Drive Cult dresses up for the elegant concours at London's exclusive Hurlingham Club.

The inaugural Concours London took place this week in the elegant grounds of the Hurlingham Club.  Occupying the space vacated by the Salon Prive, which has relocated to nearby Syon House, I was a little curious to find out what this event was like.

Daytime tickets for the event were on the expensive side, costing £65 + VAT, not including lunch which could be purchased at additional cost. Fortunately for me, members of the Hurlingham Club can go to the event from free and bring in guests too, and this was how I was able to go.

On arrival we were greeted with a display of modern supercars, of which the limited edition Aston Martin One-77 stood out. It was the first time I had seen one in the wild, and considering the cost of the One-77 I was underwhelmed. The sharp kink in the window frame leading up to the C pillar looks odd and the window trim did not line up, which is inexcusable for a car costing so much. Also on display was the Aston Martin Cygnet, but the less said about that the better!

Another unusual car was the Arash AF10, a new British-built supercar powered by a 5.5 litre V10 engine. It's a very bold and commendable effort from a small manufacturer, though let down somewhat by its styling, which looks too much like a copy of a Ferrari Enzo.

Turning to the Concours itself, there was a smaller number of entrants than expected. Stand-out cars were a yellow Iso Grifo that looked freshly restored, a Ferrari 250 TDF and a couple of wonderful 6C Alfa Romeos, one with bodywork by Touring and the other by Pininfarina. 

There were a good number of Ferraris entered, including two 250 Lussos and an early Daytona (in a very period shade of metallic violet).  A more modern star was the Lamborghini Countach belonging to Evo Magazine's Harry Metcalfe.

Rather more disappointing to see was a replica Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa in the concours, even if it was a very high quality one (based on a Ferrari 250PF coupe, I believe). Most surprising entrant was a late 90s Fiat Coupe Turbo. I rather like the little Fiat but it hardly seemed an appropriate entrant to the event and this particular example was not even particularly good condition.

Adding a British feel to the event was a large selection of Jaguars (which I understand were all entered by one collector) and a few Bentleys and Astons. Inside the pavilion were a couple of McLaren F1 GTRs - a longtail example in BMW colours and a short tail in Harrods colours which has now been road registered.

What let the event down for me was that most of the cars on display were rather familiar and often seen at other events that cost much less to attend (if you were a paying customer). I would go as far as to say that as a car enthusiast, you would do better by attending one of Goodwood's free Sunday Breakfast events, which usually have a much greater and diverse number of cars.

I suspect that to the majority of attendees of the event the familiarity of the cars didn't matte, since they provided an appropriately attractive backdrop to their lobster and champagne lunch, but for me the event was a massive disappointment.

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