The British 100th Anniversary "Concours d’Elegance and Manifestation", 20 June 2004 at Boughton House, Northamptonshire.

by Terry Walker

June 20, 2004

IN THE days before the big event the weather was, well, very English. Rain, wind, and chill. A typical English summer in fact.

However, the morning of Sunday 20 June dawned clear and sunny, and by 10 a.m. my brother and I had arrived at Boughton House’s vast grounds near Kettering in Northamptonshire, had been relieved of £15 ($45!) each admission fee, and were directed to a parking slot.

As it turned out, we were early. The official start was nearer 11 am. We therefore had ample time to wander through the huge "trade" area, where many familiar names had set up shop. Flying Spares, the R-R wreckers, had a tent. The Real Car Co (of Wales), dealers in classic 2nd hand R-Rs, had brought along half a dozen interesting cars from their yard.

P and A Wood of Great Easton, Essex, also set out a collection of their cars, and what a collection!

Left: The superb "Gasque"Phantom 1     Below: The interior is stunning.

The "Gasque" Phantom 1

STAR attraction was the fabulous "Gasque" Phantom 1, coachbuilt and finished by Clarke of Wolverhampton. The interior of the rear compartment of the Brougham de Ville was reputedly inspired by a sedan chair once owned by Marie Antionette. The upholstery was Aubusson tapestry, specially made for the car. The ceiling was painted with pink roses and flying cupids; the bulkhead under the division was fitted like an antique cupboard, all marquetry; and even the door trims were marquetry, illuminated with more roses and cupids.

Monsieur Gasque died just two years later, but his widow kept the 1926 Rolls-Royce until she died in 1952, although it was unused from about 1937. Rolls-Royce legend Stanley Sears bought it for his own collection, and later it passed to a Japanese collector for some staggering sum. While Mr Sears had it he thought it all-black paintwork too sombre, so he had the rear quarters done in yellow basket-weave finish, and he fitted wide whitewall tyres to the cream painted wire spoke wheels.

There it was in the actual metal; and I goggled in amazement at this legendary vehicle, with just 10,000 miles racked up from new. In its present form it has lost the wide whitewalls, and has had sombre back wheel discs put on over the wire wheels. But the interior is still unmarked and exactly as M. Gasque first saw it.

The windows were wound up, which made photographing the interior nigh impossible, but it attracted numerous unbelieving spectators during the day. You could see them craning their necks to look in, and reeling back in amazement.

ABOVE: The amazing ex-Nubar Gulbenkian Silver Wraith, with its lizard-skin trim. Coachwork is Hooper Sedan de Ville.

The Trade area was enormous, and included Bentley Motor Co and Rolls Royce Motor Co stands, both with new cars on show. Bentley showed a new Continental GT, and a new long wheelbase Bentley Arnage based Limousine, as well as an Azure (sigh). Pride of place went to THE Silver Ghost, AX 201. On the Rolls-Royce factory stand a pop star in a striped jacket was being shown over a new Phantom. There were herds of specialists, selling everything from driver handbooks to electric overdrive sets for Derby Bentleys, bric a brac, tacky souvenirs, alloy wheels, key rings, model cars, and even back issues of Praeclarum. I bought an R-R tie, and an R-R key fob. Last of the big spenders!

As the morning progressed, my brother and I wandered around the trade area and eventually made our way to the Concours d’Elegance lineup, which was still filling at 11 am.

No mucking about here; there were eighteen Silver Ghosts alone lined up for judging. As you moved further away from the forecourt of the great Mansion, you moved steadily through time towards 2004. Behind the Ghosts were several rows of Phantoms (12 Phantom Ones, 19 Twos and 10 Threes.)

Then came two rows of Rolls-Royce Twenties, 32 cars in all; a very long row indeed of 20-25s (would you believe 68 of them?) and another long row of 25-30s and Wraiths (30 in all). Derby Bentleys had their own long row, containing 40 cars; then came Bentley Mk 6 / R (64 examples), and R-R Silver Wraith and Dawn (26 cars). Among these was the ex Nubar Gulbenkian Silver Wraith; a beautiful car, but Gulbenkian didn’t want good old polished wood on the dash; it’s trimmed instead with snakeskin! There were 94 Cloud, Phantom 5, Phantom 6 and Bentley S’s including many coachbuilt versions. There were 158 Shadows, Bentley T’s and Camargues; and nearly 150 Spirits and Bentley equivalents and derivatives from 1980 on.

But this was not all; a further class of vehicles was called "Etat": judged by members only, not by the Concours judges. There were 33 of these, ranging from a Ghost to a 1998 Bentley Brooklands. This class is for cars not restored to perfection, but getting there; you can have only one go in the Etat class before moving on to full Concours classes.

A team of "Masters" also turned up; cars who have won the "Best in Show" trophy in the past, and therefore aren’t eligible to win it again; about 12 cars. "Conservation" is a newish class, for cars that are still original and only lightly if at all restored; another dozen cars there. Then there were another few small classes of strays including contestants in the World Rally. What a colossal collection! The sheer numbers alone knocked you sideways. Is it any wonder that I was slowly turning green from sheer envy?

Herds of spectators turned up in their own Rolls-Royces and Bentleys and they had their own vast carpark. There was also a "selling plate" area where club members who had cars for sale could put them on display, and a members’ spares tent where club members with surplus spare parts could flog them.

Around 12 noon various international visitors gathered near the R-REC President’s tent in national groups, Yanks, Canadians and Aussies in particular, for the traditional group photos. There was a tiny cluster of WA representatives, and you can amuse yourself trying to identify them (and all the other R-ROC members from the East) in the group photo.

Around 2 pm a dark cloud loomed, and a brisk shower passed over the site, sending owners into a flurry of top-raising. Shortly afterwards a lone Spitfire did several low passes over the show, making a lovely Merlin growl.

By now my feet were getting a touch tired, and it was time to leave. We therefore missed out on the prize-giving parade and ceremony, but we also missed out on the end-of-event traffic jam, because at 4 am the following morning we had to fall out of bed and dash to Stansted for a day trip to Copenhagen. But that’s another story.

It was an incredible event, absolutely amazing. The RREC promotes it as the annual "Concours d’Elegance and Manifestation", and it’s one of the Club’s two really big events, the other being the Annual Rally. This event is the one that the Club members turn out for in force, whether showing their cars for judging or not. How a squad of volunteers can put together something on such an enormous scale so professionally is a mystery to a disorganised klutz like me!

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