Jonathan Sharp at Salon Prive, 2021

My favorite car of the show, this 1937 Talbot Lago T15 Cabriolet by Worblaufen – FRITZ RAMSEIER & CIE.

The Talbot Lago was ordered as a wedding gift by the bride’s father, Mr Kaufmann, for the opera singer and notorious playboy Max Lichtegg and his wife Olga. The marriage was not long lasting. From 1946 till 1958 the car was owned by Lady Germaine House-Thalmann of Basel. In 1958 motoring author Ferdinand Hediger purchased the car for his honeymoon trip to Nice. In 1965 with 115.000 kilometers he mothballed the car in his barn. After a 37-year hibernation the car was sold to a Swiss collector, who had been trying for 5 years to buy the car. From 2004 until 2008 the car was restored by Classic Auto Muller AG in Moosleerau Switzerland. More Talbot details below.

This 1950 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Villa d’Este Coupe by Touring body number 915914 was sold new in Germany. In 2019 Mr Stephen Bruno purchased the car and sent it to Italy for restoration where the car was reunited with its original engine which had been missing for many years.

This Touring bodied Alfa Romeo 2600 Spider is one of only 103 right hand drive examples constructed in 1964.

This 1963 Alfa Romeo Giulia 1600 Spider is one of just 404 right hand drive examples constructed for the UK, Australia and South African market.

In 2014 James Needham commissioned Barkaways to restore the Spider to as new condition, a task which took two years to complete.

Another gem was this Amilcar C6. Discovered in East Berlin, in bits, in 1958 by Adrian Secker and then exported to Florida in 1962 by Swiss journalist Heinz Wiesellman, then owned from 1963 till 1970 by Florida resident Mrs JS Frost.

In 1970 Guy Weightman and Desmond Peacock purchased the car (less engine). Guy then purchased an engine and gearbox from Georges Martin of Nantes, France who had purchased the parts directly from the Amilcar factory during the 1930s. In 1990 the engine/gearbox and car were brought by Keith Bowley of Aston Keynes Vintage Restorations. Since restoration the Amilcar has covered approximately 20,000 miles, mainly in Europe, on various Amilcar rallies.

Of the 84 Delahaye 235s constructed, 51 were bodied by Chapron. The rest carried coachwork by a varied cross section of other coach builders. VIN 818007, shown here, constructed in 1951, carries coachwork by Figoni.

The first owner is unknown but it was later acquired by French collector Claude Quentin who owned the car for many years before passing into the ownership of the Abba Kogan collection. The current owner was able to purchase the car from Mr Kogan earlier this year.

This European spec 1972 De Tomaso Mangusta is one of the last manufactured and was fitted with the 302cu V8 rather than the earlier 289cu V8. It has covered less than 16,000 km from new. Sympathetically restored keeping as many original parts as possible and finished in Rosso Fuco.

Having two GTO’s together on one stage does not happen very often.

Ferrari 250 GTO chassis 3767GT.

For many the star of ‘The Red Collection’ Lord Bamford’s very well-known ex-Mike Parkes, Jack Sears, Graham Hill, Innes Ireland Ferrari 250 GTO.

Ferrari-275-GTS-1 One of only fourteen examples constructed in right hand drive this Ferrari 275 GTS was delivered new to Mr GD Claridge in 1965 and was later owned by Swedish businessman Mr Jorn Rausing.

Ferrari-330-GTS-1 Displayed at the 1967 Turin Motor show (with alloy wheels) this Ferrari 330 GTS was finally sold in 1969 to Jamie Wyeth of Pennsylvania by Algar Enterprises of Rosemount PA USA. A multiple show winner during the 1980s and 90s (painted Rosso Corsa), by 2017 the GTS had found its way to the UK where it was purchased from JD Classics by Mr Nigel Allen for his wife Sarah. Between October 2017 and January 2018 the car was mechanically overhauled and partially restored by Barkaways Ferrari and O’Rourke Coach Trimmers before being repainted in its original colour Azzuro Metallizato by Ross Packard and dismantled and reassembled by Bob Houghton in November 2020.

