The London Concours 2024 is an automotive garden party in the heart of the city, gathering together nearly 100 motoring icons, old and new, in one of London’s most beautiful historic hidden venues, the HAC (Honourable Artillery Company) estate. The cars sit at the apex of an event brimming with fine champagne and world-class gastronomy, enjoyed with a live music soundtrack and surrounded by pop-up boutiques from sought-after luxury brands. Held across three days, the London Concours opens up the world of top-end craftsmanship in automotive and beyond, with live panel discussions, awards ceremonies and roving comperes, shining a spotlight on the passion and the heritage of the brands and vehicles on display. It is truly a wonderful event for anyone with a passion for cars.
The London Concours 2024 had nine concours classes, namely Great British Racing, The Legendary V12, The Hypercars, Carnaby Street, Coachbuilt Greats – Zagato, Purple Reign, Corvette – A Design Icon, Aero – Front Enlightened and Wild Cards.
Here we look at the Concours Class: Aero – Front Enlightened
The era of pop-up headlight design – unfortunately cut short by safety regulations – gave rise to some of the most beautiful car designs ever. Streamlined and simplified, car manufacturers would come up with ever more ingenious ways of concealing the headlights, and here we pick our favourites at London Concours 2024.
The cars on show:
1967 Lamborghini Miura P400
Chassis 3198 was the UK’s first right-hand-drive Miura, from a total of 26 made. Production number 110, it was the October 1967 London Motor Show car, presented in Royal Blue with off-white leather trim. Travel agent Thomas Cook saw the car, loved it and ordered one in Rosso Miura with black leather trim.
The Lamborghini UK importer flew Thomas to Milan. He then drove the car back to the UK. He was apparently unaware that this was in fact the very same Earls Court show car that he had first seen, and that the factory had prepared it to his spec. Numerous specialists maintained the Miura. This included Colin Clarke, who worked on it from 2005 to 2012. SJB Classic Cars undertook a full restoration in 2018. The Miura’s fifth owner purchased it in May 2022.
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1969 Maserati Ghibli Spyder
The Ghibli is one of the most seductive shapes of the 1960s, made ever more alluring in Spyder form. Just 125 drop-tops were built, and only the last 45 were 4.9-litre SS Spyders. Most were sent to the US, with just a handful remaining in Europe. The UK received a mere four right-hand-drive examples. This particular car was sold new to Mr Matacena, owner of Caronte, which managed ferries between Italy and Sicily. He kept it until March 1982, selling it to Antonio Alberoni. Alberoni meticulously cared for the Ghibli. He swapped the Campagnolo magnesium wheels for Borrani wires. He then had the car resprayed and retrimmed to original spec. In 2020, the Spyder went to its third owner, Belgium’s Thierry Dehaeck, to complete his Citroën and Maserati collection.
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1970 Dodge Charger 440 R/T SE 500 Magnum
The Charger received a redesign for 1968. Richard Sias implemented the ‘Coke bottle’ styling. It replaced the original Charger’s fastback roof with a shape that aped that of Pontiac’s GTO.R/T stood for Road/Track, Dodge’s high- performance package that included the 440ci Magnum V8, with an optional 426ci Hemi. Visual cues included ‘bumble-bee’ stripes. The SE (Special Edition) had extra trim detailing. In 1970, the last of these Chargers had electric headlight covers – not pneumatic, as before. This car is one of fewer than 200 in Burnt Metallic Orange with a Gator Skin vinyl roof.
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1971 Maserati Indy
Designed to replace both the Sebring and the first Quattroporte, Maserati named the Indy after their two Indy 500 victories. Styled by Vignale’s Virginio Vairo, its svelte body ensconced V8s in 4.2-, 4.7- and 4.9-litre forms. Between 1969-75, 1104 of this 2+2 were built, with either a ZF manual ’box or Borg-Warner auto. One of 364 4.7-litre cars, this Indy was supplied new to Geoffrey Verdon-Roe. Bronze with black leather trim, it could hit a quoted 164mph top speed. Geoffrey sold the car during the 1973 fuel crisis. His son repurchased it in 2021 and further modified it to Group 4 specifications, including high-compression pistons and high-lift cams. Restoration took place at McGrath Maserati in the early 2000s.
