(3 Sep 2018) LEADIN
Some of the rarest and most extraordinary cars in the world have gone on show at Hampton Court Palace.
'Concours of Elegance' showcases the best vehicles ever produced - which this year included the world's most expensive car.
STORYLINE
One of the rarest cars in the world in front of one of the UK's most famous palaces.
This 1929 Mercedes Benz - S Barker Tourer 'Boat Tail' is a one of a kind vehicle and has been flown over to Hampton Court Palace from California for Concours of Elegance 2018. It was voted 'Best in Show' at this year's event.
The show, now in its eighth year, brings together almost 1000 of the most incredible cars ever produced. At the centre of the Concours are 60 vehicles, competing with one another for various accolades, as event organiser Andrew Evans explains:
"What you're seeing at the heart of our event are 60 of the world's rarest cars, they're privately owned, they're owned by serial collectors many of them," says Evans.
"Wrapped around that are at least another 250 cars, all of them at a really high level of engineering. Some of them are classic cars but there are also some new cars."
In keeping with an event at a palace the patron is the Queen's cousin, His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent. He was seen driving a vintage soft topped car around the grounds with the other drivers.
This year's event featured a world-first gathering of Aston Martin DB4s. Assembled by the Aston Martin Owners Club it includes a DB4 prototype, an example of DB4 Series 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 plus an original DB4 GT, DB4 GT Zagato and DB4 Bertone Jet.
Many owners attended the event to show off their unique cars - including Katie Forrest with her 1912 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost known as the Taj Mahal, which her family lovingly calls 'Nellie'.
This spectacular car, which won last year's 'Club Trophy' prize, has had just two owners: the Forrests and the Maharaja of Nahbha who bought her at the end of 1913. She's been in the Forrest family for 30 years.
"She basically was commissioned by Rolls Royce Bombay in 1912 and they wanted to really appeal to the Indian market. So Claude Johnson who was Managing Director at the time named the car Taj Mahal," explains Forrest.
"So she went out to Bombay in 1912 and she was snapped up very quickly by the Maharaja of Nahbha and I guess the rest is history because Rolls Royce suddenly kind of exploded in India, because she was used as a trials car and a demonstrator so they could show her off."
Forrest adds that Nellie has lots of features unique to her which were designed especially to manage the Indian climate.
Leading a host of endurance racing icons at the show is the Porsche 917K driven by Steve McQueen in the classic film, Le Mans.
Despite being damaged during filming, it was rebuilt using another chassis and went on to win at Daytona, Monza, the Osterreichring, Spa and Monthlery in 1971.
Although stunt drivers were mostly used during the filming of Le Mans, owner Mark Finburgh says he knows for a fact McQueen drove his car thanks to bumping into his son years later. He vows the family will never let it go:
"We have had silly offers for it, but it ain't for sale. And that's why we want it. It's one of the great cars of all time and we've got it," he says.
But as well as honouring cars of the past, this year the show has a new category for cars most likely to stand the test of time, known as "Future Classics".
"We want to know what will be in a Concours in 50 or 60 years time," explains the curator of Future Classics, Richard Charlesworth.
As Charlesworth explains it's a completely bespoke customer one off:
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