Warren Brown’s 1925 Bean Fourteen fresh from its London to Melbourne adventure poses in front of the spectacular Sydney Harbour.
Story and photos by Chris Martin
Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbor, Australia, was the site of a convict prison in the 19th century and later a naval shipyard and repair facility which was decommissioned in 1992. Now in its seventh year, the Sydney Harbor Concours d’Elegance took place on the island for the second time from February 28 to March 2.
The Concours had a stunning display of classics old and new displayed in the giant historic sheds surrounded by some very heavy, now redundant, machinery that used to service the warships’ engines. There was a selection of new Bentleys, Lamborghinis and McLarens to tempt those rich enough, but a tastefully curated selection of classics were the real stars of the show.
The earliest car there, and the largest, was a 20/24HP Automobiles Eugène Brillié from 1905, with Coupé Chauffer bodywork and much brass. While most veteran afficionados will be familiar with the old French Gobron Brillié marque, Eugène Brillié left the company in 1903 and later went to work with Ateliers Schneider making trucks, but for a short time in between he also managed to produce large luxury cars under his own name; this is one of the rare survivors.
Bugattis were represented by an early Brescia, an elegant Type 57 Aravis which was voted the Best In Show (Pre-War) and a modern Veyron. A charming stripped down Delahaye 135 CS from 1936 was another French classic on show.
Judges included former F1 pilot Thierry Boutsen, and Vice President of the Registro Internazionale Touring Superleggera, Alessandra Giorgetti, who awarded Best In Show Overall to David and Adele Cohen’s beautiful Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport from 1933 with a handsome coupé body by Figoni. The Alfa was fitted with a lightweight open body when it raced in the Le Mans enduro in 1935, finishing sixth overall and first in class driven by Guy Don and Jean Desvignes but it was later reunited with the Figoni creation and restored.
Best In Show (Post-War) was won by a 1967 Lamborghini Miura with other awards going to Michael Morris’s custom 1932 Ford Roadster, a 1926 Rolls-Royce Phantom and an Alfa Romeo 6C Sport Freccia d’Oro from 1948. The award for Most Spectacular went to the 1973 Can-Am championship-winning Porsche 917-30 resplendent in the original Sunoco livery.
Another car attracting much attention even though it had not been cleaned or polished was the dusty 1925 Bean Fourteen with which Warren Brown and Matthew Benns recently drove from London to Melbourne, re-enacting the journey of Australian explorer and adventurer Francis Birtles undertaken in 1927 and ‘28.
Not that I had any say in the proceedings, but this writer’s choice for best in show was the stunning blue Facel II with the full complement of chrome wire wheels, blue leather and typical Facel fake wood painted dash panel. Now I am off to buy that lottery ticket…
Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Figoni awarded Best In Show Overall.
1936 Delahaye 135 CS.
Bugatti Brescia.
1939 Bugatti T57 Aravis.
2014 Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport.
1905 Automobiles Eugène Brillié 20/24HP.
1967 Lamborghini Miura P400 won Best In Show (Post-War).
Lamborghini Urraco.
The latest Lamborghini Revuelto was there to tempt those rich enough.
1964 Facel Vega Facel II.
Can-Am Porsche 917-30 in the famous Sunoco livery and prepared by Roger Penske dominated the 1973 Can-Am championship in Mark Donahue’s hands.
1948 Alfa Romeo 6C Sport Freccia d’Oro.
1962 Lancia Flaminia GT Convertible.
Fiat Abarth 750 GT Zagato 1959.
Maserati Ghibli.
Maserati Mistral Spyder.
What a horrible cold and inhospitable venue to show such majestic vehicles! The photos of the “Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Figoni awarded Best In Show Overall”, make it look both short and positively squat, and seemingly trapped in the back of someones old garage, imagine that! A Walmart parking lot would look more welcoming than that gloomy warehouse…IMHO of course.
Mr Hamilton your comment reminded me of what my mother always told me, “ If you can’t utter something nice keep your mouth closed. I would remind you that the world, especially Italy was mired in the great depression during that Alfas formative years. I’m certain that it experienced many dilapidated surroundings .
I agree it was not the best venue for such classics and certainly not great for trying to do them justice in photos. The organisers choose the venue and this was the second year here, it had been staged at more photogenic sites in the past. The cars had been paraded outside at one time, but I arrived too late to catch that although you can just make out the famous harbour bridge in the background of the photo of the Bean. The island and the old naval base are open to the public as little bit of Sydney’s history if you are interested in that sort of thing but at least the trip out on the ferry is a more attractive way to see this great city.