Art Deco Voisin C-27 Aérosport Wins Concours Of Elegance 2021

Images: From the organisers

With Hampton Court as the location for this year’s Concours of Elegance, the preeminent British concours event signalled a return to near-normal times, what with a turnout of almost a thousand cars within and (most) without.

The extraordinary 1934 Voisin C-27 Aérosport which won the "Best of Show"

A unique art deco Voisin C-27 Aérosport, designed and built by one of the greatest geniuses of the 20th Century, Gabriel Voisin, and now owned by Merle and Peter Mullin was crowned as the event’s “Best in Show.”

Owned by Merle and Peter Mullin, this Voisin is one of some hundred-odd French cars from the pre-WWII Art Deco era which make up the Mullin Automotive Museum

Erle Mullin received the all-new Pegasus sculpture trophy, created in meticulous detail over the course of six months by renowned wildlife sculptor and artist, Robert Rattray.

The interiors of the Voisin are in startling Art Deco style

Designed and built in 1934, the C-27 Aérosport exhibits many traits of Voisin’s aviation background. The provocative car was created for the 1934 Paris Motor Show but didn’t quite hit the mark in terms of sales.

The 1932 Alfa Tipo P3 Tipo B which won the class for cars from the 1930s

After the expo, two roadsters were built on shortened Aérodyne chassis—which became known as the C27, and its glorious Art Deco styling for which Voisin collaborated with André Noël-Noël Telmont, an architect who had met Voisin during their education, captivated the heart.

The Bentley MkVI Coupe by Freestone and Webb which won the Bentley Cup

Awards were also given by decade with the original Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost winning the pre-1915s class, and an Alfa Romeo P3 Tipo B taking home the class win for the 1930s.

The original Silver Ghost, with its unique silver shade which gave the 40/50HP the Silver Ghost moniker eventually, won the pre-1915 class

The Club Trophy, presented by the Royal Automobile Club, was awarded to a highly original Fiat Dino Spider that will now form part of the Main Concours line-up in 2022.

This 1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato won the 1960s class

Outside of the main Concours of Elegance cars, almost a thousand cars were parked at Hampton Court Palace for the weekend, including a collection of Future Classics, from a Ferrari LaFerrari to a Bentley Continental GT No.1 Edition by Mulliner.

This 1970 Porsche 917K Rofgo won the 1970s class

In the class celebrating the ultimate collector cars of tomorrow, the prize was awarded to the Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus 004S.

A Ferrari 166 Inter Cabriolet, with a Farina body, from 1950, won the 1950s class

The Jaguar Trophy was won by a highly original E-type Series I with outside bonnet locks, believed to be the best of its kind in existence.

This Delahaye 135 with Faget-Varnet body, won the Bridge of Weir Award

The Bentley Trophy, meanwhile, was awarded to a Bentley Mk VI with a body from Freestone and Webb by a panel of Bentley experts.

The Delahaye 135M Fixed Head Coupé by Chapron, from 1948, was the winner of the 1940s class

The Bridge of Weir Leather Design Award, picked by a committee of automotive designers, was awarded to a Delahaye 135MS Speciale Faget-Varnet.

Concours of Elegance also feature modern supercars, such as this Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus 004S and the IsoRivolta GTZ

Faget-Varnet created several bespoke bodies for Delahaye, and this particular model was made for the 1953 Paris Motor Show, based on a 135 chassis—it would be the last ever coachbuilt Delahaye.