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1973 De Tomaso Pantera GTS Group 4
Bobby McIntyre, son of Lord Sorn, bought this Pantera new. De Tomaso’s comp team prepared it to Group 3 spec, with uprated cooling and brakes plus a larger carb. It was then further modified to Group 4, with high-compression pistons and high-lift cams among other items. It produced 450bhp, and had a 200mph-plus theoretical top speed.The founder of the UK’s De Tomaso club acquired the car after Bobby’s death in 1988, and fitted new carbs to boost power to 490bhp. Romance of Rust has now gently recommissioned the car, which has only done 13,700 miles.
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1973 Lotus Elan Sprint
SprintBack in the 1980s, Harry Metcalfe was regularly driving a modified Lotus Elan Sprint in the C&CC National Hillclimb Championship – but the more he modified it, the more he fancied owning a perfect road-going Elan Sprint as well. He bought this Lotus as an unfinished restoration project in 1993. A year of late nights and hard work created the car you see here. Special tweaks include his favourite yellow/white paint, leather trim, an ultra-rare optional Elan close-ratio ’box, adjustable spring platforms, bigger Elan +2 front brake discs and a 3.55:1 diff ratio to aid motorway cruising.
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1975 Lancia Stratos HF Stradale
Lancia and Bertone left no stone unturned in the quest for performance from arguably the very first thoroughbred rally car. Marcello Gandini’s wedge design clothed a transverse 2.4-litre ‘Dino’ V6 tucked behind the cabin. A short, 2.18-metre wheelbase and 880kg weight made the Stratos nimble and direct – and hugely successful, with 18 World Rally Championship wins and three overall victories. Lancia fell short of building the 500 road-spec cars needed to homologate a competition variant. One of only 492 Stratos HF Stradales built, this example was first sold to Switzerland. In 1988, an Italian collector returned it to its native land. The next Italian custodian cherished it for more than a decade before it came to the UK in 2006. Its subsequent UK owner has had it since.
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1991 Porsche 928 S4
The 928 had an unusually long production period, from 1977-95. After winning Car of the Year in 1978 – so far the only sports car to do so – it would go through seven distinct versions. The all-aluminium V8 started life at 4.5 litres, which grew to 5.4 by the end of production. Its 50:50 weight distribution and transaxle set-up gave great high-speed cornering. The Weissach axle mountings aided in achieving this, allowing for rear-wheel toe-in when lifting off mid-corner. Additionally, the 928 S4 received a limited-slip differential for improved handling. Finished in Horizon Blue with a Light Grey and Cobalt Blue interior, this 928 has covered 86,000 miles. The owner plans to replace the hydrolastic engine mounts and upgrade the suspension from the original BOGE to Bilstein dampers.
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1988 Aston Martin Lagonda
William Towns’ ‘folded paper’ Lagonda caused a sensation at the 1976 London Motor Show. Only an estimated 250 are believed to still exist. This Series IV is one of a mere 105 built between 1987-89, when production ceased. In 1988 just 33 were made, at £99,500 (the average UK house cost half that). This car started life as a factory demonstrator, and was once owned by Aston Martin heritage specialist Roger Bennington of the Stratton Motor Company. It features in several books, and won its class in the Aston Martin Owners Club virtual concours during Lockdown. Later in 2021, it took part in the Top Gear Christmas special. In August 2022, it was displayed alongside other “wedges” at the Aston Martin Heritage Trust festival at Brooklands, parked under the wing of Concorde, another iconic vehicle of the 1970s.
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I hope that you liked our article as much as we enjoyed our time at London Concours 2024. Let us know which car here is your favourite?
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