Shot! Concours of Elegance 2020
The five most elegant cars at the UK’s first concours of the year
Since the end of March, one by one, I’ve witnessed every single event I was expecting to attend, review and photograph either get cancelled or postponed. In some cases, these were annual events that have been running continuously for years. But as my diary kept getting emptier and emptier, one event stubbornly remained on schedule: the Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace. To be honest, it was one I fully expected to eventually go the way of all the others.
That it was taking place at all surprised me because the Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, originally due to be held at the same venue in July was initially put back to September, a week after the Concours, before eventually being pulled by its organisers, the RHS. As both were outdoor events, it made little sense that one could happen, whilst the other could not. I don’t know the precise reasons why, but I suspect the Garden Festival was logistically more challenging to stage, requiring complex show gardens to be built from scratch and of course needing a huge number of flowers and plants to be at their very best for just a few days.
That’s not to say, staging a major international Concours isn’t without its challenges, especially with all the protocols and uncertainty surrounding Covid-19, not to mention that many of the cars and their owners come from overseas.
As September got ever closer, my eagerness increased as this would be the first major event I’d be going to for six months. In July, I visited West Dean Gardens in West Sussex and a few weeks later, Kew Gardens in London as both re-opened after months of being closed to the public. Both experiences I have to say were adversely affected by the rigorous protocols in place to ensure they were Covid compliant.
So entering the gates of Hampton Court Palace I really wasn’t sure quite what to expect. I anticipated a somewhat pared down event, with fewer cars and significantly fewer people. Unless I’m mistaken, there are usually some 60 Concours cars on display, along with many more that aren’t in the Concours proper. This year, while it felt like there were less cars, there appeared to be more attendees than previous years. Indeed, I heard it was sold out.
However, with the exception of the usual hand sanitisers, there didn’t seem to be any social distancing measures in place and few if any visitors were wearing masks. Indeed, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the pandemic had passed.
My first Concours of Elegance was back in 2012 and this was the fifth I’ve been to. Each time, my modus operandi has been the same. I check the list of entrants, see what looks to be the most interesting and then prioritise photographing those cars, while keeping my eyes open for any others that catch my attention.
This year, there seemed to be a lot more racing cars than usual. I’m not especially interested in them as I prefer cars that are more elegant and particularly those rarities you may never get to see again. So what caught my eye this year? Quite a few actually, but I’ve narrowed it down to just a handful, two of which were in the Concours proper, one which was displayed as a Future Classic and two that were being shown by their manufacturers. Let’s begin with the oldest, and the most elegant of them all.
1938 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante Coupe by Gangloff
I’ve always been drawn to cars from the 30’s, especially those curvacious designs that come under the monicker Goutte d’Eau. It was a special time for automotive design where designers (or more correctly, coachbuilders) discovered aerodynamics and dispensed with rulers to produce gorgeous lozenge-like slippery shapes.
The automobile changed from the traditional square box styling that prevailed into the early Thirties, towards the streamlined tear-drop shapes at the end of the Thirties — a forward-thinking decade that largely established the shape of cars we know today.
This Bugatti is a fabulous example of the genre, albeit somewhat more refined and less embelished than most.
The first thing you notice are the simplicity of its lines and the purity of its proportions. There’s nothing added that doesn’t need to be there and its sweeping curves make for such an elegant shape. And then, there’s the two-tone paintwork: black over purple. It’s an unusual combination, but one that looks absolutely stunning.
Even the turn indicator lights on top of the fenders are little pieces of deco sculpture.
That it survived WW2 is in itself amazing as the car was hidden from the Nazis. Since then it has changed hands quite a few times and changed colour almost as often.
By 1955 it was owned by marque historian Kenneth Ullyet whose former home just happens to be mere yards from Hampton Court Palace.
Ten years after Ullyet died, the Atalante was in poor condition and sold at auction to American collector Peter Ministrelli who was responsible for getting the car back to its original condition, although he chose black over purple rather than its original black over blue colour scheme. I for one am pleased he did so.
As of August 2020, it is once again listed for sale and rightly being described as “one of the most beautiful motor cars.”
