Held in the sumptuous surrounds of London’s Hurlingham Club - and in baking English summer sunshine - the first Salon Privé was held from 11th - 14th July.

The idea behind the event was to create the ideal environment for well-heeled potential buyers to view supercars from an impressively large number of manufacturers in discrete surroundings evoking the old Brooklands mantra of ‘The right crowd and no crowding’.

Arriving at any event and being offered a Pimms at the Ferrari Bar followed by an informal BBQ lunch and the opportunity to take a close look at cars like the Ferrari 599 GTB (its UK static debut after action on the Goodwood Festival Hill), the Lamborghini LP640, the £440,000 Koenigsegg CCX and the track-day car par excellence, the Aston Martin DBRS9.

Ferrari GB were out in force with not only the 599 GTB Fiorano but the fabulous Wallpaper* 612 Scaglietti and an example of the limited edition 575 Superamerica.



During the day activities such as a celebrity-packed cricket match between the Bunbury’s X1 Cricket Team and Darren Gough’s International X1 and a fashion show, hosted by Selfridges which took place on the last day kept daytime participants fully occupied while the evenings were for glamorous dinners with speakers like BBC’s Top Gear TV programme James May and Peter Stevens, designer of the McLaren F1 Super Car.

Other manufacturers attending included Spyker, Alfa Romeo (with the Brera Spyder and unique 8C Roadster concept), Corvette, Hulme Racing, Land Rover, Maserati, Maybach, Mercedes-Benz AMG, McLaren, Mosler, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and the Shelby Daytona Coupé tested by Classic Driver in recent weeks. Salon Privé also saw the world launch of the latest Marcos TSO GT2 (below).



In pride of place in the covered atrium was world’s ultimate supercar; the 400 kph Bugatti Veyron making its first public London appearance. For many people (however wealthy) this was the first close glimpse of the car that has re-written the performance rule books and the organisers were delighted that examples of this car (and a number of others) were sold during the event.

Salon Privé was opened by HRH Prince Michael of Kent, and attracted more than 3000 guests over the four days.

David Bagley, Managing Director of Performance Events Limited, the organisers, commented “We are all very excited to have launched this uniquely exclusive event at the prestigious Hurlingham Club in London – it is the first time that such a collection of the world’s greatest Super and Luxury cars have been displayed together in the UK. We set out to provide specialist manufacturers and their clients with a luxurious and entertaining alternative to the current events, and have as a result, created an event which will not only run annually in the UK, but will also be replicated in other equally glamorous locations around the world.’’



For information of future Salon Privé events please visit www.salonprivelondon.com.



Story: Classic Driver
Photos: Tim Scott of Fluid Images