Salon Privé 2026: Britain’s Concours d’Élégance at Blenheim Palace and Royal Hospital Chelsea

There are two occasions each year when Britain’s collector car community gathers on the same lawns to see the same cars. One is in early September, at the South Lawn of Blenheim Palace, and it has become one of Europe’s leading concours d’élégance events. The other is in mid-April, at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, and it brings the same celebration into the heart of Chelsea for a garden party the capital has quietly built into an annual expectation.

Salon Privé is both events, created by the same team, held twice a year, in two very different but equally British settings. The Bagley brothers, Andrew and David, launched the first Salon Privé in 2006 at London’s Hurlingham Club. Nine years and one move later, the concours settled at Blenheim Palace, where it has been the anchor event of Britain’s late summer automotive calendar for more than a decade. Twenty years on, the London edition returned in 2023, held at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Together, they now constitute the twin poles of Britain’s finest concours calendar.

For the HNWI attending, both editions require careful preparation. Blenheim is a country estate 90 kilometres northwest of London, requiring transport out of the capital and often overnight accommodation. Chelsea is central London, but the logistical demands of the Royal Hospital’s grounds during show week are substantial. LLC Global’s concierge team curates both.

The Blenheim edition: 2-6 September 2026

The 21st edition of Salon Privé at Blenheim Palace runs from Wednesday 2 September to Sunday 6 September 2026. The show occupies the South Lawn of Blenheim Palace, the 18th-century UNESCO World Heritage Site that has been home to the Duke of Marlborough’s family since 1704. The event spans five days, each with its own distinct programme:

The Wednesday and Thursday are the Salon Privé Concours by Aviva Private Clients, the invitation-focused concours d’élégance days, where roughly 60 of the world’s finest classic and modern collector cars are judged by an international panel using Salon Privé’s proprietary M100 judging system. The Best of Show winner automatically qualifies for the Peninsula Classics Best of the Best Award, one of the most prestigious global recognitions in classic car collecting.

Friday brings Ladies’ Day by Boodles, an elegant garden party day defined by traditional English concours style. Saturday and Sunday host Supercar Saturday and Supercar Sunday, respectively, the more accessible public days, with a broader marque lineup, luxury retail, hospitality, and daily automotive parades.

The 2025 edition was Salon Privé’s 20th anniversary, marked by the debut of the Automotive Gallery — a temporary structure built from 1,206 panes of glass covering 4,460 square metres, housing 44 of the world’s most magnificent cars. It broke every attendance record in the event’s history, welcoming over 28,000 visitors, a 35% increase on 2024. The Best of Show 2025 went to The Auriga Collection’s 1936 Mercedes-Benz 500 K Spezial Roadster by Sindelfingen — one of only 12 examples ever built.

For the 2026 edition, Salon Privé returns as the first automotive event globally certified as a B Corporation, a recognition that positions Salon Privé alongside brands like Patagonia and Ben & Jerry’s for social and environmental responsibility.

Arriving at Blenheim

Blenheim Palace sits in Woodstock, Oxfordshire — approximately 90 kilometres northwest of central London. The journey by chauffeur takes roughly 90 minutes to two hours, depending on traffic. LLC Global’s concierge team arranges chauffeur transfers from Mayfair, Belgravia, Knightsbridge, or airport arrivals directly to Blenheim’s dedicated event entrance.

For clients preferring air travel, private helicopter charter from Battersea to Blenheim takes approximately 35 minutes, with a dedicated helipad on the estate for guests attending the concours. This is meaningfully faster than the road journey during peak show weekend traffic, when the country roads around Woodstock become congested from mid-morning through late afternoon.

Accommodation in the immediate area is limited during show week. The Feathers Hotel in Woodstock (a boutique property within walking distance of the palace) sells out months ahead. Larger inventory is available at The Old Parsonage in Oxford (roughly 20 minutes’ drive from Blenheim), Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons (Raymond Blanc’s two-Michelin-starred hotel-restaurant in Great Milton), and other Oxfordshire country hotels. LLC’s concierge team maintains standing relationships across each of them.

