21 rare cars at Concours of Elegance 2022

Seldom seen stars

Some 80 concours cars gathered at Hampton Court Palace on 2-4 September, with more from dealers, car clubs and auction house Gooding & Company, among others, for 2022’s Concours of Elegance.

To pick the most impressive out of such a rich selection was a difficult task, but these caught our attention as particularly rare finds and cars you might not see anywhere else, making this event one of the year’s more special classic car occasions.

1. 1927 Avions Voisin C14 Lumineuse

The C14 Lumineuse is Avions Voisin’s most sought-after model, a relatively compact Art Deco design making use of the famous Voisin sleeve-valve engine, which ran almost silently.

Adding to the Art Deco appeal of this C14 is its recently painted bodywork, inspired by a Georges Lepape artwork deployed on a cover of Vogue magazine, which also featured a Voisin.

It was consigned to Gooding & Company’s auction at the event.

2. 1933 Delage D8S

One of just four Delage D8S Coupés built, the D8S is in many ways France’s Bentley 8 Litre, being a new, luxurious model developed just in time for the Great Depression.

It proved a flop, in the circumstances, and helped pave the way for the financial collapse of the company. This car, bodied by Letourneur et Marchand, is one of the two surviving examples.

3. 1953 Bristol 404 Coupé

The original prototype for the Bristol 404 Coupé, this was the personal car of the chairman of Bristol Cars, George White, who insisted on retaining the rear fin that was deleted for the 51 series-production cars.

Though the fin was removed in 1965, the original mounting point and brackets remained – the wing was recreated and refitted by its present owner.

4. 1958 Aston Martin DB2/4 MkIII

Part of the Aston Martin Owners’ Club display at the Concours of Elegance, this DB2/4 MkIII was one of the 551 built in just a two-year period.

The end of the line for Aston Martin’s Lagonda straight-six-powered cars, many also consider it the prettiest, plus this is the car on which the now-familiar Aston Martin grille shape made its debut.

5. 1958 Citroën DS Chapron Le Paris

Chapron built just nine Le Paris cars, an unofficial conversion of the DS from four-door saloon to two-door.

The majority of the nine also feature a large vertical chrome strip on the rear wing, borrowed from his cabriolet conversion, La Croisette. This earlier Le Paris, however, is one of the very few not to be fitted with this adornment.

6. 1961 Austin-Healey 3000

Built by BMC’s Competitions Department in Abingdon, this works rally-spec 3000 is thought to be one of the most original of the 30 works 3000s built.

It scored a class win in the 1961 Acropolis Rally, the livery it wears today. It was later purchased by BMC driver Rauno Aaltonen for his own ice racing pursuits in Finland.

A local student bought the car from him three years later, and the car remained in the same hands for 50 years, preserving its originality.

7. 1963 ATS 2500GT

Spawned from the corporate falling out at Ferrari that saw four of the firm’s most influential employees walk out in 1961, ATS tried to take on the Prancing Horse on both the road and track – with little success in either.

The firm’s road car, the 2500GT, was the better effort, even if only 11 were built, featuring a chassis designed by Bizzarrini and styling by Scaglione.

8. 1966 Vaxuhall PB Cresta

A rare car? Yes.

Though once commonplace, PB Crestas are now very rare cars, having never found quite the following the American-esque PA Cresta has.

This 1966 example was runner-up in the Club Trophy at Concours of Elegance 2022, presented by the Royal Automobile Club in association with Classic & Sports Car.

It was owned by the same family for more than three decades, initially serving as a hard-working family car, before recent restoration has brought it back to as-new condition.

9. 1971 Lamborghini Miura SV

Finished in Giallo Arancio, this Miura SV is what many consider the ultimate form of Lamborghini, and the world’s first mid-engine supercar.

The SV brought a power increase to 385bhp and wider rear tyres, while this, one of the last 96 cars built, is fitted with a split sump, a desirable feature that reduces engine wear.

This restored car is a German-spec Miura, which had slightly thinner grilles.

10. 1976 Jensen GT

A last roll of the dice from Jensen before the company went into receivership, the GT enclosed the Jensen-Healey in attractive shooting-brake bodywork.

