Heveningham Hall Concours of Elegance

A night shot of this 1960 Abarth Porsche Carrera which was the second of two prototypes built and was a factory race car competing in that year’s Tour Auto finishing 4th, and the Nurburgring 1000km race finishing 10th. At the 1961 Le Mans 24 hour race the car failed to finish and was then badly damaged on that year’s Tour Auto. Rescued in 2009 and now fully restored and reunited with her original engine and gearbox the car appears as it would have at Le Mans in 1961

This 1934 Alfa Romeo Tipo B is an ex-Scuderia Ferrari team car. In 1935 the car was transferred to Charles Martin and then shipped to Australia. The current owner took 1st place in the car at the 2014 Monaco Historic Grand Prix.

Once owned by Dr Farina of Carrosserie Farina this 1930 4th series Alfa Romeo 1750 GS Zagato is still regularly exercised covering about 4500 miles each year racing and touring.

If the amount of shots I took of this stunning Touring-bodied 1931 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 is anything to go by, then this was my favorite car at the event. Chassis 2111022 was delivered new to Sir Roy Feddon who was at the time head engine designer of the Bristol Aeroplane Company

The 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Zagato Spider chassis 2111044 shown here is an ex-Scuderia Ferrari works car with a full-race Monza specification chassis. Driven to victory in the Circuito di Piemonte on the 24th July 1932 by Tazio Nuvolari, Tazio also took the prize for the fastest time of a sports car at the Klausen Hill Climb later the same year.

A 1964 289 Shelby Cobra, prior to be imported into the UK, had one USA-based owner for 40 years and is in highly original, unrestored condition. The 1958 AC Aceca Bristol was delivered new to Anthony Crook Motors in Surrey having been completed at the Thames Ditton factory in December 1958, it was first registered in June 1960 to DC Pilkington for the price of £2409. Peter de Aavary acquired the car in March 1987 and commissioned her restoration. John Surtees purchased the car in 1991. The current custodian Sara Armitage acquired the car in September 2004.

1961 Aston Martin DB4GT chassis 0165/R now owned by Ben Cussons has only covered 25000 miles since new.

1964 Aston Martin DB5 Volante, Caribbean Blue Pearl with dark blue leather interior. First owner was Peter Sellers, then Lord Snowden and HRH Princess Margaret. Epitome of the swinging sixties in London.

Nick Mason’s Aston Martin Ulsters LM17 and LM18. LM17 was built in 1934 and finished 7th in that year’s RAC Tourist Trophy race winning the team trophy in the hands of Penn Hughes. In 1935 LM17 finished first in class in the Millie Miglia, this time in the hands of Clarke and Faulkner. LM18 was built in 1935 and finished seventh in class at that years Le Mans 24 hour race. In 1938 LM18 took victory in the Bol d Or.

Seventeen-year-old 2000 Audi R8. At Le Mans, it placed 2nd in the hands of Alan McNish, Stephane Ortelli and Laurent Aiello.

In the first three of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels, the hero drove a Bentley. This maybe the inspiration for that choice. This supercharged Bentley 4.5 Liter Sports Tourer GP2, was borrowed by Ian Fleming whilst owned by his friend Amhurst Villiers.

Night shot of the Bentley.

A regular on the London to Brighton Veteran car run, this 1903 Berliet 4L was found abandoned in a French Chateau in the 1960s before being taken to England and restored.

Owned by Californian Charles Barnett for over 50 years, this 1930 Bugatti T35B is considered to be one of the best surviving supercharged Grand Prix Bugattis in the world as she retains her original bodywork and mechanicals. This was the first time the car had been seen in public in Europe since the 1950s.

Delivered by Enzo Ferrari personally to Count Giulio d’ Acuarone on the 15th February 1951, this Ferrari 212 started life with a Vignale coupe body and 2.5 liter engine. In 1953 Vignale were instructed by the Count to rebody the car in the style of a barchetta. The Count sold the car in 1965 to the collector Giulio Dubbini whose family kept the car for the next 46 years. In 2013 the new owner sent the car to the Ferrari factory for a comprehensive restoration with strict instructions to maintain the car’s originality as much as possible.

This 1960 Ferrari 250 Cabriolet chassis 1697 has recently undergone a 2 year restoration in Maranello, returning the car to her original colour combination of Grigo Conchiglia with blue interior.

This well-known 1953 Ferrari 250MM was raced by Efrain Ruiz Echeverria in that years Carrera Panamericana in which he finished seventh in class. The car was shown at Pebble beach in 2002 and again in 2013 where it won an award.

Speaking with the car’s custodian I understand this 1961 Ferrari 250 SWB Competizione is a bit of a hot rod, winning the 1962 Tour de France and more recently the 2016 Kinrara Trophy at the 2016 Goodwood Revival.

