Concours of Elegance 2024: Golden Era Coupes

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Following on from my coverage of the super cars at the Hampton Court Palace Concours, which can be found here: https://motorsportformentalhealth.com/2024/09/04/concours-of-elegance-2024-supercars/, today we’ll be looking at the ‘Golden Age Coupes’ of the show.

The 1950s and 1960s are considered to be the golden age of automotive design. Sports cars of this era, from manufacturers across Europe, are perceived by many to be the most beautiful cars ever created.

The Ferraris of this era are my personal favourites. The 250GT Lusso as pictured below would be in my stable if money were no object.

A collection of other Ferraris of the era.

This car competed in the Mille Miglia – a vintage car rally named after the 1000 mile race which was run between 1927 and 1957. It’s an event I’d love to go and watch one day.

This is a SWB (Short Wheelbase) 250GT sporting a Speciale Aerodynamica body by Pininfarina. Only four of these cars were ever produced.

Enzo Ferrari himself said the the Jaguar E-Type is the “most beautiful car in the world”. There were loads on display. This is a small selection.

I always preferred the earlier XK120-150. I think these cars have a really nice shape. I especially like the rear wheel spats which really suit them. Again, there was a large display of them, so this is just a small selection.

This blue coupe was by far my favourite.

Also from the British stables were a lot of Aston Martins. There were a fair few DB5s.

The earlier DB4. This one has been tastefully modified.

One of just 15 Aston Martin 2-Litre Sports. These were the first cars produced under David Brown’s ownership so they retrospectively became known as the DB1.

The DB2/4 Mark 3, which is a mouthful. They were sold between 1957 and 1959.

A DBS Vatage from 1968. This is a very handsome design.

Finally we have a DB4 GT Zagato, one of 19 DB4s rebuilt by the Italian coachbuilder. Zagato have had a long relationship with Aston Martin and have produced some really cool cars over the years. The contemporary cars have really interesting tail lights that look like the afterburners on a fighter jet.

Zagato have also had a long relationship with Alfa Romeo which ha produced some wonderful cars. This 1900 C Zagato has been at concourses and events all over the world. It has even competed in the Mille Miglia.

There were a couple of lovely Bentley coupes.

The first was a La Sarthe.

La Sarthe are built to commission by a company called Bensport who hand build these aluminium GT bodies, using traditional techniques, and place them over a Bentley MkIV or R-Type chassis.

The other is a car that La Sarthe can be based on – this is a R-Type Continental. 193 were built and this particular one was the car shown at the 1955 Geneva Motor Show, where it was bought straight off of the stand by a Chilean diplomat.

The Mercedes 300SL was a beautiful car in both it’s famous gullwing form and as a roadster.

Siata were an Italian brand that ran from 1926 to 1970. I’ll be honest with you, I’d never heard of them, but this 208CS is a lovely little car, so I dare say I’ll be doing some research later!

A lovely pair of Maseratis.

You’re going to get a more in depth history of Talbot-Lago when the article about the Pre-War cars of this show comes out.

This particular car 1957 T14 America. As the name would suggest this car was designed for the American market, which was booming at the time.

Only 12 of the cars were sold though. This particular one was actually sold to a Frenchman living in Algeria when it was new.

We’ll end today’s artcile with a couple of Lamborghinis.

The 350 GT was Lamborghinis first production car. 120 were built between 1964 and 1966.

In 1966 came the Miura.

The Miura is what I’d consider to be the first modern ‘supercar’. It has a mid-engined, 2 seat configuration which has been the standard for supercars since. I know it’s a little different to the other cars here, but in my eyes its’ beautiful and deserves the spot here.

It’s unusual to see a Miura in silver too. Normally they were painted in bright colours like green or orange. I actually like the silver, it makes it look a bit more understated.