The third edition of Salon Privé London took place at the Royal Hospital Chelsea on April 18-20, 2024, treating over 18,000 visitors to its most impressive line-up of vehicles yet.
Salon Privé London is set apart from other concours by its innovative Concours de Vente format, which requires every vehicle entered to be for sale. Although this format remained at the heart of the event, 2024 also brought plenty of non-sale attractions, as well as a record-breaking gathering of 14 Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercars.
As ever, luxury marques such as Rolls-Royce, Range Rover, Porsche and, of course, Aston Martin seized the opportunity to showcase their latest creations.
Over 50 cars were displayed on the manicured lawns of the Royal Chelsea Hospital for this year’s Concours de Vente competition
One example was the public debut of the new Aston Martin Vantage. Its display at Salon Privé London coincided with the international press launch in Spain, and represents the first all-new model created since the brand was purchased by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll.
Polestar was another manufacturer debuting a new model: the all-electric Polestar 4 SUV. The Scandinavian company has gone from strength to strength since being acquired by Geely in 2017. A further Geely-owned brand, Lotus, was also on hand with its own electric SUV, the Eletre.
Porsche, meanwhile, celebrated 50 years of its iconic 911 Turbo by showcasing its latest iteration of the model, alongside the new Taycan Turbo. The new cars were complemented by an incredible display of 50 Porsche 911 Turbos, which included one of only 11 964 Turbo S Leichtbau models.
MG and Maserati were marking important milestones of their own. MG celebrated its 100th anniversary with the spiritual successor to its MGB, sports car, the all-electric Cyberster, while Maserati honoured its 75th birthday with the new Grecale SUV and GranTurismo GT, as well as the MC20 Cielo supercar.
Fittingly, legendary Formula 1 designer Adrian Newey was present to witness the record Aston Martin Valkyrie display. Newey helped to create the Valkyrie in partnership with Red Bull Advanced Technologies, during the days when Aston was closely associated with Red Bull Racing F1. The Valkyries were joined by other limited-edition Astons: two One-77s, a Vulcan and a V12 Speedster.
Another highlight was the first-ever public presentation of four cars that chart the evolution of the LaFerrari hypercar. Assembled by Carrs Ferrari, the line-up began with a standard 458 Italia, which was the model chosen as the LaFerrari testing mule. It was joined by the MP09 and MP10 prototypes, as well as a production-spec LaFerrari.
SuperVettura, official retail partner for hypercar builder Koenigsegg, brought along one of the few cars that could compete with the Valkyrie for pure drama and performance. The model in question was the track-focused Jesko, which is capable of developing up to 1600bhp from its 5.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8. Salon Privé London was the first time the Jesko had been shown on UK soil.
Over 50 cars were displayed on the manicured lawns of the Royal Chelsea Hospital for this year’s Concours de Vente competition. The Prix d’Honneur prize was awarded to Vintage Bentley’s 1930 Bentley Speed Six. It is one of only two close-couple coupés built, and is the only surviving example in existence. Fresh from a nut-and-bolt restoration, the pre-war Bentley was also named the Class 3 winner for cars costing over £1m, ahead of Dylan Miles’ immaculate 1960 Aston Martin DB4 GT.
A 1972 BMW 3.0 CSL ‘Batmobile’ was awarded the Class 1 prize for cars worth up to £250,000, with Joe Macari’s 1955 Jaguar XK140 Drophead Coupé taking the runner-up spot.
Meanwhile, it was Furlonger Specialist Cars’ 1983 Lamborghini Countach 5000S, with just 1780 miles on the clock, that was named the winner. Finished in black, the iconic 1980s supercar formed part of a Yin and Yang display, alongside another example, this time in white.
Joe Macari’s purposeful Ferrari F40 GT took home the People’s Choice award, while P&A Wood’s 1966 Rolls-Royce Phantom V Touring Limousine was named the winner of the Pensioners’ Trophy.
Dates for Salon Privé London 2025 will be announced in due course – but in the meantime, enthusiasts can look forward to the 19th edition of the Salon Privé Concours at Blenheim Palace, which takes place from August 28-31, 2024. For tickets and more information, click here.
