Bond Aston Martin DB5 leads British legends at Concours of Elegance

By Ryan Standen

| 22 Aug 2023

Classic & Sports Car – Bond DB5 among British legends heading to Concours of Elegance

From motorsport greats to a gadget-laden Aston Martin, a class of prominent British classic cars is heading to this year’s Concours of Elegance on 1-3 September.

The new British Rarities class features models from Bentley, Aston Martin and McLaren.

They will join a display of around 60 concours cars at next month’s event at Hampton Court Palace.

Q Branch upgrades set this Aston Martin DB5 apart

One of the stars will be an Aston Martin DB5 used to promote the James Bond film Thunderball.

Part of the Pearl Collection that belongs to prolific collector Fritz Burkard – who will be displaying a number of cars at Hampton Court Palace – the Silver Birch DB5 is fitted with a retractable smoke screen and rotating numberplates.

It was one of two DB5s ordered by the franchise’s production studio to market the 1965 release.

Peter Collins and Stirling Moss steered this Aston Martin DB3S/9 to second at Le Mans in 1956

Another historic Aston Martin, a 1956 DB3S/9, is heading to Concours of Elegance.

This car achieved a second-place finish at the 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans in the hands of Peter Collins and Stirling Moss, and was then campaigned at Oulton Park and Goodwood, with Moss, Roy Salvadori and Tony Brooks taking turns in the driver’s seat.

Its racing career finished with Australian David McKay, who piloted the DB3S/9 to victory on its first appearance at Bathurst, in 1958, and he claimed eight more first-place finishes in it, too.

This 4½ Litre rounded off Bentley’s 1-2-3-4 finish at the 1929 Le Mans 24-hour race

Alongside the 1929 Speed Six ‘Old Number One’ and 2003 Speed 8, which have already been confirmed as part of a display of Le Mans winners, a 1928 4½ Litre will join the line-up of historic Bentleys.

The car heading to Hampton Court Palace in September finished fourth in the 1929 24 Hours of Le Mans, behind two other 4½ Litres and the race-winning Speed Six.

Following a successful competition career that included appearances at the Irish TT and the Double Twelve at Brooklands, the car was used in a 1960s Shell Oil advert and, more recently, has been shown at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on multiple occasions.

Lewis Hamilton achieved his first F1 victory in this McLaren MP4/22A

One of Lewis Hamilton’s first Formula One cars, a McLaren MP4/22A, is sure to draw a crowd at Hampton Court Palace.

The car at Concours of Elegance will be the one in which Hamilton scored his first two pole positions and race wins, the latter in 2007 at the Canadian and United States Grands Prix.

In the same year, Fernando Alonso, then Hamilton’s teammate, also drove the car to victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The class of British classic cars is heading to Hampton Court Palace on 1-3 September, alongside almost 1000 other vehicles

“Many of the UK’s most venerable marques past and present will be represented in a display incorporating everything from Le Mans machinery dating back to the dawn of endurance racing, through to the ultimate 21st century Formula One winners and roadgoing hypercars,” said James Brooks-Ward, Concours of Elegance CEO.

The cars in the British Rarities class will join a Frua-bodied Maserati, a unique Hoffman X-8, a double Le Mans-winning Ferrari and more when Concours of Elegance is back at Hampton Court Palace on 1-3 September 2023.

As a Classic & Sports Car reader, you can enjoy our exclusive 2-for-1 ticket offer – and you can join our tour to the event, too.

Check out our highlights from last year’s event here.

Images: Concours of Elegance/Luke Freeman

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