A Sight to Behold - Concours of Elegance 2023
Original words and photos by Caster & Camber
The clock struck 3am. This was always going to happen, the dreaded insomnia had returned. Might as well get up, have a cup of tea and cigarette while I waited for dawn.
A new dawn would bring the light, and the light would mean it was time to go. 95 miles, and allegedly 3hrs South-West of our HQ lies the palace of Hampton Court. Architecturally and historically, one of the most significant palaces throughout this storied isle. Many years ago, as a an art student living in London, I had visited the grounds of the palace to admire its design, its history and its grounds. Now, 10 years later I would be loading up the same Canon 6D Mk1 and nearly the same rucksack that I had done all those years before but this time, for something very different.
The Concours of Elegance, for those who don't know, is one of the most prestigious and premier car shows in the UK. Around 90 handpicked and hand chosen classic vehicles make their way along the river which runs through the heart of the town towards Hampton Court Palace, these are truly the best of the best. Cars so rarified you'll be lucky if you ever see another one.
Then, it was time to set out. We threw everything into our trusty, cheap MX5 and head over to pick Dad up. It's been a while since we had done anything together so it was a nice chance to do something with the guy who is basically responsible for our utter devotion to the automotive world thanks to a Morgan, a workshop, a father and son named Overton and a group of Pre-War Bentleys. That will be a story for later but in the meantime, let's fast forward to hurtling down the A12.
As the miles clicked by and the sounds of our 1.8-litre twin-cam began to drone away into a slight annoyance with the thoughts of "I wish this had 6 gears" somewhere around the middle of our mind, I began to daydream about what would be there. The show had officially begun the day before, on the Friday, for previewing and the first day of proceedings including the Gooding & Company auction. Social Media had been awash with photos from that and Salon Price a few days before so the anticipation had well and truly built.
As the A12 became the M25, and the easy going became standstill traffic, the thoughts of seeing these beautiful machines (some of which I had only ever seen in the books) suddenly became real. The last time I had got to witness anything along these lines was Goodwood Members Meeting 2021, so to say I was excited was an understatement and to be fair, Dad seemed pretty stoked to be going to.
After covering the final 1.7 miles down the rivers edge in a blistering 45-minutes, we pulled into the large field that runs in front of the Palace itself - now a car park. After paying the extra parking fee because I didn't bother to actually look to see about parking we could finally make our way towards the greatest car show either of us had ever seen.
Through vaulted gateways, across court yards and remembering old building have flush chains on the toilets, we finally made our way through the 3rd and final obstacle before laying eyes on the most expensive car park I had ever seen. I say an obstacle because recently, any time I've had to use an online ticket it has entirely gone to shit. But this, was super simple. There were 3 grey arches to chose from, each one would bring you out into a different experience of the Concours. We chose door number 1.
That would present us with the arse end of one special Bentley and the front end of a true legend within the Bentley world.
This year, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Le Mans, the organiser had invited a series of cars which had won the fabled race not just once but twice. A feat few have achieved in the same car, not the "same" car like modern times but the actual same identical car. The Bentley in question was the Grey leviathan known as Old Number 1. The car which would claim victory for W.O Bentley's team in both 1929 and 1930.
To my left, was a absolutely stunning example of a Pre-War racer with one of the most important names in the Bentley world emblazoned along its louvered bonnet, the words "Stuart Morley Racing". Just from these two machines alone, I knew we were in the right place.
The perfectly manicured lawns and neatly edged gravel pathways spread out across the grounds of this palace like a spiders web. With each movement on the web, you would be taken deeper into one of the most exclusive and passionate worlds
I am of the opinion that the early Jaguar XK, in any variety, is one of the most achingly beautiful and elegant motor cars ever created by mans fair hand. Thankfully, there were enough dotted across the show to prove my point. Fixed heads, roadsters, drop heads you name it. Most of which would line the brick walls which bordered the main gardens as a sort of rich mans sideshow.
Along that very same wall, would be machines that had only lived in my head since childhood reading any book about cars I could get hold of. Especially, the Ford GT40 MkII. A road-going version of the all out race car which would begin its assault on the French endurance race in 1965 and win in 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969. I had seen photos of them, I'd even read articles about them but here I was just a country bumpkin close enough to fog up the headlights with my heavy breathing should I have wished.
Walking through rows of these incredible machines was awe inspiring. This isn't your local classic car get together, this was so far away from that they can't even be related.
As me and the old man strolled along this mechanical art galleries, sipping a particularly palatable Helles Lager, we came across two cars which we came to the conclusion were the best at the show for us.
They were an original 'blower' Bentley and a wonderful original and battle scarred Jaguar C-Type. Nope, neither of these had been cleaned and they sure as shit weren't built last week. Brightwork so tarnished from years of use that you couldn't even get the faintest view of a reflection in it.
Every panel told a story with its dents, divots and distortions on both of these machines. They had been kept in the condition in which they were designed to be used, worn but I can guarantee you that I'd have taken either of them to a race and I'm pretty sure they would have allowed me to be the last man standing.
