Preview: Concours of Elegance, Hampton Court Palace, 5-7 September

The third international Concours of Elegance will bring together 60 of the rarest and greatest cars from around the world for the Concours – many of them never seen before in this country – in the Fountain Gardens on the East side of Hampton Court Palace on 5-7 September. 

The annual Concours of Elegance remains unique in being the only automotive event in the world to enjoy an authentic and spectacular Royal Palace as its backdrop, with keen Royal motoring enthusiast HRH Prince Michael of Kent as the event’s Patron.

Supporting the 60 hand-picked Concours entries (which will be announced nearer the event) will be a display of over 350 cars from all eras within the Hampton Court Palace grounds on the Saturday and Sunday, presented by a wide variety of car clubs, exclusive Concours classic car tours, and top-end carmakers.

In addition to its unique Royal Palace location, the annual Concours of Elegance differs in other ways from a traditional concours, which usually includes a judging panel briefed to scrutinise each entry and select a ‘winning’ car.  The Concours of Elegance organisers maintain that if a car has been invited to participate in the Concours, it is already a winner, with each vehicle owner voting on the other Concours car that he or she considers to be the most elegant car in the event.

A key objective of the annual Concours of Elegance is to raise funds for selected charities, with the 2013 event at St James’s Palace raising in excess of £250,000.  The charities set to benefit from the 2014 Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace will be announced shortly.

Ticket details, plus more information is available on the Concours of Elegance website.