The Salon Prive Concours d'Elegance took place at the start of September at Blenheim Palace, PistonHeads attending a rain-soaked Pirelli Prestige & Performance Competition concours for post-'76 supercars. Sadly the weather called a halt to some of the parades and meant the one-off Lamborghini Miura Roadster had to remain under its covers.
Despite this there was still a vast range of fast, rare and valuable cars on display for visitors to drool over. The show held host to everything from a 'barn find' Mercedes Benz 190SL in the Silverstone Auction to a full carbon Pagani Zonda F in the car park. Cars entered in the Pirelli Prestige & Performance Competition were judged on Saturday afternoon during a short parade around the palace grounds.
PistonHeads joined a small convoy from Topaz Detailing in North London to the event. Cars in the convoy included a Pagani Huayra Pacchetto Tempesta, Porsche 918 Spyder, Porsche Carrera GT and McLaren 675LT Spider.
The show this year was the
official unveiling
of the Koenigsegg Agera RS Nayara - the first customer Agera RS in Europe. The car features blue-tinted carbon fibre with gold leaf as well as a 1,160hp twin-turbo V8.
In total there were five examples of the Swedish supercar there, including the CCX and even a One:1.
Classic cars had a healthy representation at both in the main show and the parade, with both owners and dealerships displaying their vehicles. This pair of 300SLs caught our attention; it's not often that you get to see the Gullwing and Roadster side by side!
Many performance and luxury car manufacturers had vehicles on display at the show such as the new limited edition Ferrari F12 TDF, and the unique
458MM Speciale
Another unique Italian supercar present was the built-for-China
Pagani Huayra Dinastia
, featuring a shark-like fin on the engine cover and the head of a dragon painted onto the blue-tinted carbon bodywork. It won 'best interior' of the show.
The limited-run Lamborghini Centenario made its UK debut at Salon Prive. Or did it? Upon closer inspection the Centenario on display wasn't a production car, but rather a model without an engine. It was even pushed out after the show, with Lamborghini employees keen that no one saw this.
A car show of this calibre naturally attracts people who own incredible cars themselves. As a result, the car park at Blenheim was crammed with gorgeous cars. Highlights that we came across included this Weissach Package Porsche 918 Spyder, a Pagani Zonda F, Ferrari 599 GTOs and more.
Another Salon Prive car park spot - this time the super rare 997 GT2 RS.
This never before seen in public Pagani Zonda 760RS stole the show. The car was formerly the Zonda 760RSJX, but has been redesigned by Pagani, giving a look very similar to Lewis Hamilton's 760LH. The Zonda arguably turned most heads all weekend, and was deservedly awarded the Pirelli Prestige & Performance Competition 'best in show'.
1 / 11