Wildcards is a recurring class at the London Concours which covers all the cars that don’t really fit into the other catagories.
It always brings together an eclectic mix of unusual cars and this year was no exception.
We’ll start with the Volkswagen XL1. It’s powered by an electrically assisted 0.8ltr two cylinder diesel and was built to cover 100 kilometers on a litre of fuel (235MPG), but actually achieved 310MPG. (Meanwhile I’m happy with a 30MPG return from my GT86 haha!)
250 were built between 2013 and 2016 and Volkswagen actually kept 50 of them themselves, making this a rare little car!
I actually really like this! I love the McLaren F1 style doors!
I actually think it’s quite nice inside too. It’s obviously basic, and I doubt there’s much sound deadening as the car only weighs 750KG, but its pleasant enough.
The offset seating position is pretty funky too. It is a very narrow car so that is necessary.
The world’s smallest car – the Peel P50. 47 were produced between 1962 and 1965 with replicas being built in the mis 2010s. This is an original from 1963.
Apparently it will do 38mph. I think I’d pass on that though if I’m being perfectly honest. I bet that’s terrifying!
From extremely small to extremely large – here we have the 1969 Rolls Royce Phantom VI.
It’s no secret that modern cars are much bigger than their counterparts from yesteryear, but even by today’s standards this car is absolutely massive! I bet it must have been quite a sight next to say a Ford Cortina in period.
This one was once a part of a fleet owned by the Harrods department store for chauffeuring VIPs to and from the store.
Maserati’s 3500GT. The Italians really built beautiful coupes in the 1960s.
A point further proven by the Alfa Romeo Giulia SS.
This ’84 Mondial is a bit of a bonus for the 50 Years of Ferrari V8 class https://motorsportformentalhealth.com/2025/06/10/london-concours-2025-50-years-of-ferrari-v8
The Mondial is a lovely, useable classic Ferrari but having all Rosso Corsa cars in the Ferrari V8 class did look spectacular!
Lancia’s Delta Integrale – homologation special for the WRC in the early 1990s.
When Fiat took over Maserati in 1993, they created the Ghibli Open Cup as a one make race series to try to boost sales. It ran for a single season in 1995 and was cancelled after two rounds in 1996.
Maserati did make a very limited edition road car celebrating the series though, aptly the car named the Ghibli Cup.
Only 60 Ghibli Cups were produced and this is the only one in Verde Foresta (Forest Green)
Moving away from the Italians and back to Blighty we have the XJS Celebration. The Celebration was a limited trim line that was built in honour of the end of production of the Jaguar XJS and Jaguar’s 60th anniversary.
Lister Cars were commissioned by Douglas Hall to cram a twin supercharged 7.0ltr V12 into this XJ40 with a manual transmission.
When it was completed Laurence Pearce, the owner of Lister Cars, took Douglas Hall to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Hall asked how much it would cost to race at the Le Mans and then gave Pearce a cheque for £500,000 – the money would finance the Lister Storm project.
Finally we have Con-Ferr Meyers Manx which starred in the 1968 Steve McQueen movie The Thomas Crown Affair. This one has a 2.7 litre Chevrolet Corvair engine swapped into it which is a big jump up from the standard Beetle engine.
Thanks for reading.
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By Richard Francis
