Following in the automotive slipstream of Northern California’s Monterey Car Week, the next important dates on the concours calendar are those reserved for Salon Privé. Hosted at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, about an hour’s drive northwest from London’s Heathrow Airport, this year’s five-day fete runs from August 27 through 31.
Unlike its multiday stateside counterpart, which saves the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance as its grand finale, the two-day Salon Privé Concours—sponsored by Aviva Private Clients—takes place at the start (Wednesday and Thursday) with a judged show-field of classic and contemporary dream machines. Friday is the Ladies’ Day gathering presented by Boodles, purveyor of rarefied jewelry and timepieces, which is followed by a weekend devoted to an exhibition of more than 1,000 supercars and hypercars. And between all of that are a couple of tours to keep the momentum going. As for the competition, here are seven cars you won’t want to miss.
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1956 Ferrari 410 Superamerica “Superfast 1”
With its achingly stylish coachwork worthy of the Jet Age, the Ferrari 410 Superamerica was launched at the 1956 Brussels Motor Show. Bodied by Pinin Farina (the renowned Italian carrozzeria that eventually condensed its name to Pininfarina), the 410 Superamerica was fit with a Lampredi 4.9-liter V-12—making 335 hp—mated to “a four-speed all synchromesh gearbox,” according to Ferrari’s official website entry for the model.
As for chassis No. 0483SA, which will be at this edition of the Salon Privé Concours, it’s a singular example that the event’s press materials reference as the “first Superfast” variant to be made. Robb Report has previously covered this car when it was named the Rolex Circle of Champions Best of Show at the Quail, a Motorsports Gathering, in 2023. At that time, we stated how this Prancing Horse “is evocative of the storied coachbuilder’s styling on the ionic Ferrari 250 GTO.” Debuted at the 1956 Paris Salon, this uniquely fanciful and decidedly finned Ferrari is currently part of the famed Lee Collection, under the auspices of Anne Brockinton Lee.
Nio EP9
Way back in 2016, when it seemed that the automotive industry was veering away from internal-combustion engines at full throttle, EV startups were becoming ubiquitous, as were a host of all-electric hypercar concepts. One that made it through the vaporware mist, though, was Nio and its 1,341 hp EP9. According to Nio, the EP9’s megawatt of power comes from “four high-performance inboard motors and four individual gearboxes” that allow the zero-emissions projectile to blast from zero to 124.2 mph in 7.1 seconds and top out at just over 194 mph.
More noteworthy is that Nio claims that the EP9 generates “3 g in cornering capabilities” and 5,395 pounds of downforce at 149 mph. It’s also touted to have a range of 265 miles. The year that it premiered, the EP9 set a lap record for electric vehicles at the revered Nürburgring Nordschliefe with a time of 7 minutes, 5.12 seconds. However, as reported on by Robb Report’s own Bryan Hood, that record now belongs to Xiaomi’s SU7 Ultra, which was timed at 7 minutes, 4.957 seconds.
Bugatti Veyron Centenaire
Although founded in 1909, then shuttered and restarted (more than once) since, Bugatti is currently in its commercial heyday under the Volkswagen Group, who relaunched it in 1998 and set a new benchmark with the Veyron 16.4 in 2005. The innovative coupe is fit with a W16 engine that delivers 987 hp and 922 ft lbs of torque. The Veyron was certainly a fitting model to commemorate the marque’s centennial, and in 2009, the Bugatti Veyron Centenaire was revealed at that year’s Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.
The Centenaire edition was limited to only four examples, each themed after one of the primary countries involved with racing early in the 20th century—France, Germany, England, and Italy—and each named after a storied driver from its respective nation. To celebrate the model’s 20th anniversary, there will be an exhibition of 20 Veyrons, one being the Veyron Cenetenaire shown here—a tribute to Britain, monikered the “Malcolm Campbell.” According to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, “Six new land speed records were established by Campbell between 1928 and 1935.”
Stradale Tipo R33
Among our leading picks for the most gorgeous automobile in history (perhaps second only to the Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlantic), the original Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale was introduced in 1967 and based off the Tipo 33 sports prototype. The latter won its racing premier at the Fléron Hillclimb earlier that same year. Designed by Franco Scaglione, the road-going version only saw a production run of 18 examples.
Reinterpreting the model for both longstanding admirers and a new generation of enthusiasts alike, the team at U.K.-based Automotive Artisans LTD. (formerly Pristine Panel Work) is building 33 examples of their vision—the Stradale Tipo R33. The custom coupe features a steel chassis covered in hand-formed aluminum. At its heart is what Automotive Artisans notes is “the last naturally aspirated V-8 offered by Ferrari.” The 4.2-liter muscle flexes with around 370 hp, and as an ode to analog, the R33 offers a manual transmission (with a gated shifter) and few, if any, modern driver assists.
RML P39
A mainstay in motorsport the past four decades, the RML Group is now branching into the world of reimagining the Porsche 911. Using a Porsche 992.1 Turbo S as the donor car, RML’s mission with its P39 project was, per its own website, “to create a definitive interpretation of a Le Mans Hypercar–inspired GT.”
The carbon-fiber build is fit with a customized engine configuration that punches far above a standard 911’s weight class by unleashing a maximum output of 920 hp in Sport/Sport+ mode, while Wet and Normal modes make available 600 hp and 750 hp, respectively. Aerodynamic enhancements, which includes an active rear wing, contribute to a possible 1,461 pounds of downforce at 150 mph. As for the P39 at the Salon Privé Concours, it’s the initial finished example of the 39 that will be made.
1964 Alpine M64
While much of the U.S. general public were likely unfamiliar with automaker Alpine until Formula 1’s recent rise in popularity stateside, the European marque has been making a name for itself in racing since 1955, with iconic models such as the A110 and the M64 race car to follow. Of the three M64 that were constructed, the one being showcased is the same car that sold at the 2014 RM Sotheby’s Monaco auction for €313,600 (approximately $366,882 by today’s conversion).
Yet more impressive than the price is its provenance, as the auction house’s notes on the lot mention that chassis No. 1711, equipped with an inline-four engine making roughly 113 hp, crossed the line 17th overall and first in class at the 1964 running of Le Mans—doing so with an average speed of 101 mph.
McLaren W1
Model debuts often seem part of the daily news cycle, but, occasionally, one causes even the most wandering of attention spans to slam on the brakes and take notice. Such was the case on October 6, 2024, when McLaren announced the W1, the latest in the marque’s pantheon of instant-classic supercars that also comprise the fabled F1 and its P1 successor introduced in 1992 and 2013, respectively.
In the case of the W1, which has the McLaren Aerocell carbon-fiber monocoque as its foundation, the car is propelled by a new hybrid power-train setup that pairs a 915 hp V-8 with a 342 hp electric motor for a total output of just over 1,257 hp and 988 ft lbs of torque. That combination allows the hypercar to cover zero to 124 mph in 5.8 seconds on its way to a limited top speed of 217 mph. The British marque has stated that only 399 examples have been made available, though already claimed, and each has a starting price that was originally reported to be in the neighborhood of £2.0 million in the U.K.
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