Words and Photography – Keith Mainland

There was a good variety of cars at the London Concours at the Honourable Artillery Company although it did follow what seems to be a trend for more modern, restomod and electric vehicles. That said, the Transformer-like Koenigseggs did look interesting, the updated Alpine A110 is a useful reminder that all new cars don’t have to be over-sized and the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione is a personal favourite.

The ‘Golden Age Coupes’ class had the Aston Martins, Ferraris, Jaguars and Mercedes you would expect, including a rare RHD 1962 Ferrari 250SWB. Welcome additions were some more modest but equally interesting cars like the 1964 Maserati 3500GT ‘Iniezione’ and 1966 Jensen CV8 MkIII which took the class award. There was also a well curated collection of Land Rovers that included a nicely patinated pre-production 1948 Series I and another Series I from 1954 which had covered 25,000 miles on an Oxford and Cambridge University Trans-Africa Expedition.

Two cars that really caught my eye were in the ‘Bespoke Automotive’ class. The 1971 Matra Beach Buggy by Bertone using Simca 1200S Coupe running gear and 1962/2023 Crayford Mini Mojito Beach Car. The Crayford brand has been revived by a group of British car enthusiasts and the re-engineered Mini Mojito harks back to the Mini Beach cars of the 1960s, one of which Alec Issigonis arrived in at the press launch of the Mini Cooper in 1962.

There was also a class for ‘Wild Cards’, cars that didn’t really fit anywhere else and included a lovely 1957 BMW 507, 1971 Monteverdi 375L High Speed Fissore and 1921 Leyat Helica which is basically a small aeroplane without wings.

London Concours’ next event is at Hampton Court Palace on September 1 – 3 and includes a Gooding and Company auction.