Cars are the scourge of modern civilization, responsible for everything from suburban sprawl and urban decay to environmental devastation and rampant climate change. But as annoying as all that might be, nothing compares to the frustration caused by thousands of fluorescent jacket-wearing cyclists enjoying a traffic-free event in the nation’s capital.

Eighty-five-thousand of the blighters took to the streets of London yesterday, causing chaos amid the city centre as roads were closed to allow the two-wheeled brigade to trundle around, a situation made worse by a large portion of the Underground being up the spout at the same time.

Thankfully, the aggro caused by Boris Johnson’s lax organisational skills didn’t blight what was otherwise a brilliant day out at the inaugural Chelsea Auto Legends event.

Staged at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, London, this new automotive festival featured one of the most comprehensive collections of road and track sports cars I have ever seen.

The highlight of this, the opening event, was the large grid showcasing more than 50 iconic race cars from the Le Mans 24 Hours. A comprehensive line-up spanning 80 years of history featured some absolute classics. Cars from pioneering Bentleys of the 1920s, to the state-of-the-art Aston Martin prototypes (and just about everything inbetween) were on show.

Two of the most evocative machines on display though were the Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512, stars of the seminal Le Mans movie, whose 40th anniversary was celebrated at Chelsea Auto Legends.

Highlights of every car enthusiast’s favourite film were shown on a big-screen during the day, interspersed with renowned Le Mans drivers recounting their personal experiences of racing in the 24 hours race. Among those sharing their memories with show-goers were five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell MBE, Sir Stirling Moss OBE, who officially opened the show, and Richard Attwood, the man who gave Porsche its first victory 40 years ago in 1970.

Away from the Le Mans cars, the 5,000 visitors were surrounded by hundreds of classic vehicles and modern day performance cars. The broad range of renowned marques, such as Aston Martin, Bugatti, Ferrari and Maserati gave us paupers something to drool over, and one presumes that parking in and along the streets of Mayfair was relatively easy on Sunday…

With a brilliant, wide ranging, collection of cars and a healthy (but not overbearing) number of show-goers, amongst some of the most beautiful surroundings in London, I came away suitably impressed by Chelsea Auto Legends.

Event founder Michael Scott should be congratulated for putting together such an event in just a few months, and for providing the general public with such a rare opportunity to view such a spectacular array of rare cars.

I’m looking forward to next year’s event already. September 4th 2011. Make a note in your diary.

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