The Concours of Elegance was established in 2012 to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, winning prestigious awards in its very first year. It has since become an annual event, bringing together some of the world’s finest automobiles showcased at the UK’s finest venues. This year’s event will take place from 6-8 September in the beautifully manicured fountain gardens of Hampton Court Palace, Middlesex, and will feature an array of incredible machinery.
One of the headline cars will be this Ballot 3/8 LC, the French-built race car that made motorsport history almost 100 years ago by securing victory at the first ever Italian Grand Prix, in 1921, at the hands of racing driver Jules Goux. Thanks to a well-planned race strategy another Ballot took second place, no doubt causing an upset as the Italian crowd favorite–a powerful Fiat 802–came in third.
Concours of Elegance managing director Andrew Evans said: “Having this incredible Ballot 3/8 LC—the very car that claimed victory at the 1921 Italian Grand Prix, no less—at the Concours of Elegance is a wonderful privilege. The Ballot 3/8 LC perfectly encompasses everything that is great about our concours entrants: the car sees regular use, it’s fantastically rare and it holds an important place in automotive history. This one car is really just a taste of what we have in store this year; our special features, our partners and the quality of the cars on display are undoubtedly all the best yet.”
The Ballot 3/8 LC will be part of the main display of approximately 60 vehicles, although nearly 1000 cars will be on display over the three days. Some of the events that took place at last year’s Concours will also be returning for 2019, including the Royal Automobile Club Trophy—contested by winners of the nation’s best car clubs—and the Future Classics class. A particular highlight of this event is the huge variety of cars that are on display each year. As an example, the 2018 Concours of Elegance was book-ended by a 1903 Panhard et Levassor O4R and McLaren Senna chassis #001. The organizers plan to bring an even more eclectic mix of automotive masterpieces to this year’s event, be sure not to miss it.
Images courtesy of Concours of Elegance UK
