chassis 29279, of Ian
Barkaway, which went on to win the overall Salon Privé Club Trophy presented by Lockton. Virtually a full
week of activity came to an end on the Sunday with Classic & Supercar Day, where the club displays are
augmented by a display of supercars on the South Lawn. which also features the “Live on The Drive” action
event, where rally cars sprint from the Great Court gates down the driveway to the Vanburgh Bridge. |
Best of Show |
1956 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Zagato Berlinetta |