Every year, the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este attracts hordes of classic car enthusiasts to the small town of Cernobbio, north of Como on Lake Como. And the event, which traditionally takes place in May, can usually also boast good weather.
This was also the case in 2015, when elegant and special cars competed in a superlative beauty contest on May 23/24 in largely dry and mostly sunny weather.
In a "small" circle on Saturday
On Saturday, the vehicles were lined up in the park of the Villa d'Este luxury hotel, where they had to face the jury and spectators for the Coppa d'Oro.
The public voted for the Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta Touring from 1950, once owned by Agnelli, as the most beautiful, which clearly delighted owner Clive Beecham. And allowed him to drive it twice across the gravel parking lot in front of the hotel.
The big drive-up
The highlight of Saturday is the parade of all the competitors in front of the audience. This procedure is not suitable for all engines, which is why some of them acknowledge the slow drive with noticeable misfiring and smoke development.
As every year, Simon Kidston commented on the individual vehicles and elicited additional anecdotes from one or two of the owners, while the spectators sipped their champagne with satisfaction.
Incidentally, the 2015 promenade was opened by the BMW Turbo from 1970, an indirect ancestor of the M1 and still an eye-catcher today with its gullwing doors and bright orange paintwork.
Pegaso Festival
Although Ferrari, together with Rolls-Royce (a BMW brand), had the largest contingent in the Concours with eight cars each, Alfa Romeo and Pegaso followed right behind Mercedes-Benz with four cars and three sports cars each! It should be noted that the total passenger car production of Pegaso, a superlative sports car manufacturer from Spain, amounted to just 86 coupés and convertibles between 1951 and 1958.
Three of these found their way to Lake Como: a Z-102 Coupé with a Touring Superleggera Coupé body, a Z-102 Cabriolet with a Saoutchik body and the special Cupula with an Enasa Coupé body, once built for the Dominican dictator Rafael Trijillo and shown at the New York Motor Show.
With its oval basic shape in cross-section, this car has an unusual appearance, which is further emphasized by the half-locked wheels with red rubber pads and the orange-yellow paintwork. Clever and highly elaborate detail solutions made the car even more exclusive and are a delight to behold today. Even in 2015, nobody could pass by this car without looking twice.
Powerful racing cars
Once again, BMW as the organizer also invited racing cars to Como.
In 2015, four two-seaters faced the strict jury in the "Two Seats against the Stopwatch" category. And they all had their charms: the Maserati Tipo 50/51 Birdcage with the particularly aerodynamic rear end from 1959, the McLaren M1-A from 1964, which was driven by Elvis Presley in the film "Spinout" mainly in front of a screen and standing up, the Ferrari Dino 206 S from 1966 and the Lancia Stratos in the Alitalia colors of the rally works team from 1976, which delighted with its brute exhaust noise.
Elegance is not at the top of the priority list for racing cars, but you certainly can't deny the aesthetic qualities of the Ferrari Dino.
The quirky Panther Six
Class G, entitled "GT man has arrived", combined super classics such as the Aston Martin DB5 Cabriolet, the Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Spider and two Rolls-Royce variants with probably the most unusual vehicle of the entire Concorso.
With six wheels, the Panther Six from 1976 certainly has an exceptional position. The Panther Six was inspired by the six-wheeled Tyrrell P34, which won a Grand Prix in 1976. The road-going Panther was powered by a Cadillac V8 engine with two turbochargers, which should have been enough for a top speed of over 320 km/h. The two examples produced were probably never driven that fast. And at low speeds, the Panther, built as a convertible with an additional hardtop, quickly became hot, which is why the owner in Cernobbio usually raised the mid-engine cover electrically. This caused even more of a stir. However, this did not win the car a beauty prize.
Also for the public
On Sunday morning, the cars are driven along the public road from the Hotel Villa d'Este to the park of Villa Erba. There are a few hundred meters to cover and the sound of the engines is likely to get most residents out of bed early. But who wants to sleep in when Maserati, Ferrari and Lamborghini cars are roaring past the window ...
From 09:30, the park is also open to the public, but only after payment of an entrance fee of Euro 15. In return, however, the spectators were offered a lot, because in addition to the 51 competition vehicles, BMW also showed an excerpt from its passenger car history, including various three-seater racing cars, a special exhibition of "Art Cars" and the current concept car "3.0 CSL Hommage".
The Motorcycle Concours was of course of interest to motorcycle enthusiasts, while the line-up of modern prototypes, which also competed in the beauty contest, was of interest to concept car fans.
How fast is fast enough?
In addition to the racing cars, Class H "How fast is fast enough" with super sports cars from the seventies was particularly popular with the younger visitors on Sunday. The bright green Lamborghini Miura P400 SV attracted all eyes, while the black BMW M1 seemed almost inconspicuous compared to the orange Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7.
