There are motor shows, and then there is Salon Privé London.
On 16 to 18 April 2026, the lawns of the Royal Hospital Chelsea will once again trade quiet symmetry for carbon fibre, polished aluminium and the faint scent of warm brakes. Ticket prices begin from around £45, rising through a range of hospitality options, but the real currency here is atmosphere.
This is not an exhibition hall filled with strip lighting and tired carpet tiles. It is London in spring. Fresh cut grass underfoot. Pale sunlight catching the curve of a front wing. A glass of something cold in hand while a V12 clears its throat somewhere beyond the hedges.
Salon Privé has always understood that cars, particularly the rare and outrageous kind, deserve a proper stage. Not a trade stand, but a setting. And few settings are more fitting than the Royal Hospital Chelsea, where red brick and regimented gardens lend an almost theatrical backdrop to machinery built for speed.
This year’s London edition follows the momentum of the event’s twentieth anniversary celebrations at Blenheim Palace. If that was about heritage and scale, Chelsea feels more intimate. Closer. You can stand within touching distance of a hypercar and study the weave of its carbon, the delicate stitch work inside, the way light moves across its flanks.
There will be global and European unveilings across the three days, though the real appeal is less about ticking off debuts and more about witnessing the contrast. A quiet conversation beside a pre war classic. A small crowd gathering as a modern hypercar fires into life. Old money meets new velocity.
Among the headline displays will be a showcase from Koenigsegg, presented by Supervettura. Koenigsegg does not build cars so much as engineering statements. Seeing them out on open lawns, rather than behind ropes at a motor show, feels slightly surreal. The shapes are extreme, almost alien, yet here they sit in polite English sunshine as though they belong.
There will be a dedicated hypercar display too, alongside a collection of Classic Le Mans Edition BMWs and a special presentation from Maserati Club UK. The joy of Salon Privé is that it never forces eras into competition. A 1960s endurance icon does not compete with a modern carbon projectile. They simply coexist.
Thursday opens proceedings with a focus on unveilings and serious metal. It is the day for collectors, industry figures and those who prefer their automotive experiences measured and deliberate. The lawns become a slow moving gallery. Conversations are hushed, appraisals thoughtful. The first of the daily parades threads through the grounds, engines echoing off brickwork that predates the internal combustion engine by centuries.
Friday shifts the mood. Ladies’ Day brings a splash of fashion to the machinery, complete with a Best Hat competition by Gatineau. It would be easy to dismiss this as theatre, but it is part of the charm. Salon Privé has always embraced the social side of motoring. Cars are not isolated objects here. They are woven into a wider world of style, hospitality and performance. Champagne flows. Cameras click. A bright silk dress passes a low slung supercar finished in metallic blue, and for a moment the entire scene feels like a still from another era.
Saturday, branded Supercar Saturday, relaxes the tone further. Families arrive. Children press noses against rope lines. A curated colour display by SCC turns the lawns into something close to an artist’s palette, rows of machines arranged by shade rather than badge. It is playful, accessible, and a reminder that awe is not limited to seasoned collectors.
Anniversaries add depth to the weekend. The Lotus Drivers Club marks fifty years with a celebratory display, while Porsche Club GB reaches sixty five. Clubs like these form the backbone of British car culture. They are the keepers of stories, of long road trips, of weekends spent under open bonnets. Seeing them represented alongside million pound hypercars reinforces something important. Passion scales. It does not discriminate.
Beyond the cars themselves, there is retail, dining and a steady rhythm of entertainment. Yet none of it overwhelms the central draw. The cars remain the focus. You are free to drift. To linger. To double back for another look at a detail you missed.
What sets Salon Privé apart is its refusal to rush. There is no sense of conveyor belt spectacle. No hard sell. Instead, it feels curated. Considered. The kind of event where you might overhear a designer discussing proportions, or a collector recalling the first time they saw a particular model at Le Mans.
In a city that rarely slows down, three days in April offer a rare pause. A chance to stand on manicured grass in the heart of London and appreciate machines built at the very edge of possibility. To watch a parade of supercars roll past ancient brick walls. To feel, even briefly, that motoring still carries a sense of ceremony.
Salon Privé London runs from 16 to 18 April 2026 at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Tickets start from around £45, with various hospitality packages available. For those who believe cars deserve more than fluorescent lighting and exhibition halls, it remains one of the most civilised ways to indulge that belief.
