London’s Classic Concours Garden Party

Our correspondent enjoyed two days of carefully selected cars with enough variety to cover most tastes. Yours too, maybe?

The London Concours, held at the Honourable Artillery Company literally in the centre of the city, is a relatively new event, having first been held in 2017, but has since established itself as a fixture in the concours calender.

This is despite the fact that it is a relatively small event – when compared ffor exampleto the Hampton Court Concours (organised by the same people, Through Events), and the difference car be explained as being largely due to space restrictions – but importantly the setting is almost as splendid.

This year’s event – the ninth – ran over three days and featured celebrations of Aston Martin (“A British Icon”) on the first day, Mercedes Benz (“The Greatest Marque”) on the second, and supercars on the third and final day – I attended the first two. Alongside these specific marque celebrations was the Concours itself, some 80 cars divided into 8 classes.

I arrived on what was a typical English summer afternoon – drizzly – but after experiencing the weather at the Spa Classic, this was a minor issue, and the following day stayed dry and bright.
Rather than go through each of the eight classes one by one, I’m going to focus on the individual cars that stood out for me among an entire collection of outstanding cars.

Let’s start with the Aston Martins – a brand that supposedly is the epitome of British cool and makers of cars that I admire, particularly the ‘60s and ‘70s models, yet I’ve never lusted after one, not even a DB5. Nevertheless, the assembled Astons made a fine sight arrayed in various combinations around the grounds.

The event also celebrated 70 Years of the Mercedes Benz SL – the Sport Leicht models from Mercedes Benz have not necessarily been either sporty or light, but the SL badge sits on the back of some of the marques most celebrated and beloved models, first appearing on the world’s then-fastest road car, the spectacular 300SL Gullwing. Subsequent SLs were more boulevard cruiser than sports car – the elegant 190SL, “Pagoda” and R107 models, while more recent SLs have been given the AMG treatment and are a little too aggressively styled for my tastes.

Some of the cars in the Youngtimer category I would argue are already classics, such as the then-revolutionary Audi Quattro or the very smart E30 BMW M3 Cabriolet on show. Fewer than 800 of the latter were produced and this was the first M-series soft-top. The car I liked most in this group however was the blue 1995 Audi RS2 Avant; developed with input from Porsche, these 260kmh family estates set a trend of performance estates that Audi has maintained ever since.

A little known Thameside town of Thames Ditton was the unlikely source for some of the most iconic sports cars made in the shapes of the AC Aceca and Cobra, although my favourite AC has always been the merging of Italian design, Ford V8 power and English craftsmanship – the 428, though I have a soft spot for the mid-engined 3000ME, which should have been more successful. The AC display also contained one of the two biggest contrasts at the show – a Cobra and 428 sharing space with the company’s invalid carriage, the Acedes Mk15.

The Dream Cars category comprised basically of what we might now consider first generation hypercars – it’s hard to believe that the Porsche 959 and Ferrari 288GTO are already 40 years old, that the McLaren F1 is now 30 years old, or the Bugatti EB110 dates back to 1991. While they have been supplanted at the top of the automotive tree by the extravagant hypercars of today, they set new standards at the time and honestly, are so much more pleasing to the eye with their simpler, cleaner styling. Incidentally, the Bugatti was awarded Car of the Show.

The other category contending for Most Extreme Contrast was what the organisers called the “Wildcard” category, between the 1969 Rolls Royce Phantom VI (once owned by the Harrods department store and finished in Harrods Green) and the 1963 Peel P50 – the world’s smallest car at just 137cm long and 119cm high, it’s 49cc engine producing just 4.2bhp. It would probably fit in the Rolls’ boot. One of these Isle of Man produced cars (the only cars ever built there) was famously driven around inside the BBC offices by Jeremy Clarkson – a very big man, who knows how he managed to get in this miniscule car – on a very amusing episode of Top Gear.

The Rolls could hardly have been more different, yet while the Rolls was huge, come the second day of the event, it was no longer the biggest car on show, as there were two “Grosser” Mercedes Benz 600’s present, one of which was the even bigger Pullman version. Designed for heads of state and assorted potentates, these massive cars have an imposing presence that also conceals very advanced – for the time – technology. I wouldn’t want to try and drive or park one in a city, though…

As well as the concours cars there were a few interesting specialist displays, my particular favourite being the row of cars demonstrating the restoration abilities of Furlonger, especially the Maserati Bora, Citroën SM and Lamborghini Islero. It’s been a long time since I last saw a Bora – only 564 produced – which back in the day was one of the fastest and most expensive cars on the market, but of these, I would take the relatively understated Islero – lovely!

There was also a substantial display of over-designed, over-engined and somewhat ludicrous hypercars at the show – they’re not for me, but I’m glad they exist and that some people are mad enough and wealthy enough to buy them.

The London Concours is a different take on a concours event in a location that differs from the usual stately homes or lakeside mansions. Its relatively modest size means that the cars on show are very carefully selected with enough variety to cover most tastes, and that it is now in its ninth year would indicate it has established itself in the ever-growing series of concours events.