Me and Dad had been joking on the way there, the old man is Aussie and grew up watch things like Bathurst (or as it was then the Haride-Ferrodo 500), that at some point in a race once a driver had clipped a wall or come together with another gasoline powered gladiator someone had said the words "Ah shit. Bodywork is rubbing on the tyre after that... Jeff, get the hammer." These two cars summed that up, you could see where in the heat of battle they had to be modified on the fly with new creative solutions to heat management based purely off a comment from the driver which we hope went something along the lines of "She's getting hot Dave! Throw us the tin snips..."
They were perfection in our eyes. A tricky decision when parked next to a near enough flawless Miura. But my Dad made a very good point as to why we probably liked them, Everything else around them was too... perfect. Heavily polished, flawless paintwork with untouched interiors that probably have never once been used in anger since becoming part of the upper echelons of the car world - a Ming vase or a Faberge egg if you will. But these two race cars, remind just as that. They looked as if they had come straight off the track, through the pits and been parked up.
There was all manner of multi-million pound metal as far as the eye could see. Bugatti 57S Atlante's, Ferrari 275's, Countaches, Rolls Royces, Porsche's you name it. But, one of the most rare beasts just stood there next to one of the most important sports cars in history but first, let's talk about the White One.
A Ferrari 250 GTO is one of the most sought-after and highly prized pieces of the classic car world. In fact, I would go as far as to say they transcend being a machine and become object d'art. In total, just 36 of these cars were made for the 1962/1963 season to represent the Scuderia and its affiliated privateer teams. The tales of these cars passed into legend, wether it be through certain drivers or just because of their rarity. These cars will openly trade for over £30m+ so just to see one in the wild was beyond far out. Oh, and it was truly stunning.
Possibly one of the most beautiful cars to have been penned by Giotto Bizarrini paired with the elegant violence of the majestic Colombo 3-litre V12, it is completely understandable how something like this is mentioned in the same breathe as paintings by the masters.
As if just this car on its own wasn't enough, it was flanked either side by cars that make grown men weak at the knees. But the car to the left of the 250GTO was particularly important to us for several reasons and part of the reason that we paid for the ticket and made the effort to go all the way south just to see when it was announced it was going to be there.
It is CSX2001.
"It's just a Cobra Nick... behave yourself." To which the correct response is, 'Shut Up.'
CSX2001 is the first production Shelby Cobra to be built. Built in July of 1962, CSX2001 and delivered to one of the first customers located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The car was enjoyed for a little while before being brought back and chopped in against a brand new Porsche.
It was then purchased by 'Lucky' Casner - who basically founded the American arm of the Maserati factory race team. Because of that, CSX2001 was converted into full race duties for upcoming races. Once the conversion was complete it was ready to hit the track but one thing lead to another and CSX2001 was sold to French driver Jean Marie Vincent ahead of the 1964 24 hours of Le Mans but it would never compete that year. Between 1964 and 1965, the car would raced throughout Europe by Jean Marie including the Tour de France, 1000kms de Paris and several others.
The car was then upgraded into 1964 specification for the Cobras. The gnarly 289ci V8 was dropped in the front along with that gorgeous set of Halibrands which require the aluminium flares to be sank into the body. Oh, and it has rack and pinion steering rack installed in it by AC Cars here in the UK.
In 1966 it was sold to another Frenchman and continued to be raced throughout Europe.
Anyway, there's whole story coming up soon about the amazing story of CSX2001 so be sure to check back soon for that. In 2006, it was bought by petrolhead extraordinaire Bruce Meyer who is the president of the Petersen Museum in LA and an eminent collector of significant road and race cars in his own right.
To celebrate the restoration of CSX2001 in its new black paintwork, Bruce rallied the car to Budapest as part of its shakedown.
In the same row as CSX2001 was another piece of myth, it wore the prancing horse on its nose and again I never thought I'd get the chance to ever see this car in the flesh.
This particular 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder is not like the others. It was owned by French actor Alain Delon and was actually rediscovered in a French barn along with 60 other rare classics before being recommissioned and brought back to life.
The most famous of its siblings is of course the James Coburn car but Delon's car still reached an impressive $18.5m when it went across the auction block after its reawakening in Paris around 10 years ago. It has always worn this number as well, in period photos (some of which included Delon and Jane Fonda arriving on set for the film 'Les Fellins' it still has the number 4452 on its plate.
A beautiful piece of not only Ferrari history but classic car history in general and by the looks of things, the pride and joy of its new owners collection and to be honest, a bit of privilege to get to take photos of.
No matter where you looked, there was something to gawk at and stand there slack jawed.
Like the original Jaguar D-Type Prototype from 1954 recently restored by the wizards over at DK Engineering. It was absolutely stunning, as an endurance racing fan and anorak it wasn't something I thought I would ever get the chance to do - spend nearly an hour just pouring over the smallest details it took to get this car to how it is now but remain faithful to its original engineering.
If you have't already, please go over to DK's YouTube channel and check out the videos they've done on restoring this piece of automotive history and you will quite quickly lose entire days just daydreaming about it.
The D-Type holds a special place in sports car history, not just because of its competition successes but just the who's-who of drivers which in period were given driving duties in these cars. Names like Dewis, Hamilton and Hawthron were all given charge of D-Types across Europe. It's also important because of its engineering forward thinking with the use of true aerodynamics and balancing the cars performance to get the most out of it as an entire package.
To say that this event must be on the bucket list for every petrolhead is a complete understatement. We could go on and on and on and on and on about this was here, this was here, oh look there's one of these here.
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