The United Kingdom is home to a number of motor shows and events, there is Goodwood, Silverstone Classic and Wilton house, just to name a few, but there is one event that the entire GTspirit team eagerly anticipate, Salon Prive. Shows such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed have their charms but require vast amounts of legwork to be appreciated to their full potential, Salon Prive, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, has always been a relatively small event meaning the quality of cars on show is exceptional bringing along with it an unrivalled atmosphere. There in an even greater buzz around the GTspirit team for the 2015 show as we are the official partners of the event and will have unprecedented access in and around the show.
2015 will be a particularly interesting year for Salon Prive and its organisers as for the first time in its history, the show will not be taking place in London’s Syon Park which it had somewhat out grown, but to the grandiose ground of the internationally acclaimed Blenheim Palace. This means that for the first time, all the supercars and concours entrants will be sharing one 17,000-square meter luscious lawn with the palace, built in the 18th century, featuring as the backdrop.
To celebrate the move and the milestone for Salon Prive, this years press preview was astonishing. Ten cars assembled in the courtyard of the UNESCO World Heritage site surrounded by the lofty intricately detailed walls of the palace. After a brief tour of the palaces beautifully painted historical interior where Winston Churchill himself was born, it was time to shift of focus back to the cars and the main event that will be taking place from the 3rd-5th September this year. The 10 cars that has been arranged for the press event presented us with a tantalisingly sensational sight. It seems that having the trinity of hypercars is somewhat mandatory at any event of 2015, the Salon Prive organisers knew that was the case and lined-up the most exquisite cars that were certainly not hidden in the shadow in the LaFerrari, P1 and 918, a newly delivered gorgeous naked blue-carbon One:1 looked menacing and joined the hypercar line-up.
The Lamborghini Countach 5000S and Bugatti EB110 in Super Sport guise never fail to drop jaws, representing the classics there was also a Bentley Speed Six (Old Number Three), Ferrari 308 GTB, Ferrari 330GTC with a winsome Porsche 904GTS shining bright in its vivacious orange livery.
Those of you that have the previously visited the show will notice that the show will now run from Thursday-Saturday rather that Wednesday-Friday. Those are not the only changes that feature in the Salon Prive 2015 agenda.
For the first time in the shows history visitors with serious intent of purchase will have the opportunity to get behind the wheel of some of the rarest and valuable cars in production on an incredible five-mile test-drive route starting and ending at the palace with some of the most beautiful and sweeping country roads in the UK.
One aspect that certainly is not new to Salon Prive is the Concours D’elegance which never ceases to amaze. This years format has changed with every car being able to enter one of two categories, pre or post 1975. A number of globally recognised Concours winning cars coming from as far as the United States.
2014 was the first time an auction took place at Salon Prive and it was a resounding success with £9.9 million pounds of classic and collectable cars being sold including a Ferrari F50 and Lamborghini Miura, orchestrated by Silverstone Auctions. This year promises to trump last years figures with a number of extraordinary cars set to be auctioned.
We will be keeping you up to date throughout the run up to the show with details of the cars that will be displayed, Salon Prive 2015 is certainly shaping up to the a show to remember!