Land Speed Record Legend wins glorious Heveningham Concours 2025

The National Motor Museum’s 1920 Sunbeam 350HP – Blue Bird – took Best in Show at the 2025 Heveningham Concours in Suffolk as the national treasure celebrates the centenary of one of its many great achievements. The ex-Malcolm Campbell Land Speed Record car is powered by a 19-litre Sunbeam Manitou V12 and, at Pendine Sands in July 1925, became the first car to break 150mph.

At Heveningham it was displayed in front of Kim Wilkie’s famous terraced lawn behind the impressive Grade I listed Palladian mansion. The other contenders were as usual spread out across the lawn and ranged from the scintillating 1909 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Roi des Belges to a lovely Jersey-based Bugatti Type 37 that has been in one-family ownership for over 30 years.

Highly original preservation cars were a feature of the concours this year and included the barnfind 1934 Aston Martin MkII sympathetically resurrected by Ecurie Bertelli and featured ‘before and after’ in Octane editions 213 and 230. Other wonderfully patinated entrants included a 1925 Bentley 3 Litre by Short and a 1934 Alvis Speed Twenty.

It can’t have been easy manoeuvring 1936 ERA B-type onto the narrow tiers of the terrace. Nor the Porsche 956 or magnificent Lotus Lamborghini 102 Grand Prix racer.

Among the curiosities were a swoopy De Mola-bodied 1940/1948 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Super Sport Spider a supremely elegant 1951 Ferrari 212 Export Vignale (which won the Chairman’s choice, full results below) and the Singer ACS all-terrain car based in a 1990 Porsche 964.

Top table racing greats included the classwinning 1957 Aston Martin DBR2, the ex-Jack Brabham Cooper T51 that was the first rear-engine car to win the F1 world championship and the ex-Stirling Moss Lotus 18 that triumphed at Monaco in 1961 bringing the marque its first F1 victory, even though it was racing in Rob Walker colours. Less great results-wise but no less fascinating was the Lotus 56B, the only turbine car to race in F1.

The concours always showcases some modern greats and those on display in 2025 included Aston Martin Valkyrie, scintillating McMurtry Spéirling and Tuthill GT One. The Callum Wood & Pickett Mini made its first major public appearance at Heveningham.

The judges, let by Max Hunt, included Marino Franchitti, Peter Stevens, Ian Callum. Jason Furtado, Roger Bennington and David Gandy.

A smaller concours for motorcyles ranged from 1938 Norton Manx Special to 2025 Picasso OMT 450C. The latter took a special award, but the motorcyle concours was won by a 1994 Ducati 916.

Elsewhere, the event hosts a huge fly-in and an aircraft concours with the award named after the late Red Arrow and vintage Spitfire pilot Ray Hanna. Among the highlights this year were a wonderful Deco influenced 1936 Miles M3A Falcon Major, 1944 Beechcraft Staggerwing and 1939 Hawker Hurricane. Two of the planes with the best back stories were the most original and cherished Spitfire of them all and a 1939 Gloster Gladiator MkII that, though looking outdated at the start of WW2 was instrumental during the siege of Malta and in defending the Suez Canal. The four-strong judging team led by Vic Norman included Sarah Hanna and gave the top award to the Gloster.

On Horsepower Hill, larger modern supercars take part in a very short 200m sprint across the estate. Fastest terminal speed was 117mph in a Ferrari 296.

As is traditional, on the other hand side of Jon and Lois Hunt’s Heveningham Hall was the county fair which had displays of falconry’s dancing JCBs and all manner of other entertainment as well as farm machinery and a small selection of classic cars.

All the proceeds from the weekend go directly to a charitable trust, which distributes them to a range of local and national causes including the East Anglia Air Ambulance as well as funding a scholarship for a Masters degree in Intelligent Mobility at the Royal College of Art.