Best of Goodwood 2014 - top Concours d'Elegance entries

The Concours d'Elegance has become a fan favourite of the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Showcasing some of the rarest cars in the country, the eclectic collection assembled for 2014 featured American muscle cars, concepts and thoroughbred racers from every era.

Although a stunning 1953 Maserati A6GCS Berlinetta was eventually crowned as the overall winner, there were plenty of other contenders to watch out for.

Among them was the TVR Speed 12, which exists only as a concept for what was to be the company’s most powerful road car in the early 90s.

Powered by a bespoke 7.7-litre V12 engine, the early prototypes were purportedly capable of producing nearly 1,000bhp. It was claimed that the car would be faster than a McLaren F1 had it made production. 

Cadillac’s Eldorado, meanwhile, is a caricature of 1950s American car design – fins, chrome, white wall tires and wire wheels. The Biarritz model was the convertible in the range and represented the height of luxury cruising in its home country, powered by a 6.0-litre V8 motor.

The A6GCS Berlinetta is an excellent example of Maserati’s rich history of coach-built cars. Designed by Pininfarina in the early 50s, the car was built to compete in the World Sportscar Championship and featured a 170bhp 2.0-litre straight-six engine.

Ferrari's 1968 365 GTB/4 Daytona set the formula for the next four decades of contemporary four-seat, front-engined V12 models to come from the Italian manufacturer – a trend only recently broken by the four-wheel-drive FF. Its iconic design inspired many other cars, including the Rover Vitesse SD1. 

The Mercedes-Benz 500K, which was launched in 1934, was a remarkably modern car for its vintage; it was the first car to use coil spring and damper suspension over the traditional leaf springs of the era.

The ‘K’ in its name denotes the presence of a supercharger (Kompressor in German), which fed a 5.0-litre straight-eight engine. 

Those are just some of our favourite entries from this year's Concours d'Elegance. Have a look through the picture gallery above to decide your favourite and let us know below.

James Howe

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