MOTOR SPORT's Concours d'Elegance

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A!though only in its second year, the MOTOR SPORT Concours d’Elegance attracted cars of an extremely high calibre causing an extraordinarily difficult task for judges Nathan Beehl, Andrew Bell, Malcolm Clube and Alex Moore in selecting the top three. There were no prerequisites with regard to the cars which meant that there was quite a catholic assortment present.

Machines of interest to the sporting enthusiast was Michael Fisher’s 1974 Porsche Carrera RSR with a fairly distinguished racing history, while David Cottingham’s 1953 Ferrari 375 Plus, one of only five made and only temporarily in this country, was a sight for sore eyes. Of less historic value, but nevertheless an interesting machine was Roberto Giordanelli’s Group A Maserati Biturbo which was covered in a plethora of decals.

The four Ferraris in the concours set a particularly high standard, three scooping the top honours and the other one coming seventh overall.

Traditional British sports cars were well represented and of these John Atkins’ Triumph TR3A was in mint condition and only just failed to get into the top three. Bob Harper’s Morgan Plus 8, with its special drophead coupé body, and Bill Lodge’s Austin Healey 3000 were also worthy of consideration for top honours as well. John Worrall’s 1964 Morgan Plus 4 Supersports was a replica originally made for Peter Morgan of the class-winning Le Mans car of 1962. After 14 years of successful club racing, it is now being returned to its original authentic state although the owner still intends to use it in historic car events.

There were a number of rare cars present induding Tony Crowther’s 1929 Chrysler Imperial and Warren Kennedy’s 1958 Vauxhall Victor Estate. The former sported a mahogany boat-tailed 2-seater body, designed by the owner, while the less ostentatious Vauxhall was one of only six known survivors and was the first ever factory estate car.

With historic Grand Prix and sports cars providing an atmospheric backdrop, the concours at Silverstone was adjudged a great success. WPK