A royal get-together
Classic cars will once again fill Hampton Court Palace’s magnificent Great Fountain Garden when Concours of Elegance returns to west London from 5-7 September 2025.
Planning to go to this year’s show? Here’s Classic & Sports Car’s helpful guide.
There will be 60 cars competing for the coveted Best in Show trophy (last year’s winner was an Inskip-bodied 1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III Convertible) but that’s not all: the Restoration Showcase, Levitt Concours, Club Trophy and more will present plenty more eye-catching classics.
Plus, it’s not too late to make the most of Classic & Sports Car’s ticket offer. Get 20% off by using the promotional code CSC25 when you click here to buy your tickets.
1. Classic & Sports Car’s pre-1990 car park
Before you enter Concours of Elegance you’ll be greeted by a fantastic line-up of cars in Classic & Sports Car’s dedicated pre-1990 car park, located over the road from Hampton Court Palace.
So, if you’re arriving in a classic and want to be involved, make sure you claim your parking pass when you buy tickets with C&SC’s offer.
Click here for tickets, use the code CSC25 to get your 20% discount, then click ‘Extras’ and enter the code PRE1990 to claim your free car park pass, too.
2. See this unique Rolls-Royce
This Rolls-Royce Phantom I, also known as The Phantom of Love, will be one of the stars in the main concours – and will be vying for Best in Show silverware.
The 99-year-old car was a gift from Clarence Gasque, the UK financial director for Woolworth shops, to his wife, Maude, an heiress to the retail company.
Gasque, who was a fan of 18th-century French furniture, tasked Wolverhampton coachbuilder Charles Clark & Son Ltd to build this no-expense-spared Rolls-Royce.
The Rococo-style interior features tapestries from Aubusson in France.
3. Restored classics
The brand-new Restoration Showcase, in partnership with Classic & Sports Car, will welcome world-class specialists and their cars to Hampton Court Palace.
C&SC’s international editor, Mick Walsh, will interview the restorers about their projects on the stage, before announcing the overall winner.
Look out for Turner Classics’ ‘barn-find’ Maserati Bora, which won the Restoration Showcase at companion event London Concours in June; that victory earned it a space at September’s Concours of Elegance.
4. Forgotten sports cars
Guy Ligier hoped to challenge the best sports cars from Italy with his eponymous firm.
The roadgoing JS2 was conceived to homologate the Pietro Frua-designed JS1 for motorsport.
Reportedly, fewer than 100 were built and there are just 40 or so survivors.
The example that will be displayed at September’s Concours of Elegance (pictured) was once owned and restored by Michel Têtu, who was the JS2’s lead engineer.
5. A special stash
A private collection of Ferraris and Porsches will be exhibited together for the first time at Concours of Elegance.
The Collector class will put the spotlight on this single enthusiast’s spectacular hoard, which includes a Ferrari F40 LM and a 288GTO, plus a Targa Florio-winning Porsche 911 RSR (above) and a 911 GT1 Evo.
6. Concours classes
The Best in Show award might be the main attraction, but there are some other trophies also up for grabs.
The Levitt Concours – named after racing driver and journalist Dorothy Levitt – will gather a set of 20 classics owned by women, while the Thirty Under 30 category will celebrate a group of cars owned by young enthusiasts.
In the Junior Concours, small-scale recreations – from Austin pedal cars to miniature race cars – will compete for top honours.
7. Coachbuilt Ferraris
A trio of Vignale-bodied Ferraris will be among the showstopping classic cars at Concours of Elegance 2025.
Two 1951 Ferrari 212 Exports – a remarkably original barchetta (above) and a one-of-two cabriolet – will join the last 250MM Vignale Spyder Series II built.
Will one of them be crowned Best in Show?
8. Famous racers
This Jaguar D-type was campaigned by an American privateer in the 1950s.
Owner-driver Walter Huggler’s first race was at Convair Field in Pennsylvania and it later competed at Watkins Glen and Harewood Acres.
Perhaps its most high-profile outing was the 1956 Governor’s Trophy race at Bahamas Speed Week, where it went up against Alfonso de Portago, Phil Hill, Carroll Shelby and Stirling Moss.
See it at Concours of Elegance from 5-7 September 2025.
9. The Club Trophy
A selection of car clubs from across the UK will curate displays at Concours of Elegance.
On 6 September, the 30-strong showcase will be scrutinised by a panel of judges and the winner will be awarded The Club Trophy, presented by the Royal Automobile Club, and secure an invitation to take part in next year’s main concours.
Keep an eye out for the 1950 Jaguar XK120 (above) which won last year.
10. Rare Aston Martins
Aston Martin fans are in for a treat at Concours of Elegance.
Two historic models, a DB3S – one of three closed-cockpit examples built – and an LM8 racing car, will be on show.
The latter finished seventh overall at Le Mans in 1932 and claimed the Rudge-Whitworth Cup.
11. A BMW M1 with a story
Look out for this one-owner BMW M1 in the main concours.
It was bought by BMW dealer Tim Hignett, who, in 1982, took the supercar on a European tour for his honeymoon.
In 1984, it lapped the Nürburgring as part of celebrations for the then-new Grand Prix circuit.
A few years later, Hignett drove the M1 to Nice for a BMW show, but it was stolen from an underground car park. Luckily, he was reunited with the car a few months later.
12. Leaving celebrations
If you’re at Concours of Elegance on 7 September, make sure you stay for the Grand Depart.
The parade will take place after the awards ceremony on Sunday afternoon.
All 60 concours cars will leave Hampton Court Palace en masse.
It will be an opportunity to see and hear some of the world’s rarest and most expensive cars on the move.
13. F1 racers
Formula One reaches its 75th anniversary in 2025, and Concours of Elegance is set to mark the occasion with a trio of single-seaters.
One of the sport’s pioneering racing cars, a 1956 Maserati 250F, will be joined by the 1970 March 701 driven by Johnny Servoz-Gavin and François Cevert, and a Ferrari 639.
The latter was a prototype built to test the Prancing Horse’s new semi-automatic gearbox.
There will also be some historic Mercedes-Benz cars. Find out more on the next slide…
14. Mercedes-Benz legends
A trio of Mercedes-Benz cars – including one of Juan Manuel Fangio’s race-winning W196Rs (above) – will be at Concours of Elegance.
Fangio finished first at the 1955 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort in this car, chassis 13, on his way to his third F1 title.
The rare set also includes one of Sir Lewis Hamilton’s 2014 W05 F1 cars, plus Mercedes’ rotary-powered C111-II experimental vehicle.
15. Lotus Esprit at 50
F1’s 75th anniversary won’t be the only motoring milestone celebrated at Concours of Elegance. The event will also commemorate the Lotus Esprit’s half century.
On 6 September, Club Lotus will bring together a selection of Esprits, covering the model’s 28-year production run.
Expect examples of early four-cylinder cars and end-of-the-line V8s, plus some of the cars that came between them.
Concours of Elegance returns from 5-7 September 2025, and Classic & Sports Car readers can be there for less. Get 20% off by using the promotional code CSC25 when you click here to buy tickets.