Who knows how much it will go for. What I do know is last year, a similar Bugatti also by Gangloff, a 1937 Type 57SC Drop Head Coupe from the Ralph Lauren collection was said to be worth $40 million, making it officially the most expensive car in the world!
1962 Facel Vega Facel II
Aside from Bugatti, there is perhaps no marque that radiates French sophistication and elegance, as much as the Facel Vega.
The flamboyancy of French automotive styling has always garnered admiration, but it’s easy to argue that the works of the 1950s and 1960s were the crème de la crème. From Talbot Lago to Delahaye, these cars were instilled with that inimitable essence of French style, that certain je ne sais quoi.
Founded by Jean Daninos in 1939, Forges et Ateliers de Construction d’Eure-et-Loir (FACEL) originally specialised in the construction of aircraft components and metal furniture. After the war it started supplying car bodies to Panhard, Simca and Ford France, before branching out into automobile manufacture in its own right with the launch of the Vega at the 1954 Paris Salon.
The Vega took its name from the brightest star in the Lyra constellation and featured supremely elegant coupé bodywork welded to a tubular-steel chassis. In the absence of a suitable French-built power unit, Daninos turned to the USA for the Vega’s, choosing Chrysler’s 4.5-litre V8, while there was a choice of push-button automatic or manual transmission
.In its short life, Facel produced less than 3,000 cars, all of which were stylish, luxurious and fast.
The Facel II’s predecessor, the HK500, looked somewhere between an American sedan and an Art Deco sculpture, and set the tone for Facel Vega’s design style. The marque’s first offering was a truly luxurious car with that chic character that was so en vogue.
Although the HK500 was far from lacking in the design department, its replacement, the Facel II, took things to a whole new, outrageously stylish level. As Jean Daninos said at the time:
“The HK500 was the most interesting car we ever made, but the Facel II was the best. It was totally elegant.”
With its sweeping, streamlined profile and gorgeous twin stack headlights, the Facel II was a step forward although some of its design cues were carried over from the HK500, such as the expansive glasshouse and the exquisite rear taillights — set into the fenders like diamonds on the dial of the finest of watches.
Hand built, they were very expensive — the Facel II cost over £5,000 in the early 60s, putting it in the same league as a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III. Owners included royalty, politicians, diplomats and entertainers: Tony Curtis, Danny Kaye, Ringo Starr, Joan Fontaine and Ava Gardner.
Confirming that there was high-performance substance behind Facel’s unquestionable style, they were also owned and driven by the likes of Stirling Moss and Rob Walker.
As good as it was, the Facel II was to be the company’s last attempt to create a luxury GT car in the French tradition. Including the prototype, just 184 were made between October 1961 and May 1964 before Facel ceased production.
2020 Jaguar D-type Continuation
Before the E-type came the D-type. Similar in many ways, the D-type however was a track-focused car, one that you could identity instantly thanks to its iconic fin behind the headrest.
Designed by Malcolm Sayer, the aerodynamicist who had come to Jaguar from the Bristol Aeroplane Company and whose C-type had won Le Mans in 1951 and 1953, the D-type was a striking new introduction with its aircraft-inspired monocoque design, a glorious fusion of voluptuous curves crafted in aluminium.
Its tight ‘cockpit’ also drew aesthetic as well as practical inspiration from contemporary fighter aircraft, all white-on-black dials, toggle switches, rivets and painted metal finishes.
Another distinctive D-type feature was its Dunlop aluminium-alloy disc wheels.
The D-type was produced in two versions: the 1955 short-nose and the 1956 long-nose configuration.
Originally, Jaguar promised to build 100 of its single-seater Le Mans racers, but ended up building just 75, as the company’s autocratic managing director, Sir William Lyons, decided to pull out of motor racing.
This run of 25 can be seen as a fulfilment of Jaguar’s original promise. Powered by the same six-cylinder XK engine as the original cars, the new D-types will be produced to exactly the same specification as the original car which won Le Mans 24 Heures three times between 1955 and 1957.
What drew me to this one was its striking paintwork, sky blue at the front fading to white at the rear. In the bright September sun it looked sensational.
