Make Your Next Trip Extraordinary

How and Where to Spot Supercars in London

by | August 30, 2016
Ferrari 458, a modded Range Rover
Spotted on Sloane Street: A Mercedes Gullwing in front of a Ferrari 458 and a modded Range Rover
The Dorchester hotel's parking lot
The Dorchester hotel's parking lot on a Monday morning in August
The Dorchester parking lot
The Dorchester parking lot
Lamborghini, a Mercedes, a Porsche, a Rolls-Royce
Right to left: a Lamborghini, a Mercedes, a Porsche, a Rolls-Royce....
Ferrari 458 wrapped in chrome blue
A Ferrari 458 wrapped in chrome blue, at the Dorchester
concierge at The Dorchester
Me and Stuart, the extremely nice and knowledgeable concierge at The Dorchester
The Dorchester
Me and more new friends at The Dorchester
carbon-fiber Pagani Huayra, Lamborghini Aventador
A carbon-fiber Pagani Huayra (right) and a Lamborghini Aventador (left) outside 45 Park Lane, next to The Dorchester
modded Mercedes G-Wagens
3 modded Mercedes G-Wagens outside 45 Park Lane
Lamborghinis and three Rolls-Royces
Two Lamborghinis and three Rolls-Royces at The Dorchester
Rolls-Royce
A Rolls-Royce with a stainless steel hood and modded headlights, at The Dorchester
Lamborghini Aventador
A Lamborghini Aventador on Piccadilly Circus
Lamborghinis, Buckingham Palace
Two Lamborghinis in front of Buckingham Palace
crystal-encrusted Mercedes
A crystal-encrusted Mercedes in Sloane Square
McLaren P1 in Notting Hill
A McLaren P1 in Notting Hill. I was speechless.
Ferrari F12 Berlinetta Coupe
Here's a Ferrari F12 Berlinetta Coupe with the coolest wrap job I have ever seen in real life.
Ferrari F12
That same Ferrari F12 as viewed from the front
rare Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat
A rare Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat with a KSA license plate
Aston Martin, Piccadilly Street
A DB9 Aston Martin on Piccadilly Street
Maybach 62 Zeppelin just off Sloane Street.
A Maybach 62 Zeppelin just off Sloane Street
Brabus Mercedes
A crazy-nice Brabus Mercedes
Ferrari F12 Berlinetta Coupe
A Ferrari F12 Berlinetta Coupe with a modded hood
Lamborghini Gallardo
A Lamborghini Gallardo with a rare type of back window
McLaren 750LT
A McLaren 750LT at the McLaren dealership on Knightsbridge Road
BMW M6
A modded BMW M6
Pagani Zonda
A Pagani Zonda, extremely rare and fast
Porsche 918 Spyder
A Porsche 918 Spyder, the only electric supercar
Rolls-Royce Wraith
A rare Rolls-Royce Wraith
Ford GT in Notting Hill
A very loud Ford GT in Notting Hill
British-made TVR sportscar
British-made TVR sportscar, with super-interesting exhaust pipes
Lamborghini Aventador interior
Lamborghini Aventador interior
Pagani Huayra interior
Pagani Huayra interior

 

Photos by Doug Baker and Timothy Baker

Hi. I’m Doug and I’m 12 years old. My mom just took me to London, and one of my favorite activities was spotting supercars. The craziest car I saw was a rainbow-diamond-encrusted Mini Cooper inside Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, but there were other rare supercars driving around London all the time. I saw a Mercedes plated with gold and black Swarovski crystals on Sloane Street, and a gray W Motors Lykan HyperSport in Knightsbridge. It was one of four ever made! If you want to see cars like this too when you go to London, here’s my advice:

  • Go in summertime. That’s when all the wealthy Middle Easterners come to town for cooler weather and they ship their supercars from home.
  • Go to The Dorchester hotel’s parking lot. Stuart, a concierge at the Dorchester, told me that if I wanted to see the most and best cars, I should come in the morning before 11 a.m. That’s when the cars’ owners are sleeping, so their cars are parked. Don’t go after noon because that’s when they’re driving the cars. If you have questions about the cars, the concierge can answer them. (The concierges were super-nice even though we weren’t staying at the hotel.) The streets and other fancy hotels near The Dorchester can have nice cars too.
  • The best time to see the cars driving around is after 5 p.m. and late at night. The best places to see them are Knightsbridge, Mayfair, and Notting Hill, and especially on Sloane Street and Brompton Road. They are on the streets around fancy department stores like Harrods and Fortnum & Mason because many of the car owners shop there so you can see their cars.
  • Go to supercar dealerships like Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, and Lotus. The Lotus dealership in Piccadilly Circus actually has no Lotuses in it, but you’ll see Lotuses driving past it. The McLaren dealership is near the Mandarin Oriental Hotel at the Knightsbridge Tube stop. The employees were friendly and nice both times I went in.
  • When you photograph the cars, don’t forget to photograph their license plates. You’ll see license plates from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE. Some have both English and Arabic numbers.

Tips for photographing cars

  1. Always have your camera ready.
  2. Take the bus. Sit at the front row of the top of the double-decker bus.
  3. Listen for the cars. Sometimes we heard them coming before we saw them.
  4. Look inside to see what the interior looks like.
  5. Never spend too much time on one car. A cooler car might come by.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

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6 Comments

  1. Rayleigh's

    Very useful tips here! used them and managed to see 233 Bugatti Veyrons and 230 Mclarens P1’s. Also saw 50 million Porsche 918 Spyder’s and 2 butterflys.

  2. Josephine Packederm

    In the picture of the 2 golden cars, I am pretty sure there are 2 golden ferraris and a black subaru.

  3. Greg

    Doug
    What a well researched article. it looks like you had a great time searching throughout London for such unique automobiles Can’t wait to read about your next trip

  4. Mike

    Great article from a young traveller! Well written and concise with handy tips. He’s got a career in travel blogging! Well done!

    (absolutely minor comment…you wont see license plates from the UAE as each Emirate has its own license…so Dubai, yes, Abu Dhabi, yes, and the same for the other 5 Emirates).

    1. Wendy Perrin

      Hi Mike,
      We thought so too, but then we spotted a license plate that said “U.A.E A.D.” so Doug voted to leave in the UAE reference.
      Thanks for your supportive comments! Doug appreciates them.
      Wendy

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