Chelsea Autolegends photo slideshow

I went to the first Chelsea Autolegends show today, held in the grounds of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea with proceeds going towards the aid of the Chelsea Pensioners.

Themed around Le Mans, the organisers had pulled together an excellent selection of endurance racing cars, including rare Ferraris such as the 268SP and P3 (412P) Sn0844, and a number of Porsches, Bentleys and Jaguars .

Aside from the Le Mans cars the pedestrian entrance was thronged by a collection of classic Ferraris and Maseratis including 3 Ferrari 250SWBs (one of which was my Dad's old car S/N 3605GT).

The most unusual car there was on the Bonhams stand, a Zagato bodied Ferrari 550GTZ convertible (or Barchetta depending on your point of view). Scheduled to be auctioned in December, this right hand drive car is almost certainly unique. I'm unsure if it was based on a 550 coupé or one of the Pininfarina bodied Barchettas), but it was a welcome surprise to see a car that I did not know even existed.

If I had a criticism of the event, the cars on display were very tightly packed together, which in turn leads to quite a lot of crowd congestion making it difficult to view and photograph the cars easily.

Despite this the large crowds would indicate that the event was a success and if it is to be repeated a welcome addition to the motoring calendar.