The Royal Automobile Club played a key role in the 2016 Concours of Elegance, which took place in the spectacular setting of Windsor Castle, from 2nd to 4th September.
The Club’s involvement began on Friday 2nd September where Club Chairman, Tom Purves, had the task of chairing the judging panel to select the best of the best from the UK’s car club scene and establish a winner of the Royal Automobile Club’s ‘Club Trophy’. The car that stood out for the judges amongst the 60 entries was a 1923 Aston Martin Cloverleaf, owned by Aston Martin Owners’ Club committee member, Mark Donoghue, who was delighted to receive the Club Trophy from Royal Automobile Club President and Patron of the Concours, His Royal Highness, Prince Michael of Kent. As part of the spoils of victory, the Bamford and Martin car is automatically invited to appear in the main concours in 2017.
The annual Friday evening black tie dinner took place in the stunning Great Hall inside the castle, where the Royal Automobile Club’s ‘Spirit of Motoring’ trophy is awarded annually to one of the main Concours of Elegance cars. This year it was presented to Royal Automobile Club member, Clive Beecham, for his wonderful 2016 Alfa Romeo Touring Disco Volante Spyder. The Spirit of Motoring Trophy was awarded to Clive by Royal Automobile Club Motoring Committee Chairman, Peter Read, who commented: ‘Motoring has always been about adventure and so the Spirit of Motoring award needed to reflect this. Clive Beecham owns one of the very early cars built by Touring and through this connection, encouraged them to create a modern day version of one of their iconic cars. This was the start of a fascinating adventure for Clive and Touring to experience together and has resulted in the wonderful car on display here today‘.
On Saturday 3rd September, more than 30 Royal Automobile Club members’ cars took pride of place inside the Castle grounds at the top of the Long Walk, with the display offering a fabulous representation of motoring through the ages from a 1903 Daimler to a 2014 La Ferrari.
