SPOTTING CAR SPOTTERS

If you're into Supercars and you're on Instagram you're probably following this guy. But Who is he and why does he do it?

Walking down Sloane Street, I catch out of the corner of my eye the sudden movement of my companion's head whipping round at the unmistakeable sound of a supercar revving its engine behind us. My companion is trying to be polite and apologises for being distracted, "I would definitely take a picture of this car..." he says, fingering his iPhone. Totally torn between being polite and doing what we're out here to do, he watches the car pick up speed down the momentarily empty road.

"Run!" I cry, pushing his skinny frame in front of me. Off he runs, apologising over his shoulder, haring after the £2,000,000 beast through the London street in Chelsea. Checking to make sure I haven't left my own camera on a setting that'll damn my chances of getting a good shot, I sprint after him. My heart's racing as I catch up to find out what we're chasing.

It's a Bugatti Veyron. I've never seen one in the metal before. I can't quite believe it. But snap, snap and I've photographic evidence that I've seen one. This is better than Pokémon Go.

Corentin Simon, AKA @Corentin.Spot was now standing in the middle of the road, in front of the Bugatti, getting a clean shot. I noticed the driver gave a quick nod of recognition, and then waited just a second or two after the lights turned to give him an extra moment to make sure he got what he needed. And then the thing turned a corner and sped off into the depths of Knightsbridge, where it belongs.

Corentin is one of the more successful car-spotters in London. His audience has grown to 210k followers in just 18 months. You won't find a single selfie or post that has been paid for by advertisers on his feed. He exclusively posts images of supercars. He makes a daily circuit on his pedal bike to bring his followers images of the hottest cars stalking London's streets, live. He puts his appeal down to the fact that he is consistent with his posts. He's out there, every day, snapping away and using #liveupload to alert fellow car spotters what's out there. He's got to know some of the owners who will text him when and where they'll be showing off their prized motors. Only owning his own fleet of cars would give him a better edge on the scene.

I've invited myself to join him on one of his daily constitutionals around the front parking lots of some of London's most exclusive hotels. Today we're going to The Berkeley, 45 Park Lane and The Dorchester to see what we can find, but as far as Corentin is concerned, he's already hit the mother load with the Veyron, "It's so exciting. Seeing that has made my day."

In front of the Berkeley is another Bugatti Veyron - the Rembrandt Edition whose body is made out of carbon fibre. Corentin informs me that there are only three in the world. Parked in front is a Laferrari. He walks along the cars pointing out different specs that the owners have added on, little finishes that to his mind really make the car. We're not the only interested party here. Several other spotters have amassed and are armed with DSLRs. No #liveupload for them. Around the corner is slightly quieter and we fawn over a Bentley Bentayga and a yellow Ferrari F12 tdf, he confidently rattles off their specs before taking a few shots, edit the one he thinks is the best and uploads it to the ether.

With the Berkeley ticked off the list, we stroll across Hyde Park corner to pop in on 45 Park Lane where there's a McLaren P1. But Corentin posted an image of this one a few days before, "I'm choosier now. I can afford to only post the cars that really excite me." Fifty feet away in front of the Dorchester is something that should excite him. It's the Holy Trinity. Well almost. Two thirds of the Trinity. A Divinity?

A McLaren P1, next to a Porsche 918 next to an Aventador Roadster... next to an Audi. But never mind that. There's a story here - one that has had an immediate effect on the car-spotting community. The Dorchester have put up velvet ropes in front of the cars, "Yesterday Henry Wood (@henryjmw) posted a picture of a girl sitting on the hood of the P1." Corentin says, shaking his head. "Why would you do this? It's not even your car!"

Sacrilege: Instagrammer @henryjmw publicly shames this poser.

Sacrilege: Instagrammer @henryjmw publicly shames this poser.

Aside from disrespecting these fearsome feats of engineering, the precaution that the Dorchester has taken to make sure this doesn't happen again has put the kibosh on car-spotting enthusiasts posting beautiful clean shots of the cars that they worship. The door man that Corentin has got to know over the last year has little sympathy, "At the end of the day this is a hotel, not a show-room". Corentin stares at the P1 whose sleek lines are now cut midway by a red velvet rope. There's no point in taking a photo.

When you're hanging around cars, "passion" is a word you end up hearing every other sentence. The word becomes almost useless, until you come across someone like Corentin. He really does display irrational, irrepressible passion for supercars. Car spotting is his hobby. He isn't paid by marques to post images. He doesn't have a product to sell. He has no agenda, other than to share his love of supercars. He just has a mania for cars.

He took his first picture of a car at the age of fourteen and until 18 months ago posted his street finds on Facebook, where he had several thousand followers. But he's found more traction for his work on Instagram. Don't the owners mind him taking photos of their cars? "I think they like my pictures, they like to see their cars and I think they sometimes like the attention." In fact, some of the owners are so enthusiastic they'll take him for a spin. His enthusiasm for supercars led him to London, from France, "I made the move to learn English but also for the cars. London is the city of the supercar, more so than Paris. Perhaps more than Monaco." He's even had made sure that his day job is just around the corner from Sloane Square so he's never too far from his next photo.

Car-spotting is a undeniably popular past-time. It's only through the advent of social media that it's become clear just quite how large the appetite for street finds is. There's an entire community of car spotters and a myriad of hashtags that they use to keep tabs on the capital's supercars. Other supercar-spotting-superstars like Alex Penfold and Henry Wood can boast of followings in the hundred of thousands but there are plenty of others with far smaller followings who join in when they strike gold. So what's making them get out into the streets every day to find these cars? For Corentin, the answer is beautifully simple, "Because it's my hobby. I like to be in the street, taking the best shots. To show everyone in the world the best cars."

"It makes me happy. "

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Comments (4)

  • When I took the photo of him taking a photo of the Veyron was the most meta moment of my life. I'd become a car-spotter spotter. Got an excellent one of Ted Gushue's bald patch as he's taking a photo of a gullwing too. Hilarious.

      5 years ago
  • That's true. And when your reach Instasatus like Corentin, you get to ride those supercars. No costs and all the benefits. Wait a minute... I'm wanna be a car spotter!

      5 years ago
  • I totally agree - it's just fascinating that even without owning a garage or a car - there are still ways of exploring that passion.

      5 years ago
  • I appreciate their passion, supercars are works of art in their own respect - just watch Apex on Netflix and you'll know. They're the metal superstars of the 21st century. Personally I'd rather spend my time driving or working on my own cars :-)

      5 years ago
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