The 5th annual Salon Prive Concours d’Elegance was held 22-24 June 2011 at historic Syon Park in London, with 80 cars displayed and paraded on the grounds of Syon House, the London home of the Duke of Northumberland.
Two big changes took place for Salon Prive in 2011. The event relocated to the 200-acre Syon Park, and it jumped forward into June placing it right in the middle of the UK summer season events calendar. By all appearances, the changes were worth it, as they event was well-attended and spectators enjoyed seeing the classics and modern supercars displayed on the lawns of Syon House.
Salon Privé co-founder, Andrew Bagley, said of this year’s event, “We are so honoured to have brought together such a stunning collection of beautiful and historically significant cars for the 2011 concours, which included amazing collections of sports cars, touring cars, racing cars and motorcycles. This concours is now truly world-class and an event for the UK to be proud of.”
This year’s event was headlined by a class entitled “100 Years of The Spirit of Ecstasy”, celebrating the first centenary of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and its famous brand icon. Amongst the star entrants were a 1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Alpine Tourer, 1932 Rolls-Royce 20/25HP Drophead Coupe and a rare 1927 Phantom I Udaipur Hunting Car.
Another featured class was the Grand Prix single seaters, up to and including the 1970s. Headline entrants included the 1934 Alfa Romeo P3 ‘Don Lee Special’ of Hugh Taylor, the 1927 Bugatti Type 37A, the rarely seen Iso Williams F1 from 1974 and the ex-Gilles Villeneuve 1978 Ferrari 312T3.
We would be remiss to not mention the Ferrari 250 GT class, especially the ex-Rob Walker / Stirling Moss Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Competizione, chassis 2735. The particular car was the Ferrari most raced by Moss (five races out of 12 Ferrari drives) and also the car he won most races in. He has described it as the ‘best GT car in the world’.
Tim Scott of Fluid Images presents the following 180 images from Salon Prive Concours d’Elegance 2011. To see more images from Tim, visit fluidimages.co.uk.
Salon Prive Concours d’Elegance 2011 – Photo Gallery (click image for larger picture and description)
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Salon Prive Concours d’Elegance 2011 – Winners
Best of Show at Salon Prive Concours d’Elegance 2011 was awarded to the 1939 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 S Berlinetta of Gary Snell. This particular Alfa Romeo was purchased new by the infamous Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini, who gifted the car to his mistress Clara Petacci. It is said that Ms. Patacci took her last ever journey in the car before being arrested.
The judging panel at Salon Prive 2011 included Derek Bell, MBE, British Grand-Prix racing driver; Marcel Massini, world-renowned Ferrari enthusiast and historian; Dr. Adolfo Orsi, President of Historica Selecta and world-famous Concours d’Elégance Judge; Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen, former Chief Executive Officer of Bentley Motors and Bugatti Autombiles SAS; Marc Potter, Britain’s leading motorcycle journalist and editor of MCN and Paul Wood, internationally recognised Rolls-Royce enthusiast and restoration specialist.
Class A – 100 Years of The Spirit of Ecstasy – 1932 Rolls-Royce 20/25HP Drophead Coupe, N/A
Class B – Road Racers of the 1950s and 1960s – 1961 Jaguar E-Type OTS, George Missetzis
Class C – Oddballs: Unique designs and concepts with 3 or more wheels – 1949 Tatra T600 Tatraplan, Ivan Margolius
Class D – Isle of Man TT Bikes 10 Decades of Bikes – Water-Cooled AJS V4 Racer 1939, Sammy Miller
Class E – Bikes from the Steve McQueen Era – 1966 Métisse Mark III, Gerry Lisi
Class F – Grand Prix single seaters, up to and including the 1970s – 1932 Alfa Romeo Tipo B (P3), Hugh Taylor
Class G – Grand Tourers of the 1930s and 1940s – 1939 Alfa Romeo 6c 2500 S Berlinetta, Gary Snell
Class H – Ferrari 250 Series – 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder
Best Interior – 1954 Ferrari 250 Europa, Ian Proudfoot
Most Original – 1934 Morgan Super Sports, The Family Finburgh
Most Exciting Design – 1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato, David Eyles
Biggest Wow Factor – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, John McGuinness
Best of Show – 1939 Alfa Romeo 6c 2500 S Berlinetta, Gary Snell
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[Source: Tim Scott / Fluid Images]
