2021 - Reflecting on an Exceptional Year

As 2021 came to a close, the team at DK were proud to say the year was our strongest year ever. Despite the Government lockdown, Q1 2021 proved to be our most successful quarter to date and that quarter’s momentum helped us to see continued strong sales throughout the remainder of the year. With a new generation of collectors coming of age; we’ve seen increasing interest and demand for supercars of the 1990s and 2000s; and have handled the sales of several Porsche Carrera GTs and Ferrari F50s, both proving to be much more than a ‘flavour of the month’ in today’s market. We have continued to sell many other blue-chip collectables including a pair of RHD Ferrari 250 SWB Berlinettas, a truly excellent 250 GT Berlinetta ‘Tour de France’ and we have also completed a couple of McLaren F1 transactions.

While the first four months of the year got off to a quiet start in terms of events, social media beautifully bridged the gap for us. Hitting 100,000 Instagram followers earlier in the year, a number which has risen to 141,000 at the time of writing. All through organic growth, it has shown that both the content we produce has been engaging and informative, and the stock we hold is interesting and diverse. An excellent example of this was the series of videos we created with Carfection and Henry Catchpole with the ‘Unicorns’ - the McLaren F1, Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR, and Porsche 911 GT1, all of which received a tremendous amount of attention. The user’s guide videos, conceived initially as an informative piece for one car’s overseas buyer, were a big hit as well. The CLK GTR ‘user guide’ quickly became our most-watched video ever, with 472,500 views at the time of writing. This year we commissioned a long-term friend of DK, Dexter Brown to eternalise the ‘Unicorns’ at Millbrook with oil on canvas in a painting for our Christmas card.

Despite the absence of many European dealers and collectors in California for the festivities surrounding the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, James and Harvey found the atmosphere during the week to be exuberant and similar to years past, with lots of friends and clients to be met, new acquaintances made, but with slightly smaller crowds seen than in previous years. Boarding the plane to San Francisco, James and Harvey were dead-set on returning with the McLaren F1 from the Gooding & Company auction but that wasn’t to be, and the car went to a new home in the U.S. at a market-correct price with DK as the immediate underbidders. Many strong results were witnessed at auction, showing that the American market is still very much alive.

At the Peter Auto Endurance Racing Legends held during the 24 Hours of Le Mans, DK supported the Ferrari 550 Maranello Prodrive of Max Girardo and James Cottingham, which was driven by Max for the weekend. James meanwhile raced the Dallara SP1 which was prepared by Pursuit. Despite a disappointing DNF resulting from a spin caused by a radiator leak whilst leading the final laps of Friday’s race, James managed to clinch first place in the second race on Saturday.

At the Peter Auto Endurance Racing Legends held during the 24 Hours of Le Mans, DK supported the Ferrari 550 Maranello Prodrive of Max Girardo and James Cottingham, which was driven by Max for the weekend. James meanwhile raced the Dallara SP1 which was prepared by Pursuit. Despite a disappointing DNF resulting from a spin caused by a radiator leak whilst leading the final laps of Friday’s race, James managed to clinch first place in the second race on Saturday.

The first weekend of September played host to two major Concours events in the U.K.; Salon Privé and the Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court. The DK team was out in force at both events, with a multitude of cars on display and for judging at Salon Privé, along with a stand showcasing our after-sales department; we also displayed three cars on the show field at Hampton Court.

After a one-year hiatus, Goodwood Revival was arguably the highlight of our year. With four cars out on track, we were very privileged to host Alex Buncombe and Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button in our Cobra for the Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration. Although the pair saw great pace in practices and throughout the first half of the race, they were forced to retire due to a misfire. Nevertheless, Jenson adored the weekend, his very first historic racing event, and vowed to be back for more in the years to come. Friday night’s Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy proved to be a highly exciting race, with James and Harvey repeating their Goodwood Speed Week victory in the Huffaker E-Type. Joining them in the race was also the very eye-catching Shelby Cobra Dragonsnake, a car that DK sold and oversaw the restoration of in 2020. Saturday saw more success for team DK with James in the Tojeiro-Jaguar, racing to a first-place finish in the Sussex Trophy.

Moving to continental Europe; in the first two weekends of October, James and Harvey raced at the Spa Six Hours in Belgium and the Estoril Classic in Portugal. Racing the Tojeiro and a pair of GT40s, despite an impressive victory with the Tojeiro in the Woodcote/Stirling Moss Trophy for James and Harvey, the highlight of the weekend was undoubtedly Oliver Bryant and James’ overall win in the six-hour endurance race in Oliver’s GT40. At Estoril, Max Girardo and James dominated the Endurance Racing Legends field in the Dallara, while Richard Cook and Harvey finished first overall in the Sixties Endurance race with Max and James placed second, both driving Cobras.

The next weekend saw a return to Goodwood for the Members’ Meeting, highlighted by an overall victory in the Gurney Cup for Andrew Smith and James in the GT40.

Finally, the last event of the season was at Silverstone at the end of October for the Motor Racing Legends Silverstone GP Meeting. At that event, the RAC Pall Mall Cup was a clear highlight, with James’ brother Jeremy Cottingham and Harvey leading the race in the early stages in the Huffaker E-Type. Although Max Girardo and James were plagued by a first-lap spin, the pair quickly caught the field up and took the overall win, with Harvey and Jeremy finishing 7th overall and winning their class.

2022 is shaping up to be a thrilling year for DK. Back at our HQ, we’re in the process of extending our main showroom which will be finished in the next few weeks. We’ve built great momentum in terms of both sales and service work in the last twelve months, and we look forward to carrying that forward into our 45th year of operation.

Finally, with a much-anticipated return to a normal(!) calendar, we’re looking forward to attending many of the events we have come to know and love over the years. The Cavallino Classic of course being our kick-off event for the year and it would be great to see you over the course of the weekend.