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From a hard-nosed journalistic perspective there's really not that much about the Salon Privé to get worked up about. It's a car show, sure, but of all the cars on display at the 2009 event, only one of them is bona fide brand new, never-before-seen. And even that - the Veritas RSIII speedster - will sell in the kind of numbers you could count before school age. Mind, it's still impressive with a BMW-sourced V10 available in 500bhp or 620bhp forms, the latter capable of 0-62mph in three seconds and the former kicking off the 'range' at around £250,000.
And that's the news done. So why did we go? Well, firstly because we heard there was free lobster (which was true), secondly because we heard there was some sort of motorboat giveaway (which was not) and thirdly because without shows like the Salon Privé, our motoring calendar would be altogether duller: it's a celebration of all things classic, exotic, fast, furious and wonderful about the good old motorcar.
So, we grabbed the keys to a Ford Focus RS, because that's exactly our kind of super car (manic, brilliant, practical, affordable) and headed down to the Hurlingham Club - the awe-inspiringly incongruous, sprawling green paradise of bowling greens and tennis courts slap bang in the middle of West London, admission to which is strictly limited to gazillionaires - and, for one day only, us.
Anyway, enough tittle-tattle. What, you may ask, is actually there? You can take a look at our splendid array of pictures for yourself (just click on the main image above), but the mesmerising pack of Italian exotica, American muscle, racing heritage, German performance and British luxuriousness stretches as far as the eye can see. Well, as far as the croquet lawns, anyway.
An original BMW M1 caught our eye, as did a bright yellow, original Lamborghini Countach and a black Miura SV. Then there's the rare De Tomaso Pantera Ghia, built before the time Ford and Del Boy Trotter conspired to ruin the famous coachbuilder's image entirely. Also standing out is a Plymouth Superbird, aka the Road Runner, resplendent in tangerine orange with a massive comedy spoiler. It's next to a 1964 Shelby Cobra, a bright red Ford Thunderbird and a menacing black Dodge Charger - Jay Kay's, it turns out, who's swanning about the place as well.
But the old Ferraris rule on the Hurlingham Club green - even amid some of today's most spectacular exotica, including the £600,000 Sportec SPR1 and the, ahem, Maybach Zeppelin. Arranged in a neat little circle, right next to a row of Le Mans cars, is a selection of Enzo's finest ever work, including a '57 250 GT, a '65 275 GTS Spyder and a Dino 246 GTS from 1973. A 360 Challenge Stradale Spider placed among them looks slightly, well, cartoonish next to such tastefully beautiful ancestors.
As it would were it parked beside the Eagle E-Type Speedster too - a one-of-a-kind, fully restored 'modernisation' of the '60s original, which its creator told us is "like Beyonce to the original's Twiggy." Strange, but true.
Finally there's the £95k-odd Aspid 'racing car for the road'. Now, all the sports car makers trot out that particular line, but in this case it seems to be true - and we'll shortly find out for definite if the company makes good on its loose promise to get us behind the wheel at some point. Apparently it can get to 100mph and back to zero again in a terrifying nine seconds. And as an aside, we overheard a lady in her sixties discussing buying one at the show, though sadly we couldn't stay to see her try and get into and out of it. Shame - we'd have taken pictures of that.
Mark Nichol - 24 Jul 2009
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