Bella machina
Intro:
An annual classic car show is an event like no other, now in its 71st year, the Concorso d’Eleganza brings old world glamour to the forefront.
In these financially strangulating times it can be perversely satisfying to see the occasional display of obscene wealth – it gives us something to aspire to, the belief that maybe, just maybe, we can achieve something similar in our own lives. And for displays of obscene wealth, the annual Concorso d’Eleganza at Italy’s Villa d’Este hotel on the banks of Lake Como takes some beating.
These days sponsored by BMW, it’s the oldest event of its kind in the world, first taking place back in September 1929. It’s a display of some of the finest automobiles the world has ever seen and the backdrop could not be more fitting. The Grand Hotel Villa d’Este has been described as the closest you can get to heaven on earth. Another journalist once remarked that it’s a hotel for people who think the credit crunch is a new kind of breakfast cereal and Forbes magazine recently voted it the best hotel in the world. It’s not hard to see why.
Just 50 or so cars take part, exhibited in the grounds of Villa d’Este before being started and driven to be judged by a panel of renowned experts in front of the hotel’s entrance. This year vehicles from nine categories competed for top honours: pre-war competition cars, pre-war open sports cars, pre-war open four seaters, closed two door cars from 1935 to 1950, post-war open sports cars, post-war closed sports cars, post-war competition cars, styling studies from 1952-1965 and concept cars and prototypes.
The resulted gathering contained something for everyone with a love of four-wheeled exotica. Many cars had been painstakingly and meticulously restored to a condition that no doubt is better than when they were first built, while others, such as a 1935 Bugatti Type 57 and a 1949 Aston Martin DB2, defiantly displayed weathered and dented body panels and worn interiors, history completely intact. No matter what their condition, each car has its own fascinating story to tell, many having been previously owned by dignitaries or Hollywood glitterati.
It’s nigh on impossible to pick a favourite car but a couple deserve special mention. Firstly, the one-off Lamborghini Miura Roadster. The Miura has cemented its place in history as the first proper supercar and it’s an impossibly beautiful thing to behold but the roadster is undoubtedly the most special of all. Designed and built by the legendary Bertone studios, it was first exhibited at the Brussels Motor Show in 1968 but was never intended for series production.
Subsequently sold in 1969 to the International Lead and Zinc Research Organisation who wanted to use what they termed ‘the most exciting car in the world’ to showcase the possibilities with using zinc for automotive parts, it had many of its details reworked with lead and zinc and was completely repainted. As a result it lost much of its star quality but after being donated to a museum in Boston, it ended up in the hands of a private collector who has thankfully brought it back to its perfect, original show specification. Painted in a vivid blue metallic with pure white leather interior, it is without doubt the world’s most valuable Miura and, as it was driven up to the judging panel, it received the biggest, most rapturous round of applause that day.
The other was the 1938 Talbot-Lago T150 – one of the most extravagant sports cars of the 1930s. Its rounded, flowing forms create a ‘teardrop’ profile that marks it out as one of the most glamorous and beautiful cars in history. It’s about as close as it gets to art-deco on wheels and serves as a reminder that cars were once designed with flair and wild abandonment – such a pity those days are gone forever and this car deservedly won the ‘Best in Show’ award from the jury.
Many think of BMW as a relatively young company, perhaps having only ever seen its cars from the late 1960s on. But it’s a marque that dates back even further than this event, for it was in 1923 that the first BMW broke cover. BMW Classic, the department that looks after its historic cars, brought along some breathtaking machinery as part of its celebrations of the success enjoyed at the 1940 Mille Miglia road race.
After the Second World War, the victorious cars were scattered to all four corners of the globe but, over the years, as many of them as possible have been bought back by BMW. Only one of them was missing, having been crashed and scrapped in the mid-1950s: the one-off 328 Kamm Coupé.
BMW decided to build an exact replica of this car in the early 1990s and it has taken almost two decades to come to fruition. Built using time-honoured craftsmanship, it was a project that would have been impossible only a few years ago because all the original design drawings and specification sheets disappeared without trace long before the decision was taken to recreate this historic racing car. Using the latest computer technology to create moulds from a vast array of period photographs, it finally took shape and it’s almost spooky to see it displayed and driven in the grounds of Villa d’Este on its first public outing.
For BMW Classic’s Heritage spokesman, Manfred Grunert, it was an emotional experience. “I can’t begin to describe what this day means to me and the team behind the Kamm Coupé project,” he told us with a lump in his throat. “It’s been such a long time and has taken so much determination and willpower to get to this – there were times we thought it would never happen but look at it, it’s a beautiful thing to behold.” He’s right; it’s exquisite in every respect.
As is the entire event. It’s a dignified, restrained celebration of priceless automobile heritage and one that deserves to continue for many years to come. If you only attend one motor show in your life, make sure it’s this one.
2011’s Concorso d’Eleganza takes place from the 20th to the 22nd of May, visit www.concorsodeleganzavilladeste.com for details.
