A rare breed of classic car-owning women took to the roads in West London in a display of some of the finest cars on earth as part of the annual Concours of Elegance, with the sensational Julia De Baldanza winning in her mighty 1955 Frazer Nash Le Mans Coupé.
On Saturday 3rd September, a group of exceptional female motorists with a shared love of exquisite classic cars entered the second ever Levitt Concours at Hampton Court Palace to promote female classic car ownership.
The Levitt Concours was started in 2022 as a partnership between female-owned luxury automotive event planners Aubrey Peck and the Concours of Elegance. Named after the one and only Dorothy Levitt, British racing driver and “the fastest girl on earth”, the Levitt Concours is a celebration of the classic-car-driving women of today. It’s become an unmissable event in the luxury and classic car diary, and an integral part of the annual Concours of Elegance.
Like last year, the procession of women and their vast array of classic cars, from Austin Healey 300s to Ferrari Daytonas, navigated from The Guards Polo Club to the gardens of Hampton Court Palace for a series of events, curated by our team women at Aubrey Peck. From a champagne reception to a Fortnum & Mason picnic, it's organised by women for women with a deep passion for automotive, shining a light on the little acknowledged fact that many of the most knowledgeable car collectors in the world are women.
From racing drivers, to thrill seeking enthusiast motorists, the women who took part embody the Levitt spirit in every way. Dorothy Levitt was a dare-devil, who wasn’t afraid to break boundaries as well as speed, and give the men a good run for their money. She, like the women who entered the 2023 Levitt Concours, knew what a thoroughbred car was and how to handle it. Dorothy won countless automotive trophies throughout her short-lived life, setting Land Speed Records as well as Water Speed Records.
Each year the Levitt Concours is judged by Concours experts including racers of today, style icons and national editors. The car and driver combination that makes for the most thrilling spectatorship and storytelling is deemed the winner, with two close runners up.
The winner this year was a woman who might very much be the modern-day Dorothy; Julia De Baldanza. Julia is an Italian racer, who careers around tracks in her open-wheel cars - from a Maserati A6GCM to Bugatti Type 35B - before hopping in her helicopter and flying herself home. At the cool age of 74.
On Saturday she arrived in her 1955 Frazer Nash Le Mans Coupé and it wasn’t just the car that won over judge Georgina Wood, Managing Director of P & A Wood, but Julia’s spirit. She really is a 21st Century Dorothy, who ditched the fancies of champagne and picnics to cool her Nash down and apply some WD40. Julia was closely followed by runners up Jacqueline Williams in her 1989 Aston Martin V8 Zagato and Merle Mullin in her 1964 Jaguar E-Type.
Julia’s car was the first closed Nash to enter production, with a new parallel-tube chassis frame and full-width alloy body, independent front suspension, rack-and-pinion steering, and of course, a 1,961cc six-cylinder Bristol engine. Of the nine cars completed, just three would race at Le Mans. This ‘421/200/203’ was ordered by Kathleen “Kitty” Maurice, the owner of Wiltshire’s Castle Combe race circuit. It was her enthusiasm for racing that saw her transfer the ref ‘XMC 1” to the car. It seems then that women with a racing passion were made to own this car.
Julia and her Nash with its remarkable history and legacy, took home an exquisite red Launer handbag as the winning prize, kindly donated by sponsors Launer London. In a fitting manner, Launer has held the Royal Warrant since 1968 and its handbags were always seen on the arm of the ever-stylish HRH Elizabeth II, who was of course a car-lover herself, always driving herself around in her classic Land Rovers. We think the late Queen would have deemed Julia an extremely worthy winner of the prize!
We’re thrilled to have hosted the 2023 Levitt Concours for another year and can’t wait for 2024!
Photo credits Gabriel Bush