The London edition: 16-18 April 2026

Salon Privé London holds its 4th edition at the Royal Hospital Chelsea from Thursday 16 April to Saturday 18 April 2026. The Royal Hospital, founded by King Charles II in 1682 as a retirement home for veteran soldiers, has hosted the London edition since 2023 — its immaculate lawns and 17th-century architecture providing a genuinely different backdrop to Blenheim’s ducal palace.

The 2026 edition brings significant new features. Most notably, Salon Privé London expands beyond the Royal Hospital showground with a new event: the Salon Privé Sloane Street Concours on Saturday 11 April 2026 — a free-to-attend, one-day curated display of 25 vehicles along Sloane Street between Harriet Street and Cadogan Place. The theme, ’Old vs New’, pairs historic cars with their contemporary equivalents. Confirmed participants include Ferrari, McLaren, Rolls-Royce, Lotus and Jaguar, with retail frontages including Hermès and Bottega Veneta providing the urban backdrop.

The main event across 16-18 April features the Salon Privé London Concours de Vente — a judged concours where all 90+ displayed classic cars are offered for sale, competing for the Prix d’Honneur. The 2026 Prix d’Honneur was awarded to a 1970 Monteverdi 375L, one of only 22 built.

New for 2026 at the London edition is the daily Grid Walk, held each morning before the Manufacturers’ Parade. Single-marque displays feature Koenigsegg on 16 April, Aston Martin on 17 April, and Maserati on 18 April, with multiple examples of each marque showcased ahead of their parade participation. Confirmed marques for 2026 also include Bugatti, Pagani, Porsche, Polestar, Brabus, Jensen, Lotus and MG Motor UK — reflecting a mix of contemporary supercars, hypercars and heritage revival brands.

Chauffeuring across both editions

The London edition’s proximity to Mayfair, Belgravia and Chelsea makes chauffeur transfer straightforward — typically 10-15 minutes from a central London address to the Royal Hospital entrance. LLC Global’s chauffeur team arranges dedicated drop-off and pre-booked collection points for both attending guests and those visiting Sloane Street Concours on Saturday 11 April.

For clients attending both the Sloane Street pre-event and the main Chelsea show, we recommend a light chauffeur schedule Saturday morning (Sloane Street), returning Thursday to Saturday for the main event. For international guests arriving for the London edition, private aviation from Farnborough or Luton offers direct arrival, followed by chauffeur transfer through Belgravia to Chelsea.

The dining, the hospitality, the after-hours

Both editions of Salon Privé include hospitality on the lawns — Pommery Champagne, curated cuisine, and Salon Privé’s own signature garden-party service. But the LLC Concierge value extends beyond the show ground: reservations at Chelsea and Belgravia’s most sought-after tables during Salon Privé London (Wilton’s, Le Petit Beefbar, Colbert), and at Oxfordshire’s finest for the Blenheim edition (Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, The Angel at Burford, The Feathers Hotel dining room, and the private dining at Blenheim Palace’s own Great Hall for VIP clients).

For Salon Privé London specifically, we arrange access to the after-hours events across Chelsea and Sloane Square during the weekend — private members’ clubs, gallery previews, and the retail experiences that complement the main Concours de Vente shopping calendar.

The full weekend, both editions, handled

Salon Privé returns in 2026 twice: Salon Privé London from 16-18 April at Royal Hospital Chelsea, and Salon Privé at Blenheim Palace from 2-6 September. LLC Global’s concierge team curates the chauffeur transfers, the accommodation, the dining and the hospitality access across both editions — as one continuous relationship, one team, and one number.

For clients attending, enquiries can be directed through our website. We recommend confirming chauffeur schedule and hospitality preferences by early March for the April edition, and by early July for the September edition, to secure the strongest inventory across the peak weekends.