Adventures | Heveningham Concours
You never know what to expect when you go to an event for the first time. Yes, you can look at pictures from years past and you can read reviews but you still don’t know what to expect and that’s exactly how I felt about Heveningham Country Show & Concours event. A traditional country show which has been injected a new lease of life with the addition of a concours event and even a Horsepower Hill, a short, timed sprint section to showcase the special metal on display.
Often one of the most enjoyable parts of any car show is found at the beginning, in the car park. As you walk through the rows and rows of cars you start to spot a number of special cars. From a Ferrari 599 parked next to a Solarbeam Yellow Mercedes AMG GT-R to a couple of beauties from Appreciating Classics, their 991.1 GT3 RS and Evo 6 RS in white.
Arriving into the show you are met by some picturesque grounds with a grand country house, you can spot the lawn littered with some of the most special cars on the planet through the fence as you approach. Circling around the country fair to get into the concours you can understand why this event could be the perfect family day out, with animals, games and sales stalls there is something for everybody. Once into the concours lawn my eye is instantly drawn to the exposed carbon Ferrari Enzo, probably not the most expensive, fastest or classiest car on display, but to me it looks sensational. The Enzo is probably one of the poster cars from my childhood but covered in this event is a car for everybody. Including pre-war machines, there is everything from the Aston Martin GTE race cars to a Bugatti Chiron Sport the range of cars is breathtaking.
Suddenly we hear the roar of a V8 engine and rush towards the Horsepower Hill to see what is tearing up the strip. To my amazement there is a Koenigsegg Agera R, a car I have only previously seen sat at car exhibitions or on youtube. This is only the start with everything from Carrera GT’s to Ferrari GTC4 Lusso’s a new Bentley Continental, even Nick Mason in his Ferrari race car is tearing up the hill. All the time this is happening in front of you overhead there is the thrum of period aircraft looping and rolling through the skies. A spectacle you do not get to see very often, light aircraft dancing around over you, it is hard to focus your eyes on any one thing.
At the end of the display which is repeated throughout the day there was a supercar car park which contained yet more special machines. Most notable a Rolls Royce Cullinan the first I have seen in its natural surroundings. What a behemoth of a machine, photos and videos do well to minimise the sheer size of the thing! Easily a tank on wheels it has a brilliant presence and there probably isn't any comfier mode of transport. In stark contrast to this is a brand new yellow Ferrari 488 Pista with the carbon wheels parked with an 812 and a Portofino.
Walking back over to the lawns the Koenigsegg rolls past again accompanied by another Pista and the Bentley. But where did they come from? I spotted an opening into another small car park and well what can I say, I was not prepared for what was hiding within… Ferrari enthusiasts look upon 5 cars as being ultra special the 288 GTO, F40, F50, Enzo and LaFerrari. The flagships models of each decade, these cars are what make Ferrari so special. But, not only were all of these cars sat in front of me but there was more, the 288 GTO EVO was sat so low on the grass. A car I had only ever previously seen on an xbox game, I believe it was Project Gotham Racing on Xbox 360 and I remember it being the ultimate, challenging, savage car to drive. And there it was sat in front of me one of only 5/6 cars ever made and it was there at a country estate in a small village in Suffolk just an hour from my home. Alongside an F40 LM and a LaFerrari Aperta every possible special iteration of Ferrari was there in front of me. Never did I expect to see such a special collection of cars, one not even covered by a youtube video.
I haven’t even mentioned the multiple 458 Speciales, Aperta’s and coupes, the countless limited classic 911’s. What a day it was, the weather, perfect, the atmosphere, brilliant, the experience, amazing. Sometimes something comes along and surpasses your expectations and Heveningham did this for me by a country mile! I can see this event expanding and growing massively in the coming future and with its proximity in the calendar to Goodwood it may well become recognised as the perfect warm up with a brilliant relaxed atmosphere, get yourself along next year for what no doubt will be another amazing experience.
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