Salon Privé will introduce a second distinct Best of Show award for the first time in its history this September, as the world’s leading automotive events continue to respond to a changing collector landscape.
Returning to Blenheim Palace in September 2026, Salon Privé will now recognise excellence across two distinct areas of automotive collecting, with individual Best of Show awards presented for Concours d’Élégance and Concours d’Excellence.
Instead of selecting a single overall winner across the categories, the new format for 2026 will celebrate the very best examples from the world’s finest coach-built classics and today’s most sought-after supercars and hypercars.
As the Concours world continues to evolve at pace, the addition of the Best of Show Concours d’Excellence follows Salon Privé’s recent announcement of the addition of two new concours classes – Limited Production Supercars and Hypercar Heaven – which will showcase and celebrate the groundbreaking machines that redefined automotive performance over the last 25 years.
Both Best of Show trophies will be presented during the prestigious Gala Dinner on Thursday evening, where the finalists from the Concours d’Excellence will join the traditional Concours d’Élégance contenders. The new Concours d’Excellence award will recognise the very best modern collector car from Salon Privé’s supercar and hypercar categories, spanning 2001-2026.
The Concours d’Élégance will remain the event’s highest honour, recognising the finest Classic Motor Cars up to the year 2000. The Best of Show winner will continue to represent Salon Privé at The Peninsula Classics Best of the Best Awards, with the organisers retaining the flexibility to nominate either Best of Show winner in future years as the collector car landscape continues to evolve.
Andrew Bagley, Chairman and co-founder of the Salon Privé Concours, said: “Concours events must evolve alongside the collector car world, and today’s collectors are passionate about a far broader range of cars than ever before.
The great coach-built classics will always sit at the heart of Salon Privé, but we can’t ignore the significance of modern supercars and hypercars within today’s collector market. We firmly believe these cars have earned their place alongside the traditional Concours greats.
Rather than pitting fundamentally different types of cars against one another, we’re recognising excellence within two distinct disciplines. It’s our way of ensuring that, as the UK’s leading Concours event, we genuinely reflect today’s collector world while protecting the heritage that has always defined Salon Privé.”
Salon Privé 2026 will make further history when the 2025 Rimac Nevera Time Attack, will be the first fully electric car ever to compete in the Concours’ 21-year history. One of just 12 Nevera Time Attack editions built worldwide, this particular car is the only model finished in a striking red and black colour combination. More than just a record-breaking hypercar, it has already carved out a place in Rimac history after completing the longest journey ever undertaken in a Nevera – a 2,700-kilometre drive from Yorkshire to the Dalmatian coast, which was personally recognised by company founder Mate Rimac.
Among the other first entries announced to be competing in the new ‘Limited Production Supercars’ Concours Class in September, and vying for the coveted Concours d’Excellence award, will be the 2026 BMW Skytop – one of the most exclusive BMW road cars ever created.
Limited to just 50 examples worldwide, the Skytop evolved from BMW’s Villa d’Este concept into a production model following overwhelming demand. Confirmed as one of only two that will be coming to the UK, the Skytop combines bespoke coachwork with BMW’s 617bhp twin-turbocharged V8.
Also competing in the ‘Hypercar Heaven’ Class and also vying for the new Best of Show award will be one of the most historically significant Lamborghinis ever to appear at Salon Privé, the 2019 Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 Prototype 1.
The Prototype 1 served as Lamborghini’s original development vehicle for its first hybrid flagship, completing more than 47,000 kilometres of factory testing. Unlike most development prototypes, which are dismantled once testing concludes, this example was restored by Lamborghini, released into private ownership and remains fully road legal, preserving a unique chapter in the brand’s history.
To support the introduction of the new Concours d’Excellence Award with its super and hypercar classes, Salon Privé will adopt the M100 judging format. Developed specifically for contemporary collector cars, the internationally recognised 100-point system replaces traditional originality-based judging with an approach suited to today’s engineering and design, with a balanced framework for judging the world’s most advanced performance cars.
Judging will take place throughout Wednesday 2 and Thursday 3 September 2026.
To book tickets to attend Salon Privé 2026 visit here or to enter a car into the 2026 Concours event, see here
