Huge plans for elite London concours both this year and in 2014

| 7 Jun 2013

As prestigious concours Salon Privé announced its plans for 4-6 September 2013, the big news was the revelation that an extra, 'public' day will be added to the exclusive classic garden party in 2014.

There was no hint of what entry will cost, but the plan is to clear out the lobster and champagne and bring in traditional catering for the Saturday and a greatly reduced ticket price so many more people can enjoy the event at Syon Park.

Organiser Andrew Bagley said: "We have shied away from acknowledging it in the past, but we have to accept that we are an elitist event, a celebration of wealth.

"But we and our exhibitors are keen to make Salon Privé more accessible to a great deal more people so they too can enjoy this unique collection of motor cars in London.

"From 2014 that will become a reality, with the addition of an extra day that we hope will attract between 10,000 and 20,000 visitors on its own."

That would massively boost the gate to an event that currently sells about 5000 tickets over three days.

There are plenty of changes on the cards for 2013 as well.

Due to demand from concours entrants, the tour will now take an entire day on Tuesday 3 September.

Starting at the RAC Club in Epsom the Chubb Insurance-backed road rally will travel to Mercedes-Benz World for exclusive track time, and then visit Brooklands Museum, including photos of the 52 cars on the banking, before heading to the Duke of Northumberland's Brentford estate.

Organisers estimate that up to 5000 members of the public will see the tour at M-B World.

Another major change is that the concours judging, previously held on the final day of the event, will switch to the first, Wednesday 4 September.

As well the unique Walter Koeng-styled 1949 Riley 105 Transformable (above), early entrants include legendary Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato '2 VEV' and the beautiful one-off Lindner-Nocker factory Low Drag Lightweight E-type.

There will also be a 1927 Fiacre-bodied Bugatti T38 and a 1947 Cisitalia 202 MM Spider.

Classes range from 100 Years of Aston Martin to a dedicated Pininfarina group and the judging panel for 2013 will again be led by Derek Bell, who will be joined by Murray Walker, Sandra Button and Andrea Zagato amongst others.

The Porsche 911, Lamborghini and the Birth of the Barchetta will also be celebrated.

Each day a different classic car club will be invited to display its wares in Lime Avenue opposite the main entrance. In the afternoon, they will move inside the show, with parades and a select few important cars on show outside the Great Conservatory.

The rota for 2013 is Porsche Club GB on Wednesday, the Ferrari Owners' Club on Thursday (Boodles' Ladies Day) and the Aston Martin Owners' Club on the Audemard Piguet Super Car Friday.

One exciting innovation for this year will be a link-up with the Royal College of Art, asking students to reinterpret the great concours cars of the past for the future. Their efforts will be on display at Salon Prive and the winner will receive a trip to Milan to spend the day with Andrea Zagato.

The front lawn of the house will as usual be dominated by modern fare, including new special areas for hypercars, plus concepts and prototypes.

Interesting UK appearances expected in 2013 include the Vencer Sarthe from Holland, Mexican Vuhl, Rimca and Icona, Spyker V6 Venator (above), Alfa Zagato TZ3, Ford Evos – with a quartet of gullwing doors – and the Lightning GT.

There will also be the EFG-sponsored Art and Memorabilia Fayre and a Luxury Retail Village.

Andrew Bagley added: "In 2006 Salon Privé was just a supercar event, a great supercar event, but a small one at the Hurlingham Club. It has now grown so much that last year we struggled to get the doors closed at 5.30pm because so many people were still there.

"With 80 cars on the concours lawn, it is now the largest event of its type in the UK. Salon Privé is going to be here this year, next year and in five years or 15 years time."

For more details or to book tickets, see the event's website.