An Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza Spider bodied by Zagato, raced by Scuderia Ferrari and driven by Tazio Nuvolari in the 1930s won Best of Show honors at the Salon Privé Concours d’Elégance held this week at Britain’s Blenheim Palace.
It was in July 1932 that Nuvolari drove the car to victory in the Coppa Principe di Piemonte race. He also won the Klausenrennen hillclimb in the car that same year.
“It was an amazing honor to become the latest custodian of this amazing machine, and now to win such an important prize is further testament to the history of a special and important car,” said car owner Ian Livingstone.
Runner-up honors in the Best of Show competition went to a Ferrari 166MM Touring Barchetta that won both the Mille Miglia and the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1949. Third-place went to a right-hand-drive 1964 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso.
Since Blenheim Palace was the birthplace of Winston Churchill, a new award was added to the 2020 Salon, with the inaugural Churchill Cup for most-exceptional design going to a 1933 Lancia Astura Pinin Farina cabriolet “Bocca.” Judges for the award were the heads of the current automotive design studioes including design departments of Aston Martin, Bentley, Lotus, Touring Superleggera and Jaguar, and they selected the car designed by Mario Revelli di Beaumont for Lancia dealer Ernesto Bocca. The car also won the concours’ most-elegant trophy.
Blenheim Palace is the home of the Duke of Marlborough, who presented trophies to his favorites on two and four wheels — a 1939 AJS 2A and a 1960 Aston Martin DB4 GT.
The People’s Choice award went to a 1997 McLaren F1 GTR long-tail that raced in the FIA GT series with GTC Gulf Team Davidoff.
