A Day With: Simon Kidston

When we meet Mr. Kidston in his office in Geneva, he is only in Switzerland for a short period. He spends most of his days at international business meetings and car shows around the world. In between flights, Kidston spends his short remaining time at the office. We had the opportunity to meet him at such an occasion, to talk about his passion for vintage cars and the hunt for his father’s long lost 1955 Mercedes 300 SL “Gullwing”.

The Kidston office is located on the fifth floor of a fantastic art nouveau building at Avenue Pictet-de-Rochemont 7. The building, built in 1902, stands out from the neighbouring buildings, and we imagine so does the office. It is exactly how one of a vintage car dealing company is expected to be, with great looking interiors, nice employees and brilliant Italian coffee. After a meeting with a client, Mr. Kidston welcomes us to his private corner office, and it is stunning. It really looks like the office of James Bond himself.


Simon tells us that he grew up with cars, and there were always new cars parked in the garage at the family residence on the English countryside. His father, Lieutenant-Commander Home Kidston, was a car enthusiast himself and he was constantly looking for the newest and fastest car model. Simon explains.

”When I grew up, there were always new cars in the garage. My father was always interested in the newest and fastest car on the market, and for years I thought this was just boring stuff. As I got older, I became more interested in my father’s passion and the cars he owned. My father was 57 when I was born, so I think this passion was a great start for me to get to know my father a little bit better."



The office is filled with photos, small car models and prizes from historical car races. On one of the tables there's a diorama, which Simon explains is an exact copy of one of the pictures hanging on the wall. The image that the diorama is based on is a picture of Simon's uncle driving in a racecar competition in 1925. Simon goes on to talk about one of his favourite cars.

”I wouldn’t call myself a collector, I just got a few cars that I love and they mean a lot to me. A car that took me a long time to track down was my father’s 1955 Mercedes “Gullwing”. It took me twenty years to find it, and another ten years to persuade the owner to sell it to me.”


The “Gullwing” was an iconic car of the 1950's. It was the fastest car in the world when it first came out in 1954. 1400 were produced, Simon tells us, and a large number of them in silver, and so was Simons father’s.

“Trying to find a silver “Gullwing” was just like finding a needle in a haystack.”, Simon says.

He goes on to talk about the search for the car. In the 1980's, rumours said the car was sold to a collector in Canada, but he didn’t know this for sure.

“It could have ended up in various different places. With the internet, it’s easier to find something these days. Earlier I had to make phonecalls and fax every contact I had. I flew all over the world trying to find this car."


His father sold the car in the beginning of the 1960’s to purchase a newer and much faster Maserati. Simon remembers his father often talking about the “Gullwing” with fondness and nostalgia.

“I knew that car meant a lot to him, so I really wanted to find it. About ten years ago, I heard that the car might be in Switzerland. I don’t know why, but I really started to believe that was the case.”

Simon continues and tells us that his assistant at the time, had a business contact who worked for the Swiss car registration authority. He knew that it was not a conventional thing to ask if they could look up the chassis number in their register, but he had to try.

“I asked my then assistant if she would mind to call her contact, to see if the person at the car registration authority could just tell us if it was in Switzerland. I was so happy to find out that it was.”

The car was not only in Switzerland. It was registered to a man who lived very close to Simon’s old boarding school in Gstaad. He continues.

“I must have drove past that house a thousand times without knowing that the car was there. When I got the news, I immediately called my contact, who runs a famous hotel in Gstaad, to see if he knew the owner. He did, and he was happy to introduce me to him.”

At that time, Simon was on a business trip in America. It was during the volcano crisis in Iceland, resulting in not many available flights to Europe. Simon managed to find one flight to Rome, and he immediately jumped on the plane.



“When I finally got to Rome, there were no availble flights. I ended up hiring a chauffeur to drive me all the way to Geneva, about a 800 kilometers drive. When I arrived, I jumped into my car and drove as quickly as possible to Gstaad to meet this man.”

When Simon arrives, the owner welcomes him outside the garage. For the first time in his life, Simon is now going to see his father's beloved “Gullwing” that was sold fifty years earlier.

“The owner opens up the garage door, and there it was. He handed me the keys and told me to take it for a ride. It was truly an emotional time for me.”

When Simon got back, he asked if the owner would consider selling the car to him. The answer was no, but Simon was persistent – he kept on asking over the years. One day, the “Gullwing” owner changed his mind. He was now willing to trade for a car in better condition since the car that Simon’s dad previously owned was in need of restoration.

“I started to look for a restored, Swiss registered “Gullwing” to make the trade and found one. They say that a salesman is his own worst enemy, because I ended up finally making a deal with him and traded my fully restored “Gullwing” to his that was in great need of restoration. He obviously is a much better businessman than me, but I finally brought my father’s Mercedes 300 SL “Gullwing” back home."