At Chantilly Castle in the Nonette Valley, it is usually quite quiet. But once a year, the normal tourist visits are replaced by more than 18,000 car enthusiasts. That's when it's time for the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille. Our photographer and journalist friend Wilfried Geerts went to visit and reported back to us.
If you are not already familiar with the event, we can partly understand. The event is relatively new and was first organised in 2014 by Peter Auto (the same organiser of Le Mans classic & Tour Auto Optic 2000). Despite being a fairly new event (this year was the 6th edition), it has already gained serious notoriety within the car industry and car brands themselves are already using it to unveil new cars. The main event is the Concours d'élégance where car brands participate with concept cars but of course owners and restorers also participate with the most exclusive classic cars.
Apart from the Concours d'élégance, there is of course a lot to see. Quite a few prestige car brands are there with their latest cars, with Lotus certainly not being inferior these days. They were therefore present with their three new models that were sure to please the Chantilly Arts & Elegance audience.
© Wilfried Geerts
Classic Lotus fans certainly did not have to return home disappointed either. With the rich history of Lotus, there were also a lot of classic Lotus on display with owners taking great pride in showing their to perfection restored or preserved Lotus to the outside world.
© Wilfried Geerts
The event also gets bigger and bigger every year. This year, the event saw 20,000 spectators. Also, the presence of 40 clubs with 700 cars on show at the estate, which was an integral part of the event and contributed to the success of the big garden party to which the public was invited. The event is annually on the last weekend of September, so be sure to put this one in your calendar for next year.
© Wilfried Geerts