Alfa Romeo and Porsche on top at Heveningham Concours 2023

By Lizzie Pope

| 9 Jul 2023

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo and Porsche on top at Heveningham Concours 2023

A 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Le Mans Tourer (above) claimed the Best Pre-War crown at this weekend’s Heveningham Concours.

At the event’s sixth running, the 50-strong contest in Suffolk on 8-9 July also saw a 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR take Best Post-War honours.

In the same class, a distinctive, yellow-hued 1959 Aston Martin DB4 received an honourable mention and was possibly the display’s only concours contender that’s towed a caravan in its life.

A misfire saw it fall out of use in 1982, but when Roger Bennington bought it in 2006, he ensured this car was restored, paying attention to the details of early examples like this, and those efforts were recognised this weekend.

This Martini-liveried Porsche 911 RSR was the post-war winner at Heveningham Concours 2023

In the pre-war division, a 1936 SS Jaguar 100 Special was announced as the runner-up by the judging panel that comprised racing driver Marino Franchitti, designers Peter Stevens and Tony Hatter, and ’bike racer Max Hunt.

Chassis 18008, ‘Old Number Eight’, started as a standard roadgoing car with a 2.5-litre engine, then in 1938 was campaigned on the International Alpine Trial by racer and journalist Tommy Wisdom, alongside his wife Elsie who was navigating, and the pair won the Coupe des Glaciers.

Later in its life, future Jaguar engineer Walter Hassan used it for speed trials and hillclimbs, plus it lapped Brooklands in 1939 at 125mph – and it’s still raced today.

Heveningham Concours is a charity fundraiser as well as a concours

The younger cars at Heveningham Concours vied for the Supercar accolade and while the one-of-89 2022 Praga Bohema was runner-up, it was a 2023 Ferrari Daytona SP3, owned by event host Jon Hunt, that scooped the top prize.

Other cars on show in the mouth-watering line-up along the house’s terraced lawns included an impressive Barker-bodied 1912 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Torpedo Phaeton Tourer named ‘Taj Mahal’ by its maker because it was sold to the Maharaja of Nabha and kept by the family for nearly eight decades, a pair of pre-war Ford hot rods and a 1923 Bugatti Type 13 Brescia previously owned by John Ogle and Hamish Moffatt, and campaigned in Vintage Sports-Car Club events in period.

Among the cars paying tribute to the centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans was a 1931 Bentley 4½ Litre, fresh from the previous weekend’s Le Mans Classic – it was driven to and from the event, and in the Benjafield’s Racing Club contest, and unlike its fellow concours stars wore its road miles with pride.

The history of Le Mans was marked by cars including this 1931 Bentley (left) and 1998 Mercedes-Benz CLK LM

A McLaren F1 GTR was also part of the Le Mans celebration, the car at Heveningham Concours being the Harrods-livered entrant of Derek Bell, Justin Bell and Andy Wallace that led the race’s 1995 edition until gearbox problems with two hours remaining, but it still came home third.

Mercedes-Benz’s Le Mans efforts were represented by a CLK LM of the type that qualified first and third at the 24-hour enduro in ’98.

The marque’s Stuttgart rival, Porsche, was also out in force. The 956 in which Ayrton Senna contested his only sports-car race, the Nürburgring 1000km, and which later finished third at Le Mans in 1986, was joined by the 962C in which Derek Bell, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Klaus Ludwig fought back to finish second in 1988.

Images: Chris Gage/Lizzie Pope

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