An early-autumn Sunday spent on the grounds of the Château de Chantilly, in the company of some of the finest historic, coachbuilt and contemporary machinery in Europe. The eighth edition of France’s most stylish concours delivered once again. Few settings in the automotive calendar can compete with the grounds of the Château de Chantilly, and on Sunday September 13th 2026 those grounds were once again the stage for the eighth edition of Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille.
Organised by Peter Auto with the support of watchmaker Richard Mille, the concours drew close to 30,000 visitors over the course of the day and gathered more than 700 collector cars, dozens of contemporary reveals and a total of over 900 cars, clubs, collectors and manufacturers on the grass in front of the Château. The undisputed headline of the day belonged to Bugatti.
The one-of-one Brouillard, first shown to the world at Monterey Car Week in 2025 as the very first creation of the marque’s ultra-exclusive Programme Solitaire, the new coachbuilding initiative designed to deliver no more than two entirely bespoke automobiles a year, returned to the concours stage at Chantilly for what turned out to be its most emotional appearance to date.
It was here that the car was officially handed over to its new owner inside the Dôme of the Great Stables, during a private ceremony in the presence of family and friends, before entering the Concours d’Élégance Concept Class and taking home the “Best of Show: Concept Cars, Restomods & One-offs” trophy.
It then led the Bugatti Parade around the estate, flanked by a spectacular selection of Veyrons, W16 Mistrals and the Chiron Profilée. If you were looking for a single reason why the industry’s biggest names still choose Chantilly as their stage of choice, this was it.
Just as at Pebble Beach a few weeks earlier, the 60th anniversary of the Lamborghini Miura also received its own dedicated tribute in France. A carefully curated selection of Miuras was assembled on the lawn, a fitting European counterpart to the record-setting American gathering, and a timely reminder of just how special this car remains six decades after it changed the direction of the modern supercar forever.
The Concours d’État itself was divided into 17 classes, and this year’s line-up leaned unusually far towards performance and modernity. The dedicated “GT1: The Golden Age of Grand Touring” class was a particular highlight, gathering the likes of a 1997 Porsche 911 GT1, a McLaren F1 GTR in a stunning special livery, a Ferrari F40 GTE, a Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT and a 1995 Venturi 600 SLM. Alongside those, there were tributes to the Renault 5 Turbo family, endurance barquettes and vintage Ferrari V12s.
Historic content was there for those who wanted it (pre-war coachbuilders, racing Bugattis, Delahaye in all its forms, Ford and Shelby), but the overall balance leaned firmly towards the sort of cars GTspirit readers tend to spend their weekends thinking about. The two flagship Best of Show trophies for the historic field went, respectively, to a 1933 Delage D8 SS for the pre-war category and to a 1956 Ferrari 410 Superamerica for the post-war category.
The Brouillard, as noted, claimed the Concept Cars, Restomods & One-offs Best of Show, and the awards ceremony brought the day to a close in front of a packed Château. As venues go, few concours in the world can compete with an autumn Sunday spent in the shadow of the Château de Chantilly.
As ever, the eighth edition of Chantilly Arts & Elegance managed to combine the seriousness of a top-tier concours with the atmosphere of a genuinely enjoyable day out in France, and GTspirit is already looking forward to 2028, when the biennial event will return to Chantilly for its ninth edition.
Photos and Words by Yaron Esposito
