Behind the scenes at the Heveningham Concours with Peter Stevens

As we slowly emerge from the gloom of a British winter it is worth remembering sunnier times past and looking forward to more to come. As well as designing cars I am lucky enough to also be a judge at various automotive concours events. These often take place at the height of summer and at either a schloss in Germany, a château in France, a sumptuous villa in Switzerland, a palace in India or, sometimes, a smart hotel or damp golf course in the US.

In Britain there are a number of venues that hold concours events, but the private home of the Hunt family is something very special. Heveningham Hall, in the middle of Suffolk, close to the tiny village of Heveningham, is a Grade I-listed building that hosts what can feel like a well-kept secret.

The first house on the site was built in 1657 for the politician William Heveningham but the present house, dating from 1778 to 1780, was designed by Sir Robert Taylor for Sir Gerald Vanneck, 2nd Baronet, with interiors by James Wyatt. Like many it fell into disrepair in the second half of the 20th century until (after being on the market for three years) it was bought in 1994 by current owner Jon Hunt and his wife Lois for use as a family home.

The hall sits within 500 acres of grounds – a Capability Brown design brought to life by contemporary landscape architect Kim Wilkie. This includes a wonderful series of five grassed terrasses laid out in a semi-circular plan ringed with trees. And this is what gives the concours its unique feel: the entrants are arranged on tiered ground facing the back of the house creating an unforgettable image.

The concours, held at the rear of the imposing home, is not the only attraction. There’s a country fair attached to the weekend as well as an eighth-mile hillclimb where anything from a vintage hot rod to a brand-new supercar, via a Bowler Land Rover, can have its tyre-smoking performance measured against many others.

If that sounds a bit like the Goodwood Festival of Speed it certainly is not. There is no hour or two spent queuing to get in and another hour or two getting back on the road and, while Goodwood attracts well over 200,000 spectators over four days, Heveningham has 10,000 over two days.

Last year there was a wide selection of cars among the 50 curated by my good friend ‘Scotty’, his gently persuasive powers bringing together what people would call an ‘eclectic selection’. This year there was the gas turbine-engined all-wheel-drive Lotus 56B Formula 1 car, a derivative of the Indianapolis Type 56 driven by Graham Hill and Joe Leonard at the 1968 Indy 500. In 1971, despite startling unreliability, Emerson Fittipaldi persuaded the wretched thing to finish in eighth place in the Italian Grand Prix while Reine Wisell and Dave Walker failed to finish at either the Dutch or British Grands Prix. But what a great chance to see such an historic car.

A fascinating and immaculately presented car was the 1984/2022 TAG Turbo 930 ‘re-imagined’ by Lanzante. Yes, this is a TAG Formula 1-engined 911, a 1499cc, 500bhp road car that was impressively and beautifully detailed by Dean Lanzante’s little team. There was also a 1984 Toleman-Hart, an underfunded car powered by a hand grenade; I seem to remember that I was involved in the Candy/Segafredo graphics. This is the car that so nearly won the dreadfully wet 1984 Monaco Grand Prix driven by aspiring new driver Ayrton Senna. He finished in second place right behind Alain Prost.

“I seem to remember that I was involved in the Toleman graphics”

Best in Show was the glorious 1920 350HP Sunbeam, Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Land Speed Record-breaking car. The designer was Sunbeam’s chief engineer Louis Coatalen, the man who had previously designed World War I aero engines. He adapted one of his Manitou V12, 18.8-litre engines to power this impressive machine.

Campbell bought the car in late 1922 after testing it at Saltburn Speed Trials. He named the car Blue Bird, like all his other boats and cars. During the winter of 1922/23, after the Saltburn outing, the car was tested in the Boulton Paul wind tunnel in Norwich, where a longer tail and a narrow, and slightly lower, front radiator cowl were developed.

In June 1923 he took it to the island of Fanø in Denmark where he hit 137.72mph, although the record didn’t stand due to the unofficial timing equipment used by the Danes. In September 1924 Campbell set a new record of 146.16mph at Pendine Sands. The following year he returned to the beach and raised the record to 150.87mph. Winning Best in Show was not just a tribute to Lord Montagu’s perseverance in completing a rebuild of the unique car, it was also seen as a tribute to his restoration team and those very generous donors who made the work possible.

I have now judged at the Heveningham Concours for five years. The fact that I live locally and know the Hunts helps with being able to work with Lois’s small team. As local people we all feel that the ‘Suffolkness’ of the event is very important. Suffolk is neither a heavily populated nor wealthy county, but we like to think that it is welcoming and unpretentious. Lois likes to make sure that it is fun, not just for us as judges, but for the local families who can all find something of interest at this unique event.

Heveningham Concours 2026 is on 27-28 June.

Concours judges owe it to the owners

These enthusiasts deserve a chat, says Peter Stevens

Concours events are quite unusual in that the cars, which are the essential element of the show, are brought along at the owner’s expense. Therefore, it is my opinion that they deserve the full attention of the judges. The pleasure of listening to an owner recounting the history of their car is almost always fascinating. On at least one occasion the wife of a friend, with whom I was judging, stormed by to tell us we would miss our lunch because we were “chattering away” to the owners.

There is almost always an element of politics in the choice of class winners or Best in Show. If an event describes itself as a Concours d’Elegance then elegance is required of the winners. I once made myself unpopular by speaking up against an ugly old race car, a Maserati being awarded Best in Show. One of the judges had ‘arranged’ the sale of the car to the expectant owner, and another judge wanted the car for their own concours as being B-in-S. But you can’t please everyone!