London's "supercar season," once a summer spectacle among car enthusiasts, returned this year with the biggest crackdown on record, as 90 cars were towed in just three days.
Every summer, London's affluent neighborhoods such as Hyde Park and Kensington and Chelsea draw high-end cars from around the world. It is a custom for wealthy people from the Gulf to spend the summer in London and fly in their own cars. Locals in Britain call this season the supercar season.
While the parade of rare supercars is a treat for tourists, it draws scowls from local residents. To show off performance, these supercars tear through parts of London with dangerous driving such as rapid acceleration and speeding. When stopped, they often idle loudly to show off their engines and blast amplified exhaust noise. Deputy Leader Caroline Sargent of Westminster City Council said in a police news release on the 10th that "dangerous driving and noise get particularly worse in the summer" and "the harm to residents and business owners grows just as much."
On the 10th, the Metropolitan Police (Met) said that together with the Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB), it seized 90 supercars in the Hyde Park and Kensington and Chelsea areas over three days from the 7th to the 9th, deploying 120 officers. The combined value of the seized vehicles exceeds £8 million (about 1.6 billion won). Police authorities in London said, "Among the summer crackdowns that have continued for five years, both the number of cars and the value were the highest." The Met seized about 60 vehicles in 2024 and 72 last year. In both years, the vehicles were worth around £6 million (about 1.2 billion won).
The most expensive among the cars seized by London police this year was the Monza SP2, which Italian sports car maker Ferrari released in a limited run of 499 worldwide. The two-seater racing car has no roof or windshield, with only two seats exposed. At a recent auction held this year, one sold for $4,995,000 (£3.7 million, about 7.4 billion won).
British police said the Monza SP2 caught this time had been registered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and had been in Britain for only one day. The supercar's driver had the vehicle seized 30 minutes after taking the wheel. The driver held only a provisional license, not a full U.K. license, and was also found to be uninsured. A U.K. provisional license is similar to Korea's learner's permit; a fully licensed driver must be seated alongside, and motorway driving is not allowed. London police authorities said that during the same period, a Lamborghini Revuelto and Urus, a Rolls-Royce Cullinan, a Porsche 911 GT3, and a McLaren were also loaded onto tow trucks and seized.
The large-scale supercar crackdowns that arrive every summer are a key headache not only for British police but also for local boroughs. The noise and dangerous driving from supercars tend to concentrate in London's most expensive neighborhoods. That is often because Middle Eastern tycoons' summer homes sit near those same areas. As the nuisance repeated, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London imposed a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) in 2015 around Knightsbridge, home to Harrods. The system bans engine idling, rapid acceleration, horn use, and convoy driving in the area. Violations of the order result in fines.
In September 2020, in a move to tighten restrictions, the borough introduced Britain's first acoustic cameras that automatically photograph license plates when noise exceeds 74 decibels. At the time, the Chelsea council said, "On summer nights, noise in Knightsbridge rises to 126 decibels, on par with a rock concert."
Even so, with little improvement, the Home Office this year established Article 8 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026. The new law, which the Home Office put into effect on June 29, streamlines procedures so police can seize vehicles used in anti-social ways more easily and quickly. Under the Police Reform Act 2002, British police were previously required, before seizing a vehicle for causing anxiety, distress, or annoyance to others, to have a uniformed officer warn the driver that "if you continue to drive dangerously, the car will be taken." But with this year's amendment to the Crime and Policing Act, that mandatory warning clause has been removed.
Of the 90 vehicles seized by London police during the three-day operation this month, 15 were taken immediately under the new authority without a separate warning. The rest were handled under existing laws such as lack of insurance and license violations. Police added that "during the operation, a man carrying 19 bank cards in other people's names and £2,500 in cash (about 5 million won) was detained on suspicion of handling stolen goods and money laundering, and one uninsured driver was arrested on suspicion of drug distribution with £5,500 in cash (about 11 million won)," noting that the vehicle crackdown also uncovered non-vehicle-related crimes.
Seizure differs from forfeiture, in which the state permanently takes the vehicle. Owners can retrieve their cars by proving ownership, valid insurance, and a full license, and by paying the statutory penalties and storage fees. London police authorities said that, separate from penalties, owners must pay £192 (about 380,000 won) for towing and £26 (about 52,000 won) per day for storage.
MIB Chief Executive Officer Angus Eaton said, "This kind of robust enforcement shows that no matter how expensive a car someone drives, the law applies equally to all drivers," adding, "The price you pay for driving irresponsibly and uninsured is heavy and long-lasting."