The 1st Edition of the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Concours d’elegance held in Y 2014 was a great success and it promised not to be an easy run for Peter Auto, who also organizes the Tour Auto and Le Mans Classic, to do better.
Nevertheless, the 2nd Edition, which saw a 35% increase of the number of spectators, proved to be a robust success.
Starting Saturday with a road rally for the cars entered Sunday’s Concours, and a Auction by Bonhams, the event saw on Sunday 13,500 visitors converging to the Chantilly Estate just north of Paris, a wonderful setting for vintage, classic and concept motor cars.
The classic and vintage Ferrari sports racing cars were resplendent, these were some of the cars that established the world’s #1 brand today.
And for who not so concerned by automotive art, there were lots of things to see and do.
The Castle and its painting collections were accessible for free, there was an Horse Show before the Car Awards, Classic boat rides, Hot Air Balloon discovery Flights and a Champagne Bar..
The Ferrari 166 MM is the car on which Ferrari built its legend. This example finished 7th in the Targa Florio and fourth in the Mille Miglia in 1950.
This Ferrari 340 America with Ghia body was first delivered to Italo-American Tony Parravano in order to run the Carrera Panamericana in 1952 in which it finished 5th behind the works entries of Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari and Lancia.
Third at the 1955 Tour of Sicily and a DNF at the 1953 Mille Miglia are the major placings in the life of this Ferrari 250 MM, not seen in public since the 1988 Mille Miglia.
The Alfa Romeo Tipo B P3 raced all over Europe during many years since 1932. This one, called the Don Lee Special, even went to Indy for the famous 500 miles race.
Voisin cars were very unique in their style and degree of technical perfection. The C27 Roadster, bodied by Figoni & Falaschi in 1934, was yet another unique design as only two were made.
Figoni & Falaschi were also the coachbuilders of this Delahaye 135 MS of 1939, first owned by a street singer who became music-hall singer and then married a Puerto-Rican industrialist to become the ‘richest woman in the world’ !
While the main purpose of the 250 MM Ferrari was racing, some of these cars were destined to wealthy amateurs and never went racing. This is the case for 0338 MM, delivered to Nina Sheila Dyer, a British model and wife of Prince Sadruddin Khan.
Although the gardens of the Chantilly castle form a perfect surrounding for the Ferrari 250 GT California SWB, this model was also at ease on the track, due to its outstanding performances.
French driver Jo Schlesser, once established in Madagascar, bought this Ferrari 250 GT Interim in 1959 and applied the Madagascar colors to it. He finished 2nd of the 1960 Tour de France in this car.
Another Zagato creation, this Maserati A6G 2000 s/n 2123 has been raced from 1956 to 1961 at the Coppa Intereuropa in Italy and in other minor events. Converted to spyder form after a crash, it has been recently restored to its original configuration.
Another Maserati creation, but under the Osca name, this 1954 2000 S made most of its career in the United States, in particular at the famous Pike’s Peak hill climb.
The Best of Show award went to the 1936 Mercedes-Benz 500 K Special Roadster presented by Dutchman collector, Evert Louwman, whose collection can be seen in the Louwman Museum in Den Haag, in the Netherlands.
The Monica 560 of 1972 is an attempt to revive the French luxury car in a country that counted so many luxury manufacturers before WWII. This attempt was due to a railroad industrialist and lasted only two years during which some 20 examples were built.
The Citroën DS, celebrating its 60 years, had a special class for the DS with special body work. French coachbuilder Chapron was responsible for most of these special DS like the DS 19 “Le Paris” of 1960.
The Citroën SM special bodywork also had their own class. The Citroën SM Espace is a cabriolet version of the SM due to another French coachbuilder, Heuliez, who inserted two large openings made from aluminum strips.
F1 Grand Prix cars from 1966 to 1972 was another highlight at Chantilly. The 1970 De Tomaso 505, designed by Italian engineer Paolo Dallara, was run by Frank Williams’ team and powered by a V8 Cosworth.
Following the 312 B that was powered by the first flat 12 F1 engine, the 1971 312 B2 wore all the hopes of Maranello. But although Ickx won at Zandvoort, it did not have much success in the remainder of the season.
As in every respectable Concours d’Elegance, concept cars also had their place. The reborn of Alpine is for the coming years but this Alpine Celebration was already a foretaste of what a production Alpine could look like.
Called il Mostro (the Monster), this Zagato creation is an evocation of the famous Maserati 450 S built by Zagato with streamlined bodywork by Frank Costin for Le Mans in 1957.
Beside the Concours, an important part of the show was dedicated to the clubs with more than 30 clubs representing almost 600 collectors’cars. Here is the Delahaye club.
Air balloon discovery flights were also possible for who wanted to escape from cars.
One of the themes of the day was the “dejeuner sur l’herbe” that we can translate by lunch on the grass.
Looking forward to the 3rd Edition of this terrific event in France.
Story and Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
Paul Ebeling, Editor
HeffX-LTN