C&SC has ten pairs of tickets to this year’s Chelsea AutoLegends to give away.
The show takes place at London’s Royal Hospital Chelsea and the tickets are worth £40 a pair and all you have to do to stand a chance of winning is to enter the competition on our competitions page.
This year’s Chelsea AutoLegends is set to be even better than last year’s inaugural event, thanks to a raft of iconic cars celebrating several themes.
Le Mans will again be a central inspiration for the event with a turnout charting the history of the legendary 24 Hour race, from the Bentleys that ruled the late 1920s and Aston Martins and Jaguars that dominated the ’50s, to the current pacesetters from Peugeot and Audi.
The golden anniversary of Jaguar’s iconic E-type will be celebrated too, with several of famous examples – including the 1 VHP (the first production E-=type), ECD 400 - the first E-type to win a race - and 848 CRY, the Roadster that was famously remodelled by the Mafia’s bulldozer in the film, The Italian Job.
The group of sporting Cats will be joined by the most famous E-type of all: 9600 HP – the oldest surviving E-type and the original Autocar road test car. It will be joined by the top ten cars from a poll of Autocar’s recent 5000th road test.
The E-types will also highlight the event’s 1960s theme, inspired by nearby Kings Road’s role as the epicentre of the Swinging Sixties.
Also boasting links to the area is AutoLegends anticipated Invicta turnout to honour the great 1930s Bentley rival’s production (in its latter days) at nearby Flood Street. Star attraction will be the S-type that Donald Healey drove to victory in the 1931 Monte Carlo Rally.
And adding to the event’s theme and the E-type’s golden anniversary will be a couple of Monte Carlo Mini Coopers, to mark the model’s 50th year while one of the Mini’s most famous drivers – rally legend Paddy Hopkirk will be on hand to meet fans of the front-wheel drive icon.
The rally theme will extend to a display of monster Group B era icons, with a Metro 6R4, LAncia Delta S4 and 037 and an Audi Sport Quattro just some of the top attractions.
Hopkirk will be joined by a number of other key motorsport personalities, including rally ace Russell Brookes, Le Mans winner Richard Attwood and event patron Sir Stirling Moss.
Sir Stirling’s epic race career will be celebrated with one the star cars on the day: Ferrari 250GT SWB he blasted to victory in the 1961 Goodwood TT. The SWB will be part of a display of cars campaigned by British privateer teams that took on the mighty Works teams, with tribute line-ups of the cars run by Rob Walker, Colonel Ronnie Hoare, Tommy Sopwith and John Coombs.
And this year’s AutoLegends won’t be limited to classic racing fare: the inaugural Supercar Run by C&SC sister title, Pistonheads – in association with The Sunday Times will feature a host of Lamborghinis, Ferraris and even McLarens – along with Koenigseggs and Moslers – will start at the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall and arrive at the show around midday.
See: www.chelseaautolegends.com for more.
Graeme Hurst