Salon Privé London - April 2023

I'm often asked how I end up on some of my many automotive adventures, and my answer is simple, I say "well why not?" quite a lot. This was the case with how I ended up heading down to the London edition of Salon Privé thanks to Collecting Cars. I had responded to a tweet they had shared to grab a couple of tickets, thinking they were for the Saturday or Sunday of the event, which it turns out was not the case (never assume etc.) they were for that afternoon, so I had to ask myself "well why not?" and headed down to London on an adventure. 

I've never really been to Chelsea, and having only been around the automotive world properly for the last couple of years, I'm not quite at the "invite him along" level for some of the higher end events, so this was a bit of a taster of a prestigious car show. The cars did not disappoint, with some of the rarest and most expensive cars along for the show. The Salon Privé event is very much an opportunity for companies to showcase what they do, with dealers like Joe Macari, Dylan Miles, and JD Classics in attendance alongside performance manufacturers Hennessey, Alpine, Mclaren and Lamborghini, to name a few. 

Along with the incredible cars on the lawn of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, there were some familiar faces to be found, from Formula one drivers such as Jenson Button, to TV stars like Richard Hammond (showcasing his latest restoration work), there were a plethora of the who's who of the automotive world, and this was only the Thursday!

The atmosphere of the day was certainly tailored towards showcasing the expensive, to the wealthy, there wasn't the unique charm of a scramble, or the closeness of a coffees and cars, this certainly felt more like a "look at me" event to an outsider like me. For those in these circles, it will have felt much closer knit, catching up with friends, sharing a glass or two of Champagne, and pondering over which car to add to the collection, or which might make the better investment. It's a different world to the one I'm used to, but the signs that the connections around cars are what matters were there, maybe as I get more used to being around this side of the car world (if that ever happens) it will become more evident. 

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