Cars

Driver-centric

“I’ve never actually had the chance to drive the car,” says Henrik Frederiksen, the owner of the stunning collection in which the Lagonda currently resides, recently consigned by Bonhams to be the subject of its own, standalone auction. “That’s the trouble when you have so many cars.” It’s an understandable dilemma, given the quality of the rest of the collection – but one he might want to address before the 26 September sale.

Did someone say 911?

A self-made man, Mr Frederiksen was able to steadily build the collection over several decades, as a result of numerous successful business moves. “I went to the bank as a young man, and got a loan for £10,000. With this, I bought some shares in a company for the equivalent of £300 each, and ultimately sold them for £3.5 million apiece,” he tells us.

Chassis 003 might not have been a new car prepared especially for Le Mans in 1983, having scored victories the previous year at Sebring, Brands Hatch and Fuji (and second place at La Sarthe), but it was very well sorted. Though Derek Bell and Jacky Ickx – both gunning for their third Le Mans victory together – put the number one car on pole position, an early collision, resulting in an agonisingly long pit-stop, put them out of contention… until the very last laps, at least.

Lose yourself

The new event will see 100 carefully selected, privately owned Jaguars assemble in a designated enclosure, following an initial narrowing-down process led by Jaguar Director of Design, Ian Callum. Divided into five classes (Pre-War, Saloons, Sportscars, Classics of the Future, and a Judges’ Choice category for wildcards), the cars will be scrutinised by a team of expert judges set to include the marque’s (Scottish) design director, with the winners selected on the afternoon of the Concours of Elegance’s newly themed ‘Jaguar Saturday’.

Flat-out and fearless

Hethel hardcore