On Saturday 5th September, the Royal Automobile Club awarded its Club Trophy to the magnificent 1962 Messerschmitt KR200 at the Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace.
Owner, Dave Watson from Bedfordshire was awarded the Trophy by Club President HRH Prince Michael of Kent, despite stiff competition made up of the best of the best from invited UK car clubs.
After the presentation, a startled Watson said: ‘I am in shock, I can’t quite believe it. I’ve never attended the event before and was genuinely pleased just to be there. To actually win the prestigious trophy is such an honour and I’m very humbled by the reception it received. I’m particularly excited about having the car displayed at the Royal Automobile Club’.
Each year a hand-picked panel of expert judges are assembled to judge displayed cars across three categories: Pre-1960, 1960s and Post-1960s, with an overall winner chosen from the classes.
Peter Read, Chairman of the Club’s Motoring Committee, was the chairman of the panel of judges which included HRH Prince Michael of Kent, Alastair Clements (Editor, Classic & Sports Car Magazine), Dr Cici Muldoon (car collector and part of the International Chief Judge Advisory Group), Peter Bradfield (classic car dealer and racer), Andrew Hall (classic car dealer and racer), Michael Squire (classic car specialist at RM Sotheby’s) and 2017 Club trophy winner Katie Forrest.
On Saturday, the judges spent several hours reviewing entries before unanimously agreeing on a worthy overall winner. With such an array of stunning concours cars, the humble Messerschmitt KR200 might not have been an obvious choice for many.
The three-wheeled bubble car designed by the aircraft engineer Fritz Fend and produced in the factory of the German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt from 1955 to 1964.
This particular example was first registered on 25 June 1962 in Brighton, Sussex. It was an original deluxe model complete with a snake skin interior supplied by Redhill Motors. Little is known about the early history of the car, only that it stayed in the ownership of its first owner until 2005 and used as a daily runabout right up to the early 1980s, when it was then laid up in a garage.
Its current owner purchased the vehicle as a non-running wreck in 2005 and underwent an eleven-year fastidious bare metal restoration to its current splendid glory. All work except from the final paint application was completed by its current owner.
The fascinating restoration led to the owner to a trim shop in Germany where he found the last original vinyl snake skin roll and after fitting out his own car, donated the rest of the roll to the Messerschmitt Owner Club for exclusive use to their members.
Peter Read, Chairman of the judging panel said: ‘Each year I’m always astounded by the quality and diversity of the concours entrants. This year, the quality of the entries went up another notch which made the daunting task for the judges to select a worthy winner even more difficult.
He continued ‘the Messerschmitt is one of the finest examples the judges have ever seen. The judges were particularly impressed with the meticulous attention to detail in the restoration. The owner has managed to restore and retain as many of the original components as possible. Where parts were unobtainable, he researched and accurately handmade them himself to complete perfection. It really is a world class restoration of a very rare dome top’.
The judges were delighted that, when the result was announced, their choice received a rapturous applause from the concours visitors.
To further celebrate the Messerschmitt’s win, the quirky bubble car will grace the Royal Automobile Club’s Pall Mall clubhouse before the end of the year and, having won the Club Trophy, is automatically entered into the main Concours display in 2020.
Winners of each category were:
The 1960 Class Winner
Owner – Dave Watson
1962 FMR Messerschmitt KR200 Dome Top
Pre-1960 Class Winner
Owner – Georg Ellbogen
1936 ex-Woolf Barnato 4 1/4 Litre Bentley Disappearing Top by Mulliner
Post-1960 Class Winner
Owner – Amit Bhola
2015 Ferrari 458 Speciale
Spirit of Motoring Trophy
Peter Read also presented the Royal Automobile Club ‘Spirit of Motoring’ trophy to the Concours of Elegance event stewards. The award was in recognition for all the effort that the stewards have put in to the event over the many years, but in particular this year being a particularly difficult year to ensure that the event has as ran as safely and as smoothly as possible.
