France was the cradle of the Concours d’Elégance in the 1920s and the creator of these very popular meetings in which exceptional cars of the era, often personalised by famous coachbuilders, were on display in the company of elegant women dressed in the latest clothes by the great names in French fashion.

One of the driving ambitions behind Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille was to revive this glorious epoch by inviting car manufacturers and designers to unveil to the public their concept cars, interpretations of the future models of their make, by associating them with models in the most beautiful clothes from fashion houses in a unique parade very popular with the public.

Thus, premium makes like Alpine, Aston Martin, BMW, Bugatti, Citroën, DS Automobiles, Ford, Honda, Lexus, Maserati, McLaren, Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot, Porsche, Renault, Rolls-Royce, VW etc. and Italian coachbuilders Italdesign, Touring et Zagato unveiled in the last four Chantilly Concours d’Elegance, sometimes as a première, their latest interpretations of the motor car of the future associated with dress creators Haider Ackermann, Giorgio Armani, Balmain, Hugo Boss, Ann Demeulemeester, Eymeric François, Jean-Paul Gautier, Yang Li, Thierry Mugler, Paco Rabanne, Alexandre Vauthier etc.

Concours d’Elegance
Lancia Pu+Ra (2023)

Concours d’Elegance public prize
Bugatti Tourbillon (2024)

For its first fifth editions, the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille Concours d’Etat brought together the greatest collectors from all around the world. One hundred exceptional cars, embodying the most beautiful creations in the automobile history, have come each time from all over Europe, but also from United States, South America, and Asia.

Presented on the Estate’s Le Nôtre lawns to form a remarkable and unique ephemeral museum, they display their charms for one purpose only: to be awarded the Best of Show. Indeed, “crème de la crème”, Chantilly obliges, Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille has been awarding two Best of Show prizes since 2017, as it is difficult to compare a pre-war car with a post-war one.

In each of the 17 classes comprising some four or six cars, rareness, history, state of conservation and upkeep are the main criteria considered by the hand-picked jury when examining them to select the class winner, an obligatory step to go onto the two final “Queens of the Day” consecration.

On the track they suffer wear and tear. In museums, they don’t come alive. At Chantilly the cars are alive, still competing, but no damage!

Best of Show Concours d’Etat Pre-war
Bugatti T35C (1928)

Prix spécial Restauration Pre-war
Tatra T80 (1931)

Best of Show Concours d’Etat Post-war
Talbot-Lago T26 GS Coupé (1949)

Palmares Post-war special prize
Dino 196S (1959)

Special “Works” prize
Marcello Gandini, Lamborghini Countach

Every year, around forty of these clubs take part in the huge Garden-Party, a veritable countryside picture that would have inspired some of the most illustrious Impressionist painters.

From sophisticated picnic baskets to exquisitely decorated tables, the elegance of the exhibits must be in harmony if they hope to win the Grand Prix des Clubs, based on the quality of the presentation, the diversity and originality of the models on display, and the attention paid to the Déjeuner sur l'Herbe.