WORDS: ELLIOTT HUGHES | PHOTOGRAPHY: SALON PRIVÉ
The inaugural Salon Privé London concours d’elegance is slated to get underway at the Royal Hospital Chelsea from April 21-23, 2022. The organisers are striving for the event to emulate the success of the original Salon Privé, which has grown into one of the UK’s premier concours since it was first held in 2006.
Salon Privé London’s spring-time position in the calendar means that it will effectively open the European concours season while also serving as one of the first manufacturer-attended concours events on the continent.
“In recent years, more and more luxury automotive brands have been favouring the upmarket, more experiential concours environment in which to globally launch their new models,” event co-founder David Bagley explained. “With an early Q2 dateline, Salon Privé London will be the first European automotive event in the calendar offering manufacturers the opportunity to present new model debuts early in the year from a highly visible capital location.”
Event organisers explain in a press release that they believe the metropolitan setting of the concours will help to deliver an “energetic, vibrant and party atmosphere”, worthy of a season-opener. The setting and atmosphere will also distinguish Salon Privé London from its sister event at Blenheim Palace, which promotes a more genteel ambience.
There is more to Salon Privé London than its opulent location in the UK capital, too. Contrary to traditional concours, everything displayed at the event must be purchasable, potentially marking it out as an essential destination for car collectors.
This characteristic means that unlike other established concours, the new event won’t feature privately owned automobiles as is traditionally the case. Salon Privé London has termed its unique concours d’elegance “Concours de Vente”, and promises that it will feature 60 of “the very best collector cars from the UK and Europe’s specialist dealers”.
“This is a world exclusive,” said co-founder Andrew Bagley. “It’s an opportunity for the global elite collector car dealers to take centre stage themselves and enter a car in the inaugural Salon Privé London Concours de Vente with all the cars in the new concours for sale across the three days of the event.”
For more information on Salon Privé London, click here.
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