Still powered by the Lotus-sourced 907 engine, just over 500 were built in a production run that lasted under a year. This 1976 was one of two in the Jensen Owners’ Club display at the event.

11. Aston Martin DB5 V8 prototype

How better to develop the idea of a V8 Aston Martin than to clothe a DB6 chassis in DB5 bodywork and to shoehorn in the 5.3-litre unit that would later motivate the V8 Vantage?

Newport Pagnell produced this sensational experiment in 1966 and, fortunately, it escaped the factory in later years and has just recently come out of private storage.

12. Bizzarrini’s work van

The modest Fiat 238 van before you has seen more than just the resurrection of the Bizzarrini name, being used as its current works van for a flash of nostalgia and the occasional parts run.

It was, in fact, used by the original maker in the 1960s and was kept by the family for the intervening years until being lightly restored for use today.

13. De Tomaso Mangusta

This is one of the very last of De Tomaso’s mid-engined, Giorgetto Giugiaro-designed Mangustas made before attention was shifted to the Pantera.

As one of the final 55 produced out of 401, this left a factory not in Italy but in Landau, near Stuttgart, Germany.

Following a restoration, it looks stunning today and its gullwing engine covers drew lots of attention at Concours of Elegance 2022.

14. Dubonnet Hispano-Suiza H6B Xenia

Beneath the stunningly futuristic body, designed by Jacques Saoutchik, lies a car that showcases the advances in engineering made in the 1930s.

Based on an Hispano-Suiza chassis, this unique creation by André Dubonnet showcases his design for independent suspension. It also has servo-assisted brakes and an all-aluminium, aerospace-derived 135bhp six-cylinder engine.

15. Ferrari 250GT Europa

This was the last Ferrari to be bodied by Vignale, which, when looking at this 1954 250GT Europa, seems a shame.

Its swooping sides and curved windscreen ooze total glamour, appropriate for its first owner, the Belgian Princess Lilian de Réthy. A curious feature of the interior is a cubbyhole in which a bottle of champagne fits perfectly.

16. Jensen Sports Tourer

A car shrouded in mystery until only very recently, this 1935 Jensen S1 Sports Tourer is a prototype of the aluminium-bodied, lightweight sporting type, although it differs slightly from the production version.

Known as ‘The White Lady’, it features independent front suspension ahead of its Ford V8, and its full restoration has just been completed.

17. Lancia Flaminia Sport Zegato

One of the early Zagato-bodied Flaminias, this beautiful piece of Italian elegance features the three-carb 3C engine, making 138bhp, and is finished in the unusual but flattering shade of Bruno Tropicale.

Offered for sale at Gooding & Company’s auction at Concours of Elegance, it is one of around 30 left.

18. Packard Twelves

Yes, we are cheating here a bit with six cars, rather than one.

These six spectacular Packard Twelves, built between 1934 and 1938, lined up in proud formation for the concours.

They came together from the JBS Collection near Chicago, and the Art Deco lines and beautiful detailing of these bewitching symbols of the American 1930s high-life captured the attentions of many at Concours of Elegance.

19. Porsche 356 ‘Split-window’

A rare, ‘split-window’ Porsche, this pre-A 356 is one of the first 1000 cars built by the fledgling Germany sports-car maker.

It’s made even more special by its stunning Radium Green colour, which has been meticulously restored with nitrocellulose paint and months-long curing periods.

20. Riley MPH Sports Two-Seater

You might describe the 1934 Riley MPH Sports Two-Seater as Britain’s Alfa Romeo, with its straight-six engine and rakish sports body.

That overhead-valve, 1726cc unit made 70bhp at a heady 4800rpm, helping the car achieve competition success.

However, very few were made, just 16 in total, and this one sold at Gooding & Company’s auction on Saturday 3 September for £250,000.

21. Rolls-Royce Phantom III Sports Saloon

It’s not often you see a Phantom wearing such streamlined coachwork, but this Gurney Nutting Sports Saloon is an exception.

Made to a unique design by the Chelsea coachbuilders, it was supplied originally to an American owner in Illinois but returned to the UK in 1954. Today it is for sale with specialists Frank Dale & Stepsons in Surrey.