Drawing The Concours Year to a Close with Four Awards at the Salon Privé Concours d'Elégance

As the Summer draws to a close, the last few events of the season give proud owners a final opportunity to showcase their cars during occasions such as Salon Privé hosted on the grounds of the magnificent Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.

This year’s Salon Privé Concours was the largest and most prestigious to date, with 72 cars being entered across 14 different classes. They ranged from the ever-popular Pre-War categories to celebrations of Bugatti, Rolls-Royce, and Ferrari. Fan favourites included Legendary Liveries – which showcased iconic colour schemes such as a Silk Cut Jaguar XJR 8/9, an Alitalia Lancia Stratos HF and a 555 Subaru Impreza WRC97; while a new class for 2024 honoured the 60th anniversary of the Ferrari 275. This year, we had no fewer than four cars entered into the Concours d'Elégance, each in their own class competing against stiff competition.

Starting with the oldest of the four, the 1939 Bugatti Type 57 Cabriolet by Saoutchik was entered into ‘Class B: Bugatti – Grand Prix to Grand Touring’. Arriving from the USA, the Bugatti was taken into our workshops for a thorough mechanical and cosmetic preparation helping the Bugatti and its caring owner to scoop ‘Best in Class’.

Meanwhile, in ‘Class G: Sports Racers’, we had been tasked with presenting the 1954 Jaguar D-type ‘OKV 3’, a car which had recently finished a full restoration culminating at the end of last year. Up against the 1957 Ferrari 335 S by Scaglietti which would go on to win ‘Best of Show’ the D-type won ‘Class Runner Up’.

Honouring the 60th anniversary of the Ferrari 275 was ‘Class I’, which gathered a variety of the ever-elegant model to showcase their long life span. We recently created a video explaining their long and complex history which is available to watch here. Showcasing our 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB ‘6 Carb’, the car took the attention of the judges also scooping ‘Class Runner Up’ second to a 275 GTB/C.

Heading to more recent times, recently overhauled in our workshops was a 1996 Ferrari F50 gracing ‘Class K: Supercar Icons – Prancing Horse’. Also in Class K was another F50 this example finished in Rosso Barchetta, a colour that certainly demanded attention due to its rarity, however, the DK overhauled car took the edge and won ‘Best in Class’.