One of only two twin supercharged single seater racing cars built by Fraser Nash. It was constructed in 1935 to the order of Adrian Thorpe who raced the car at Brooklands. It later became a works car to be driven exclusively by their talented driver AFP Fane. The car’s most famous victory came at Shelsey Walsh in 1937 when Fane took the hill record at 38.77 seconds beating the time set by Raymond Mays in his ERA several years earlier. Had the war not intervened Fane would have become a works Mercedes driver. During WW2 Fane flew photo reconnaissance Spitfires, his greatest accolade being the finding of the Tirpitz hiding in a Norwegian Fjord. Unfortunately Fane was killed whilst flying in bad weather on the 18th July 1942.

This 1935 Fraser Nash TT Replica is one of only a handful produced with the works overhead cam Gough engine rather than the more widely used Meadows or Blackburn engines. The first owner was the racing driver Tony Law who raced the car with success at Brooklands before selling the car to Charles Griffiths Hampton who exported the car to Rhodesia where it continued to be raced.

The little silver boat-tailed sports car in this shot is a 1923 Gwynne Eight. Founded in Chiswick West London in 1849 Gwynne was an engineering company which made pumps, steam engines and fire engines. During WW1 they produced aero engines and employed a certain WO Bentley. This is a Brooklands example though it has no period competition history as it was sold new in Melbourne Australia where it remained until 15 years ago. With a 950cc engine the current owner states that the car is great fun and an easy car to drive.

This 1923 Hispano Suiza H6C, when new, was one of the most expensive European cars available. The seven bearing crankshaft weighs 33 lbs. but was machined from a 600 lb. steel billet.

HWM (Hersham and Walton Motors) were a privateer British racing outfit lead by George Abecassis and John Heath. Originally successful in single seaters HWM in 1953 became the first proper marque to build a Jaguar-engined sports car. One of three examples built in 1953 and originally registered as VPA9, she was campaigned by Tony Gaze in Europe.

Driven by Duncan Hamilton and Tony Rolt, Jaguar D OKV1 finished second 109 secs behind the Ferrari 375 plus of Gonzalez and Trintignant at the 1954 Le Mans 24 hour race. Another second place followed at Reims. Hamilton also drove the car at the Tourist Trophy race at Dundrod, a DNF being his reward. OKV1 was then displayed at the Paris Motor show in October. In 1955 Duncan Hamilton purchased her and her competition history continued. Duncan then converted her for road use in the style of an XKSS. Restored by CMG back to Le Mans spec OKV1 finally won Le Mans at the 2010 Classic event.

Henri Toivenen and Serge Cresto won the 1986 Monte Carlo rally in a Lancia Deltas S4: This Delta S4!

Winner of the trophy for best supercar at the event, John Hunt’s 1971 Miura SV.

Continuing the Miura theme, listed in the brochure as a 1972 Muira SV.

After being raced by Jackie Oliver and Carlos Reutemann at Buenos Aires in 1970 this 1969 Lola T70 MK3B went on to become a bit of a Hollywood star, being dressed up to resemble a Porsche 917, and then crashed by Steve McQueen in his film Le Mans. The car then languished in American until coming to the UK in 2007 and being fully restored.

This 1965 Lola T70 Spider was raced by Australian Paul Hawkins in the inaugural 1966 Can Am championship. His best result was a 5th at Mosport in Canada.

This 1913 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Alpine Eagle is one of only a few to retain her original bodywork. The Alpine Eagle was the sporting version of the Silver Ghost and is so named because the Rolls-Royce team swept the board in the Austrian Alpine Rally which crossed Austria, Croatia, Slovenia and Italy.

Heveningham for the first time had a small selection of classic aircraft competing for the Hanna trophy named in honor of Ray and Mark Hanna. The Sopwith Snipe reconstruction is interesting as it was built in New Zealand by Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings film fame and it was reversed engineered using 3d scanners etc.

The Stearman Model 75 Kadet was designed as a military trainer with around 10,000 being built during the 1930s and 40s. Approximately 50% of all US military pilots trained on Stearmans. Between 1941 and 1943 several thousand RAF and Fleet air arm pilots also trained on Stearmans at the 7 British Flying Training Schools located in the USA. Designated as PT17 in the US Army and N2S for the US Navy. This example G-ISDN is a PT17 fitted with the seven cylinder 11 liter Continental R-670 engine. Other examples were built with Lycoming R-680 and Jacobs R-755 engines.

The De Havilland DH83 Fox Moth was designed by Arthur Hagg who had spotted a market for a small airliner that was economical to operate for the many small domestic airlines that had started up. His 1931 designed could accommodate 4 passengers (just) in the enclosed cabin with the pilot located behind and above. Located in the middle of the instrument panel is a chrome edged oval mirror which allowed the pilot to check in on his passengers during the flight. This example, built in 1934, is a speed model fitted with a cockpit canopy and was delivered to New Zealand. The aircraft was damaged whilst landing in fog in 1936. A new fuselage was ordered from De Havilland’s and the aircraft returned to flight in 1938. In 1963 the aircraft was damaged again and the remains were stored until being brought to the UK in 1997. Restoration commenced with a return to flight on the 3rd August 2015.