Hampton Court Palace Concours

With just a bit of light rain at the start of play, the much-awaited return to a form of the annual Hampton Court Concours. A mix of 60 of the rarest road and racing cars in the world were featured in the vast grounds of the Hampton Court Palace just west of London. Uniquely for a Concours, Hampton Court asks the owners of the cars themselves to vote on the other cars on display to decide which car should be titled ‘Best of Show’.

This year DK Engineering proudly supported four cars and their respective owners in the concours.

The first such example was the stunning and unique 1930 Bentley 4 ½ litre with Gurney Nutting coachwork. Supplied new to Captain Woolf Barnato in July 1930, Barnato was one of the ‘Bentley Boys’, a seasoned racer and at the time, chairman of Bentley Motors Limited. Barnato was famed for being the sole driver in existence to win the Le Mans 24hrs in every race he entered. He entered three times and won three times. His 4 ½ features unique mudguards with an upward flick at the rear, inspired by the helmets of French firemen. It was fantastic to see this Bentley win ‘Car of the Decade’ at the concours, and DK was honoured to be charged and entrusted with the task of looking after this car for the last year and for this event.

Each year a line-up of 5 cars is formed in front of the palace. Last year we were present and involved with Ferrari 166 #22 #008M, the sole car to ever win both the Mille and Le Mans 24hrs in the same year among a line up of other Ferrari 166s. This year were five sports prototypes from the 1960s. Taking the central position we were supporting Ferrari 250 LM #6313, an Ecurie Francorchamps car that placed 2nd OA at the 1965 Le Mans 24 hrs. This example has received a comprehensive restoration by the Ferrari factory Classiche department and was presented over the weekend in its 1965 Le Mans livery that we recently applied as part of its pre-event checks at DK.

In one of the many tree-lined avenues, we supported a Works-entered MGA Twin-Cam. 1 of just 3 such works examples, ‘UMO 93’ remains completely original and unrestored to date. It finished 4th in class and 29th OA at Sebring in 1960. Recently sold by ourselves to a great friend, it was fantastic to see it out and being enjoyed by its new owner. Alongside the MGA was the Porsche 356 America Roadster that was totally restored by DK in 2002 and has been cared for by us since. Most recently receiving a major service and Concours preparation in readiness for the event.

Additionally, we supported a 275 GTB/C, a car raced extensively in the UK in the late 1960s and early 1970s (being owned at one point by our founder David Cottingham) and continuing for much of its life in international competition. Sold by DK to the current owner in 2014 and seen for the first time in public since its bare metal restoration, this example also won ‘Car of the Decade’. The mechanical restoration work was carried out by Bob Houghton with the metalwork by Mike Harris of Storico Restorations, all under the expert supervision of Mark Shannon.

A collection of images from the event from Luke Gilbertson can be seen below.