The UK’s Salon Privé Concours d’Elegance returns to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire from August 27-31, 2025, and this special 20th-anniversary edition promises to be particularly spectacular, introducing a host of improvements and innovations. The raft of enhancements softens the blow of Salon Privé London‘s cancellation, which was confirmed late last week due to a lack of manufacturer support.
First held in 2006 at London’s Hurlingham Club, Salon Privé has grown into one of the world’s most prestigious concours d’elegance events. Its stature is reflected not only in the exceptional quality of entries – past winners include a 1957 Ferrari 335 S, a 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Cabriolet A and a 1933 Bugatti Type 55 Roadster – but also in the automatic nomination of its Best of Show winner for the Peninsula Classics Best of the Best Award, which honours the world’s finest concours champions.
Much of Salon Privé’s success stems from the unwavering passion of its founders, brothers David and Andrew Bagley, who have continually driven the event’s evolution and growth. Last year, they introduced MotorAvia – an evening celebration of aviation and automobiles at Oxford Airport, complete with live music and entertainment. As Salon Privé marks its 20th anniversary, that spirit of innovation shows no signs of slowing.
“It’s all about innovation and different experiences,” David Bagley tells me over a video call. “You’ve got Goodwood’s Festival of Speed and Revival – which are iconic – as well as events such as Concours on Savile Row and Salon Privé.
“These events are all unique in the experience they offer their partners and guests. When we launched Salon Privé, there weren’t any events that combined a motor show exhibition element with a concours – it hadn’t been done before in the UK. We’ve created something that has endured, which people look forward to attending every year.”
David’s passion for Salon Privé is unmistakable in the way he speaks. But how do he and Andrew continue to elevate an event that is already so well established? Introducing something truly fresh and meaningful for a 20-year-old event is no small challenge.
“It’s not simply a case of making the event bigger,” he explains. “Salon Privé always has been a niche event aimed at a smaller, more exclusive audience. What is important to us is the experience that we create for our partners and guests, not how big we can make the event. That said, we welcomed 21,000 visitors last year over the four days – and with an additional day this year, expect that figure to rise to in excess of 25,000.”
He goes on: “Essentially, we are a garden party, and we intend to remain a garden party. For us, the venue is crucial – just like it is for Villa d’Este and Pebble Beach. We would never contemplate becoming an indoor exhibition. However, the unpredictability of not just UK but global weather has been factor in the evolution of the event this year. The challenge for us was how to integrate covered display space with the natural beauty of our venue, so that the two enhance each other. Equally challenging was how to maintain the style, atmosphere and momentum of an outdoor event, but with the weather protection afforded by indoor cover.”
The solution to this challenge comes in the form of The Galleries, a brand-new innovation for 2025. “The problem with the UK is that, regardless of where you are and what time of year it is, the weather is so unpredictable,” David laments.
The Galleries is a luxurious atrium bordering the verdant lawns of Blenheim Palace, offering exhibitors premium all-weather display space while ensuring visitors stay sheltered should the weather turn.
Each covered booth is paired with an adjoining outdoor lawn plot, giving exhibitors the best possible platform to showcase their offerings to in excess of 3500 guests attending each day on the Wednesday to Friday, and 8000 each day on the Saturday and Sunday.
“It will look amazing no matter what the weather is doing and it has also allowed us to completely elevate the dining experience from a lovely marquee to this beautiful and ornate glass structure. There’s heating, lighting, power, Wi-Fi access and air-conditioning – we’ve done the lot,” David says.
The blueprints from the event demonstrate what a radical evolution the introduction of The Galleries will be. But the Bagley brothers haven’t stopped there.
“This year is also the tenth anniversary of Salon Privé at Blenheim,” David continues. “So, we approached Blenheim and said: ‘This year we would like to do things a bit differently – can we use the lake?’ They agreed that we could, so we’ll have boats being demonstrated on the water. We’ve got brands such as Brabus, Sunseeker and Twisted that will be both on the lawns and on the lake, which will be really cool.”
The spectacle of luxury boats carving through the Great Lake will certainly be spectacular. But Salon Privé has also been given the green light to make more use of the stunning 18th century UNESCO World Heritage building.
“Blenheim has also agreed that we can bring our VIP guests into the event through the palace and down onto the lawn. So now all the VIPs will drive into the estate via a private entrance and over the bridge, before heading through the Great Court and the Palace. A red carpet will take them into The Galleries.”
Last year, MotorAvia took place on the evening before Salon Privé officially began. For 2025, it will become the event’s opening-night party – now with further refinements.
David makes no secret of the fact that MotorAvia was inspired by the renowned Motorlux at the Monterey Jet Center, a highlight of California’s Monterey Car Week.
“In Monterey, the weather is consistently warmer and better, so the Jet Center party is essentially set up as an outdoor event with an indoor area in the hangar. Being in the UK, we had to set ours up the other way around, so we split it up as an indoor event with cars and planes on the apron, so you could go outside if you wanted to,” David reveals. “The sun literally sets in front of you, so it’s just the perfect location for it.”
Salon Privé’s driving tours are another addition for 2025, offering concours participants the chance to drive their collector cars on some of England’s most scenic and historic roads.
“The two tours are really exciting,” David says. “This year, we have the Rally Tour and the GT Tour. The Rally Tour is for classic cars, and the GT Tour caters to modern supercars. They are both four-day events going from the Fairmont in Windsor, travelling through the South Downs and the Cotswolds, before returning to Blenheim. There will be 75 cars on each tour, and all of them will be displayed on the lawn on Friday after the first tour, before the second group arrives on Saturday. So they will form part of the lawn display at Salon Privé.”
Many of the cars participating in the tours will be taking part in the concours d’elegance competition. The curated list of vehicles taking part is yet to be revealed, but David promises there will be some incredibly special metal on display: “The majority, if not all, of our concours entries take part in the tours, and the great thing about this year is that we’ve got so many big American entries – Bugattis, one-off Ferraris, Mercedes-Benz – all sorts, and more than ever.”
Tickets for the 20th-anniversary edition of Salon Privé are now on sale, and based on David’s comments, it’s set to be the most impressive edition in the event’s history. More details will be revealed in the coming weeks and, suffice to say, the Magneto office is eagerly anticipating it.
For tickets and more information, click here.