2020 Lotus Evija
Displayed next to the D-type was a car that could not have been more different: Lotus’ brand new Evija. The first all-electric British hypercar was making its public debut. It was also the most contemporary vehicle at the Concours offering a glimpse of the future among a collection almost exclusively drawn from the past.
And just like the D-type, Le Mans played a pivotal role in the development of the car’s slippery styling.
As Lotus Head of Design Russell Carr explains “We studied how Le Mans race cars use air flow creatively to go over, under and around the vehicle, but also through it. This concept of ‘porosity’ is key to the Evija and has enabled us to create a design with exceptional amounts of downforce.”
The car’s beautiful all carbon fibre bodywork is inspired by nature, its surface language appearing to have been carved by the wind.
Pronounced ‘E-vi-ya’, the name means ‘the first in existence’, and heralds the start of a contemporary new design language for the 72-year-old marque. Indeed, the Evija is the first completely new car to be launched under the stewardship of Geely.
2020 Aston Martin Victor
In complete contrast to the Evija, the Victor is a brand new car whose styling is inspired by the past rather than the future. With its atramentous Pentland Green satin paint — a shade so dark it’s almost black — the low slung Victor looks like a brutish muscle car. Indeed, the inspiration for this one-of-one was Aston’s 1980 Vantage and it’s named after Victor Gauntlett, who was the marque’s owner at that time.
Created by Aston’s Q Division, this one-off commission is powered by a 7.3 litre V12, producing 836 bhp, making it the most powerful road-legal naturally aspirated car Aston has produced. And unlike today’s supercars, the Victor has a 6 speed manual gearbox.
Personally, I was drawn more to the Victor’s interior than its exterior. It featured a combination of gorgeous materials: polished titanium, anodised aluminium, exposed carbon, leather and cashmere as well as a solid walnut gear knob and an aircraft-style steering wheel.
But the part of the car I loved the most was its beautiful honeycomb centre-lock wheels.
It deservedly beat the five other contenders in the Future Classics category to take the award. The likelihood is this will be the first and last time the car will be seen.
Details of how much it cost or who commissioned the Victor have not been made public, but its owner is said to be a Belgian collector.
So those were my five favourite cars at this year’s Concours. That two of the quintet weren’t actually part of the Concours proper, is a reflection that many of this year’s entrants just didn’t appeal to me. There were too many racing cars —for my liking — compared with previous years. Indeed, a Le Mans racer, a Porsche 917 from 1969 won best in show. If it had been down to me, I’d have given it to the Type 57 Bugatti, the car that to my eyes was not only the star of the show, but the most elegant car on display, something that was recognised when it received the inaugural Bridge of Weir design award, which honoured a standout car from the concours that exemplified remarkable exterior and interior design.
And, as I keep saying each year, I’d liked to have seen the cars displayed in chronological order, rather than the haphazard way Concours of Elegance always do. I think it just make more sense and is less jarring visually.
On the subject of visuals, I have to commend Hothouse Media for their cover design for this year’s souvenir brochure. Style-wise it was a departure from previous covers with a minimal graphic approach. In many ways, it was a missed opportunity that this look and colourway did not permeate other visual elements of the event, such as signage and branding.
Behind the shot: As always at Concours of Elegance, getting great shots of the cars is never easy. It’s almost impossible to photograph one without the reflection of another in its bodywork or chrome, or without people, their shadows or their reflection in the shot. I wasn’t there for Friday’s arrival when the cars are driven in (or for Sunday’s Grand Depart when they drive off) so had to shoot the cars on static display. Because of this, over the years I’ve tended to focus on tight compositions. One of the best places to photograph the cars is across the pond when they drive round it to the Concours stage. Unfortunately, this year the fountain was turned off making that shot less visually pleasing. On Saturday, the sun shone brightly all day, creating additional shadow problems for me, making it especially difficult to get the shots I was hoping for. That being said, the challenge as always is to come away with a set of interesting images, so given the circumstances, I’m happy with many of those I did get.
About the author: Based in Sussex-by-the-Sea, on England’s south coast, Gary is a creative writer and image-maker. He specialises in out of the ordinary portraits of musicians and people with interesting faces, as well as photographing some of the world’s finest flowers, gardens and automobiles.
