A record attendance of more than 13,000 visitors headed to Hampton Court Palace from 2-4 September as the Concours of Elegance marked its 10th anniversary. Best in Show, as ever chosen by the owners of the concours cars at the event, was awarded to Fritz Burkard’s glorious 1938 Delage D8-120 de Villars.
Supplied to the Courbevoie carrossier as a rolling chassis, the one-off two-seater is powered by a 4.3-litre straight-eight and was one of the most expensive cars in the world in 1938. It was first revealed at the Concours de l’auto de Printemps that year, where it took home the Grand Prize.
The show welcomed back an amazing set of former winners, too, including the dramatic 1938 Hispano-Suiza Dubonnet Xenia, which picked up the Bridge of Weir Design Award. Meanwhile, a new feature for this year was a class for female enthusiasts, the Levitt Concours, named after pioneering racing driver Dorothy Levitt. Jennie Taylor and her 1932 Alfa Romeo Tipo B P3 monoposto, a regular racer at Goodwood, won the inaugural award, with Amanda Stretton’s 1968 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 among the runners-up.
A Platinum Jubilee Award was presented to King Charles III’s personal, bioethanol-powered 1969 Aston Martin DB6 Volante, as gifted to him by his mother Queen Elizabeth II on his 21st birthday.
Six spectacular Packard Twelves joined the event from the JBS Collection in Illinois. Rarely seen in Europe, especially in such large numbers, the huge Art Deco Packards all featured V12 engines of over 7 litres in capacity, and were all different body styles, from Coupe Roadster to Formal Sedan.
The Club Trophy, presented by the Royal Automobile Club, came down to the wire, with the judging panel including C&SC ’s Simon Taylor struggling to pick a winner between the unlikely rivals of a 1974 Ferrari 365GT4 2+2 and a 1966 Vauxhall PB Cresta. The group featured a selection of top performers from club concours competitions, with the winner invited to take part in the main line-up at the event next year. The two faced off on the stage, with the Ferrari being the eventual victor after the judges were impressed by the coupé’s extremely original, unrestored condition. Club displays changed every day of the event, with Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin, Jaguar and Jensen among the clubs joining the main concours cars on the East Front Gardens, and the C&SC team choosing a favourite from each day (see panel).
Modern classics were on show, too, wi
