With just a few days to go, London’s newest event has announced the final line-up for what’s looking to be the perfect end to the summer motoring ‘season’ in the Capital.

At 10:00, on Sunday 5 September, the gates of the South Grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea will open to visitors. For a ticket price of £15.00 (for adults - accompanied under-16s admitted free), the organisers promise a day of nostalgia, good food and the opportunity to meet legendary drivers, including Le Mans winners Richard Attwood and Derek Bell, works Jaguar driver Norman Dewis, motorcycle ace Phil Read and one of the most famous Ferrari privateers (and occasional works driver) David Piper.

London-based motor-racing legend, Sir Stirling Moss OBE, will officially open the event.

The main theme of the 2010 Chelsea AutoLegends will be the Le Mans 24 Hours. In addition to famous drivers, some of the cars which have competed at La Sarthe will be on display. These will include a Gulf-liveried Porsche 917 and a Ferrari 512S – both of which also neatly form part of the Steve McQueen ‘Le Mans’ film sub-theme. Extracts from the iconic movie will be played during the day.

Other cars scheduled to appear include another 917, a brace of ex-Le Mans D-type Jaguars, a Gulf-liveried Aston Martin Racing DBR9 and two McLaren F1 LMs with honourable histories at the 1995 Vingt-Quatre Heures: the Harrods third-place car and the Gulf fourth-place finisher.

New supercars will be on display, too, together with a variety of collectors’ cars spanning 80 years of the automobile.

One of the purposes of the event is to raise money for the Royal Hospital Chelsea and its resident ‘Men in Red’ Chelsea Pensioners. Auctioneers Bonhams will conduct on-stage and silent auctions of generously donated lots. These include celebrity golf days from the Jodie Kidd Foundation, autographed memorabilia, a skiing holiday, and supercar track days from Porsche and Lamborghini.

The ticket price also includes a 40-page official event programme, plus a ‘Chelsea AutoLegends goodie bag’.

For further information, see www.chelseaautolegends.com.

Text - Steve Wakefield
Photos - Chelsea AutoLegends