Ferrari-365-GTB-4-1 This 1968 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 was number twenty-five off the production line and the first example to arrive in the UK. Colonel RJ Hoare CBE of Maranello Sales purchased the car from Garage Francorchamps, as the factory had not yet produced an example in right hand drive and the Colonel wanted a demonstrator to show his clients as that upstart the Lamborgini Muira was already stealing sales.

Ferrari-1967-275-GTB4 This Ferrari 275 GTB Competition Clienti is one of only three (of the ten built) constructed in right hand drive. Recently restored over five years to an as it left the factory condition this 275 finished first in class at last year’s Hampton Court Concours, and was recently awarded the Ladies Cup at the Ferrari Owners Club Concours.

1955 Ferrari 750 Monza chassis 0502M was ordered from the factory by William Doheny of Los Angeles for his driver Ernie McAfee. Doheny ordered the car without the rear headrest, the only example thus built, as he also intended to use the Monza on the road and believed that the headrest would attract unwanted attention from the police. Finished in the American racing colours of white with a blue stripe, the Monza was delivered at Sebring in March 1955. Entered by Doheny for McAfee and co driver Harold Wheeler to drive, the Monza had an off circuit excursion whilst being driven by Wheeler and did not complete the race.

After being transported back to McAfee’s shop in LA the Monza was repaired and painted Dodge Lancer Blue (Doheny was a director of Union 76 Oil) and given the race number 76. McAfee then proceeded to race the Monza throughout California for the rest of the year.

Probably the most famous vehicle in ‘The Red Collection,’ the Lord Selsdon, Luigi Chinetti 1949 Le Mans winning Ferrari 166MM chassis 008M.

Miss Andrina Colquhon, a friend of Lord Lucan who was waiting to pick him up from the Clermont Club on the night he disappeared, ordered this Ferrari 246 GTS directly from Maranello Concessionaires. As she failed to pick the car up Maranello sold the car to the Honourable W Banbury for £6836. First registered in August 1974 making it one of the very last of the UK supplied cars to be registered.

From the Barkaways website:
Originally finished in white, Ferrari s/n 0113S was ordered with the triple Weber carburettor (type 36 DCF 3) set up and the elaborate and very stylish Jaeger instruments with a body by Ghia. The car was completed on 11 December, 1950 and delivered new to Franco Cornacchia’s company in Milan, Italy. In June of the following year, the Ferrari 195 was sold to the first private owner, Alfonso Scimé.

While Alfonso Scimé owned the car, the front and rear of the 195 Inter were extensively modified. Scimé customised new fenders, headlights, grille, and bumper, along with a modified C-pillar. This was more than likely done to give the car a more modern look. From period photographic documentation of the car, it is clear that the modifications were performed prior to 1959 and so commissioned by the first owner. This unique car was purchased by the current owner in 2018 who enlisted Barkaways to carry out a complete bare metal restoration on the car.

3/4 TR 250 Electric. Brochure below.

TR brochure

This Maserati Ghibli 4.7 was built in June of 1969 with a number of special-order items including Borrani wheels and a Ferrero leather steering wheel, and exported to the USA. Imported into the UK in 2014, a four-year 2000 hour restoration 2000 was undertaking in 2017 with the work being carried out by McGrath Maserati and UK Autofficina.

Maserati 250S (from ‘The Red Collection) chassis 2409 was completed in February 1957 with a 2.5 liter engine and was used as a test bed for future 250S models. Fangio and Scarlatti tested it for the Buenos Aires 1000km and then raced in the 12 Hours of Sebring with Bonnier and Scarlatti. Returned to the factory from South America the engine was changed to a 2.0 liter to compete in the European Hill Climb Championship in 1957. Maserati then sold the car to Italian privateer Antonio Negri Bevilacqua who raced it extensively in Europe and South America. In 1958 the car passed into the hands of Mennato Boffa who campaigned it with much success in class of the 1959 Italian Sport Championship. At the end of 1959 the ownership passed to the Scuderia Centro Sud Racing School who reinstalled the 2.5 Liter engine.