Our review of the wonderful Salon Privé 2023

By Will Wynn on 4 October 2023

Another Salon Privé has come and gone. The 2023 event was great. Anyone that knows me will know that I love this event, it is a must attend event in my diary every year, alongside its Salon Privé London event. So what was at Salon Privé 2023 and what stood out for me.

Well make sure that you watch my walk about video (above), which offers just a glimpse of the show, with a quick walk around.

I always attend the very first day of the show, where are are new car unveilings, talks by the manufacturers/ companies and the concours awards. Salon Privé Concours presented by Aviva saw 50 classics competing for the Best in Show award. Here’s our video of the concours awards (below).

Best in show car concours winner was a 1937 Bugatti Type 57S by Corsica (below), owned by JCB founder and chairman Lord Anthony Bamford.

Runner-up in the Best of Show was a 1951 Ferrari 212 Export by Vignale (below), originally owned by Prince Vittorio Massimo.

You can see all the winners in our article here.

There were car unveilings, including:

Aston Martin DB12 Volante (below) made its European debut – just weeks after its global reveal. Billed as the world’s ultimate open-top Super Tourer, the new DB12 Volante headlines an all-star line-up of Aston Martin cars to continue the brand’s 110th anniversary celebrations.

There are yet more world debuts at Salon Privé too. The Clive Sutton Shelby Cobra CSX10000 (below) is the first ready-to-go UK turn-key Shelby Cobra in almost 60 years, timed perfectly to mark 100 years since Carroll Shelby’s birth. The UK is the very first global market to receive the car, which boasts the latest 5.0-litre Ford V8 ‘Cobra’ Mustang engine producing 460hp – and an optional supercharged version increases power to 700hp. Clive Sutton, founder and CEO, said it was an immense honour to lead the global launch of the new Shelby Cobra CSX10000, which will be showcased at Blenheim Palace throughout the event.

Making its European debut is the new Little Car Company Bentley Blower Jnr. An 85% scale recreation of Bentley’s 1929 Team Car No. 2, the exciting new model is fully electric, fully road-legal, has a 61-mile range and a 45mph top speed. The First Edition version is on sale for £108,000 – a snip, compared to the £25m value of the original. I thought this was a very cool car. What do you think?

Innovative new Italian brand Totem Automobili is being presented to Salon Privé guests for the first time in the UK at Blenheim Palace. Inspired by the classic Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA, the new Totem GT (below) is available in two guises: the Super has a world-class twin-turbo V6 with at least 600hp, while the Electric ‘modernises and renews without abandoning the classic soul’. This was a very cool looking car, but the £600k price tag, ouch.

I got a first close up look at the Lamborghini Revuelto (below), the replacement for the Aventador. I think this is a great looking car, but wow on the price tag of £500-600k spec’d up. Very nice in white.

There were more firsts, but too many to mention them all here.

Next up is the Yellow Collection which was yet another highlight and a feature that has become a regular at Salon Privé. In essence, the organisers choose a theme, then get around 10 cars to make a collection. This year the Yellow Collection, were cool cars that were yellow. Featuring a glittering array of delicious automotive icons led by a stunning 1965 Ferrari 250 LM that famously led the Le Mans 24 Hours for 23 hours – before suffering a puncture, leaving its sister car to take the win (fortunately, it still finished second) Like all other cars in the line-up, it is resplendent in bright yellow – with the total collection valued at an incredible £30 million. Check out our walk around these cars (below), and you can see all the cars in more detail h ere.

The Yellow Collection certainly featured some very cool cars, including some of my favourites. I’d have to pick the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL ‘Gullwing’, Lamborghini Diablo SV, Ferrari SF90 Stradale and of course the Ferrari 250 LM. What is your favourite of these cars?

We had a thoroughly wonderful day out. You can check out all out photos on our Facebook photo album here. More videos from Salon Privé over the years here on our YouTube channel.

I hope you enjoyed our review. See you around.

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