Ferraris were the star draw of the 2020 Concours of Elegance held in the grand gardens of Hampton Court Palace in London’s Richmond upon Thames. Long a favourite residence of King Henry VIII, the royal palace which was built in 1515 instead became home to Ferrari royalty for a few memorable days this summer.
The show-stopper was a Ferrari 250 GTO. Not only is it one of just 36 built, it’s actually Ferrari’s original prototype. The car raced at Le Mans and Daytona, finished second in the 12 Hours of Sebring and has recently been restored to Ferrari factory specification – with Classiche certification to back it up.
But other extraordinary Ferrari cars restored and certified by Ferrari Classiche captured the public’s attention.
An exquisitely beautiful Ferrari 250 LM, the car built to succeed the 250 GTO, also graced the grounds of Hampton Court. Originally sold to the Ecurie Francorchamps racing team in 1965, this car actually finished second at the Le Mans 24 Hours and is today a well-loved and immaculately prepared car.
Another 1965 car, the Ferrari 275 P2 – later upgraded to 365 P2 specification, is another triumph that amazed the Hampton Court guests. The car on show actually won the 1965 Targa Florio and Nurburgring 1,000km races, before being repainted from the original Rosso Corsa to the same Belgian Ecurie Francorchamps yellow as the Ferrari 250 LM.
There was a Ferrari 275 GTB, a car that started out as a luxurious GT car. But Ferrari also built 10 Competizione Clienti versions, with special lightweight aluminium body panels, an external fuel filler – and a huge 140-litre fuel tank. One of these 10, chassis number 07407 graced the memorable line-up at Concours of Elegance.
The final Ferrari icon was a pretty and elegant 250 GT Ellena, one of 50 cars built by coachbuilder Carrozzeria Ellena. If it looks familiar, that’s because it is – you may remember it from our profile of Peter Holloway, the man who owns seven eras of V12 Ferrari
Without doubt, Ferraris were the headline-grabbing draw of Concours of Elegance 2020. In a year disrupted by the pandemic, everyone agreed it was the perfect way to meet up again and celebrate some of Maranello’s finest ever creations.