The British Classic Car Meeting in St. Moritz is one of the traditional events. The BCCM took place for the 30th time from July 5 to 7, 2024. The starting point is always the glamorous summer and winter resort of St. Moritz.
On Saturday, a rally is organized through the beautiful mountains of the Engadine and nearby foreign countries, while on Sunday the Concours is all about elegance and condition.
The special motto
For several years now, the BCCM has adopted a motto every year; in 2024, the additional name of the event was "Safari Edition". The nickname said it all, as not only were there a particularly large number of Land Rovers and Range Rovers in attendance, but an "elegant safari outfit" was also permitted as an alternative to the "black tie" dress code at the gala dinner.
And indeed, a significant number of the guests dressed in beige and desert-appropriate suits.
The guest of honor at the meeting was Rauno Aaltonen, the racing driver who won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1967, but above all took part in the Safari Rally countless times and finished in the top places several times. The "Rally Professor", as Rauno is also known, also drove in the rally.
Wide range of vehicles
Not only the Land Rovers and Range Rovers provided a broad spectrum of British vehicles, but also a small horde of young Aston Martins showed that the BCCM will not be lacking elegant and interesting cars in the future.
Meanwhile, some rarities that you don't see every day attracted the attention of visitors. For example, two of the fast and rare Bentley R-Types from the 1950s paid their respects in St. Moritz.
While one vehicle left the factory with the factory bodywork, the second car was delivered to France as a left-hand drive chassis and was bodied there by Franay, a one-off notabene.
The Aston Martin DB4 GTs are also rare; only 75 of these short-wheelbase aluminum coupés were built from 1959 onwards.
At the other end of the vehicle spectrum was the Riley Elf Mark II from 1965. Although this mini version with an attached trunk is also rare in our country, this small car belonged to a completely different price category than the Bentley and Aston mentioned above.
Rally over 200 km
The round trip on Saturday led via Zernez, Ofenpass and Umbrail to Validentro, where lunch was taken. In the afternoon, the rally team drove back to St. Moritz via the Passo del Foscagno, the Forcola di Livigno Pass and the Bernina Pass. Around five hours of driving time were interrupted by several special regularity stages.
Marco Biroli and Luise Guenzani had the fewest penalty points in their '66 Austin-Healey 3000 Mk III, followed by the women's team of Arlette Högliger and Christina von Flüe in their 1958 Aston Martin DB2/4 Mark 3.
Werner and Regula Berger came third in a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow from 1972.
A special prize was awarded to the unlucky Julia Gut and Yara Ochoa, whose MGB GT broke down in Italy. At least they made it back to Switzerland in time for the gala dinner.
Exciting quarter mile test
As a special highlight, a "quarter mile test" was organized at Samedan airport during the rally. A distance of 750 m had to be covered with as little deviation from the target time as possible.
Nello Wiedendanger and his co-driver Sandro Wiesendanger achieved this particularly well in their 1956 Jaguar XK 140 DHC. Arlette Höflinger and Christina von Flüe came second in this special competition in an Aston Martin DB 2/4 Mk III from 1958, and Urs Barmettler and Patrick Mohler Barmettler came third in a Bentley S Mulliner 4 Door Sports Saloon from 1957.
They were followed by a certain Christian Jott Jenni in a Jaguar XJ6. Jenni was, after all, the mayor of St. Moritz, who entertained the audience at the gala dinner towards the end with a very whimsical speech directed at the "British Cars".
Competition football
Saturday evening's schedule was somewhat disrupted by the European Championship quarter-final match between Switzerland and England. Naturally, the gala dinner waited until the end of the football match, which was prolonged due to the necessary extra time and penalty shoot-out. The fact that the match ended with a defeat for the Swiss could not dampen the mood in the long term; after all, the English had won, the nation that was the birthplace of most of the cars at the event.
So the task of James Squire, the British ambassador to Switzerland, of welcoming the guests to the BCCM was not much more difficult. The main thing was that it had been a fair game, Squire said in his speech.
Camels in the luxury hotel
While only a few of the rally drivers were plagued by rain on Saturday, the weather was relentless afterwards. It never stopped raining and it was impossible to hold the Concours d'Elégance on the Survretta House lawn. So we had to improvise and park the cars around the hotel. The fact that some participants were already driving home early caused additional uncertainty. This certainly did not make the work of the jury, which had to evaluate the Concours vehicles, any easier.
However, as the days before had already been used to view and compare the individual vehicles, the winners could still be determined in the shortened time on Sunday.
Vehicles were finally awarded prizes in the hotel's Salon Festivo, not least in the presence of two camels that should have been strolling outside between the Concours vehicles. However, the two desert animals did not take the duty and the unfamiliar surroundings amiss.
Meanwhile, jury president Marco Makaus named the winners in the three categories Pre War/Pre-War (up to 1945), Classic Cars (1945-1980) and Young Classics (from 1980).
Among the oldest cars, the SS 100 2.5 Litre from 1937 took first place, followed by a Bentley Open Tourer from 1927 and a Rolls-Royce 40/50 HP Piccadilly Roadster from 1922.
The largest category with cars from 1945 to 1980 was won by an Aston Martin DB4 Convertible from 1963. Second place went to the Range Rover from 1976, an unusual car for a beauty contest, but the ivory-colored Range Rover represented the motto well and was a very sympathetically restored car, as Makaus explains.
Third place went to the Jaguar XK 120 OTS from 1950, whose owners had already taken part in the first edition of the BCCM.
In the "Young Classics" class, a Daimler Double Six from 1986 was honored with the first prize, followed by a Rolls-Royce Corniche II DHC from 1986 and an Aston Martin Virage Volante from 1995.
Peter Kappeler and Felicitas Caviezel's SS 100 was named "Best of Show".
A special prize was awarded to the Land Rover Series III 88 from 1973, which illustrated the motto particularly well.
And the Trident Venturer V8 from 1971 received the special award for "British Excentricity". The sports car, which was originally created as the TVR Trident and was only known to a few people, was only built in a few dozen examples with a plastic body and its appearance certainly set it apart from most cars of the time.
Another special prize was awarded to the "best dressed team". This trophy went to Niklas Thierfelder and Sebastian Fath from Germany.
The next generation is taken care of
The young team Julia Gut and Yara Ochoa, who took part in the MGB GT, were particularly celebrated once again at the end of the Concours. On the occasion of the 60th edition of the BCCM, these two ladies will still be younger than many of the participants of the 30th BCCM.
Peter Egli, the manager of Suvretta House and also the chief organizer of the British Classic Car Meeting, and his team had once again prepared an exceptionally attractive event, which was not even affected by the adverse weather conditions on the last day. Over three days, the guests enjoyed the hospitality of St. Moritz and its beautiful hotels. Many will certainly return next year.
The central motto was once again well received by the participants. In the past, these have included "The Italian Job" or "The Royal Edition". If the organizers still need input, they could perhaps think about "Lawrence of Arabia" and also invite classic British motorcycles. The Antonioni film "Blow Up" could also provide good subject matter, but Peter Egli and his co-organizers probably don't need any external input and will surely come up with a creative idea themselves when the 31st BCCM is held in 2025.
