Simon Home Kidston (born September 1967) is a British classic car dealer, collector, commentator and journalist. Kidston has built a reputation as one of the leading international dealers in blue-chip collector cars, with clients including

Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren, ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He has become well known for his co ...

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

collector Jean-Pierre Slavic and designer

Marc Newson Marc Andrew Newson CBE RDI (born 20 October 1963) is an industrial designer who works in aircraft cabin design, product design, furniture design, jewellery, and clothing. His style uses smooth geometric lines, translucency, strength, transpar ...

Early life

Kidston was born in September 1967, the son of Commander

Home Kidston Lieutenant-Commander Home Ronald Archibald Kidston (11 March 1910 – January 1996) was a Royal Navy officer, farmer and racing driver. Early life Kidston was born on the 11th of March 1910 in Cadogan Square, London, the son of Captain Arc ...

, a retired naval officer who owned and raced cars. His uncle was

Glen Kidston George Pearson Glen Kidston (23 January 1899 – 5 May 1931) was an English record-breaking aviator and motor racing driver. He was one of the "Bentley Boys" Career His father, Archibald Glen Kidston, was a grandson of the original A.G. Kidston ...

, the record-breaking aviator and motor racing driver. His cousin is the fashion designer and businesswoman Cath Kidston. Kidston grew up near

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

, Italy and was educated in Switzerland. He attended

Aiglon College Aiglon College is a private co-educational boarding school in Switzerland, broadly modelled on British boarding school lines. It is an independent, non-profit school located in the Swiss Alps. It is located 60 km from Lausanne in the alpine vil ...

from 1981 to 1985.

Career

Kidston started his career in 1988 in the car auction department at Coys of Kensington. In 1996, he left to co-found Brooks Europe auction house in Geneva. He created high-profile events such as the annual Ferrari auction in Gstaad and the ''Pur Sang à Longchamp'' auction in Paris. From 1996–2006 he was President of Brooks Europe, which later became Bonhams Europe. In 2006, Kidston left Bonhams to start Kidston SA in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, an independent advisory firm for motor car collectors. In 2018, Kidston opened a new office in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

: Kidston DMCC.

Other roles

Kidston is a magazine contributor, writing columns for ' Classic Cars' and ' Sports Car Market'. He is also a guest contributor at Vanity Fair, Top Gear and Dubai Lifestyle Magazine. Kidston is head judge of the Cartier Travel With Style Concours in India and an advisor to BMW Classic, the organisers of the

Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este () is a Concours d'Elegance event in Italy for classic car, classic and vintage cars. It takes place annually near the Villa d'Este (Cernobbio), Villa d'Este hotel in Cernobbio, on the western shore of Lake Como ...

, set up in 1929. Between 2007–2014, he was commentator for the

Mille Miglia The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi, which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before World ...

historic rally.

Personal life

Kidston is an avid car collector, with his collection including a 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Cabriolet originally built for his father. Kidston buys back vehicles his family previously owned, including a Gipsy Moth racing biplane his father flew in New Zealand 75 years prior. In 2009, Kidston was invited by the Mercedes-Benz Museum to drive the 300 SLR 'Uhlenhaut' coupe. He splits his time between Dubai,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

and Geneva, and is fluent in Italian and French.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kidston, Simon Home 1967 births British car collectors British expatriates in Switzerland Simon Living people Alumni of Aiglon College