Collector car events in the Gulf have been tried before, and not always successfully – but the inaugural Royal Bahrain Concours by Thorough Events went down well with local and international guests and display car owners alike. Already, it looks as though next year’s event will be even bigger and better.
What’s different from other, less successful events? There are two significant factors. Firstly, the experience of the Thorough Events high-end concours events team (think Concours of Elegance Hampton Court, among others), which has given them a faithful tranche of car owners who trust them to look after them and their vehicles.
And secondly, it’s also down to the backing of arch-car enthusiast HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The majority of collector car ownership in the Gulf (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates) is based around modern supercars and hypercars. Also, there’s not a culture of showing privately owned vehicles at large public events – it’s more usual to show them to small groups of acquaintances within private collections.
The backing of the Crown Prince changed that for the Royal Bahrain Concours: not only did the Prince show his own cars but he also encouraged other collectors – many of them sheiks – to exhibit their machinery at the event. The resultant display cars ranged from a 1913 Clement Bayard T to an Aston Martin Valkyrie, with a wide variety of models in between – even locals were surprised at the breadth of classic cars on show.
Added to these were cars shipped in from the US, Europe and the UK, although Thorough Events was careful not to overdo this, because it was important that the concours retained a mostly local flavour. Around 80 percent of the concours cars were from Bahrain and neighbouring Qatar and Saudi Arabia, with the rest coming from Thorough Event regulars.
For example, Fritz Burkard shipped in his bright orange 1955 Lincoln Indianapolis from Switzerland; Dr Jörg Wolle his 1988 Aston Martin Vantage Volante ‘Prince of Wales’ from Switzerland; Simon Kidston his Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (also from Switzerland); Malcolm and Christina Welford their 1963 Cobra 289 (below) from the US; and Gautam Hari Singhania his 1929 Cord L-29 from India.
Alongside the main concours display, local clubs exhibited their best cars: there were the expected Lamborghinis and Porsches, but there were also American muscle cars and plenty of more surprising entries: a six-wheeled open-backed Range Rover, the MGA owned by the nephew of its original buyer, even an Alfa Romeo SZ.
Thorough Events is known for its hospitality to car owners, and Bahrain has a reputation for luxury experiences, so the owners were treated to a chance to drive the F1 circuit and explore the local area ahead of the concours. When the event opened on the Friday morning, it soon filled up with visitors, including the Prince and his entourage. Many of the cars were driven onto the stage so their owners could explain their histories, and in between MC Richard Charlesworth chatted over the PA system to Ben ‘The Stig’ Collins about his racing career and his time on Top Gear.
Awards were handed out on the second (and final) day. The full list follows, but the Crown Prince Award went to the 2008 Ferrari Zagato Nibbio and the Best of Show to the 1972 Lamborghini Miura SV first owned by the Shah of Iran. The latter was a locally owned car, just out of a restoration at Modena’s famed Top Motors Salvioli supervised by renowned test driver Valentino Balboni, who was one of the stars of the concours.
As well as being a successful show, the Royal Bahrain Concours has already started to change the thinking around such events in the Gulf region. More local owners are now keen to show their cars at next year’s event, and many are also keen to visit overseas concours – just as the Crown Prince did earlier this year, attending the Concours of Elegance Hampton Court.
More about the Royal Bahrain Concours here.
FULL RESULTS
Best of Show
1972 Lamborghini Miura SV ‘Shah of Iran’ (Dr Khalid M Abdulrahim).
Hypercars
2025 Mercedes-AMG One (HRH Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al Faisal Al Saud).
Pre-1940
1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III (Arch. Saad Mohammad Awad Binladen).
Supercars
2006 Porsche Carrera GT (Abdullah Alibrahim).
Sports & Race Classics
1959 Ferrari 250 TR (Michael and Barbara Malone).
Flat Tops
2009 Mercedes-Benz SLR Stirling Moss (Dr Adel Esmat Quttainah).
American Classics
1955 Lincoln Indianapolis (Fritz Burkard / The Pearl Collection).
Modern Classics
2006 Pagani Zonda F Clubsport (HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa).
European Classics
1988 Lamborghini LM002 (Adel Rajab).
British Classics
1988 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante ‘Prince of Wales’ (Dr Jörg Wolle).
FEATURE CLASS WINNERS
Restomod / Modified
1951 Ford F-1
30 Under 30
Porsche 911 SC
4×4 Award
Range Rover L322 Six-Wheeler
SPECIAL AWARDS
Crown Prince Award
2008 Ferrari Zagato Nibbio (HRH Prince Faisal A Al Faisal).
Steering Committee Award
1930 Cord L-29 (Gautam Hari Singhania).
AirX Award
1963 Shelby Cobra (Malcolm and Christina Welford)
Club Award
Porsche Club of Bahrain