The AMC AMX/3 prototype from 1970, once built by Giotto Bizzarrini, was not necessarily beautiful, but certainly powerful and impressive, while the Lamborghini Countach LP 400 underlined the dominance of the manufacturer from Sant'Agata in this vehicle category.
The Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 as Best of Show
The jury winners of the individual categories and the main winner are usually only announced on Sunday. In 2015, the Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 with spider bodywork by Zagato from 1932 took the coveted main trophy.
This was certainly an attractive vehicle, but one or two spectators wondered whether a more unique automobile such as the OM Superba 665 SSM with Castagna convertible body, the Fiat 8V Berlinetta Vignale or the aforementioned Pegaso Cupula with Ensasa coupé body would have been at least as worthy a main winner.
The individual awards and prizes can be found in the table of participants.
List of participants and awards
The following list shows all participating vehicles, their class classification and the country of the owner as well as the awards received.
The class winner corresponds to the English notation "class winner", honorable mention is equivalent to "Mention of Honor".
The list can be sorted by clicking on the column headings.
| Class | No | Make | Type/body | Year | Country | Prices/Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 02 | Farman | A6B Coupé de Ville Million Guiet | 1925 | CZ | Honorable mention Trofeo FIVA (best preserved pre-war car) |
| A | 04 | Isotta-Fraschini | 8A SS Convertible Castagna | 1930 | SK | Trofeo Automobile Club di Como (furthest traveled) |
| A | 06 | Pierce-Arrow | 1242 Convertible Sedan Le Baron | 1933 | EN | |
| A | 08 | Lancia | Astura 3a Series Cabriolet Stabilimenti Farina | 1936 | IT | |
| A | 10 | Mercedes-Benz | 770K Cabriolet D | 1937 | RU | Trofeo Roeckl (overall impression car/crew) |
| A | 12 | Mercedes-Benz | 540K Special Roadster | 1937 | AT | Class winner |
| B | 14 | Mercedes-Benz | 710 SS Tourer | 1930 | EN | |
| B | 16 | OM | Superba 665 SSMM Cabriolet Castagna | 1931 | IT | |
| B | 18 | Alfa Romeo | 8C 2300 Zagato | 1932 | US | Class Winner, Best of Show |
| B | 20 | Mercedes-Benz | 380 Special Roadster Erdmann & Rossi | 1933 | LT | Honorary registration |
| B | 22 | Delahaye | 135 M Cabriolet Figoni et Falaschi | 1946 | FR | |
| C | 24 | Rolls-Royce | Phantom I Roadster Murphy | 1929 | US | Honorable mention |
| C | 26 | Rolls-Royce | Phantom II Continental 3-position drophead coupé Barker | 1933 | IT | |
| C | 28 | Rolls-Royce | Phantom III Drophead Coupé Vanvooren | 1937 | UK | Class winner |
| C | 30 | Rolls-Royce | Phantom IV Limousine H.J. Mulliner | 1954 | LI | |
| C | 32 | Rolls-Royce | Phantom V Touring Limousine James Young | 1962 | EN | |
| C | 34 | Rolls-Royce | Phantom VI Pullman Limousine Mulliner/Park Ward | 1971 | ZA | |
| D | 36 | Ferrari | 212 Europa Berlinetta Vignale | 1952 | US | Trofeo BWM Group Classic |
| D | 38 | Pegaso | Cupula Coupé Enasa | 1952 | NL | Honorable mention, Trofeo BMW Group Ragazzi, Trofeo Auto & Design (most exciting design) |
| D | 40 | Chrysler | SS Ghia | 1953 | BE | |
| D | 42 | Ferrari | 250 GT Europa Berlinetta Vignale | 1954 | MX | Class winner |
| D | 44 | Alfa Romeo | 1900C SS berlinetta Ghia | 1954 | US | |
| D | 46 | Jaguar | XK 140 Coupé Zagato | 1957 | US | |
| D | 48 | Osca | 1600 GT Touring Superleggera | 1961 | IT | |
| E | 50 | Maserati | A6 1500 S Berlinetta Zagato | 1946 | EN | |
| E | 52 | Ferrari | 166 MM Barchetta Touring | 1950 | UK | Honorable mention, Coopa d'Oro (Saturday audience award), Trofeo BMW Group Italia (Sunday audience award) |
| E | 54 | Fiat | 8V Berlinetta Vignale | 1954 | IT | |
| E | 56 | Pegaso | Z-102 Coupé Touring Superleggera | 1954 | BE | |
| E | 58 | Maserati | A6G/2000 Berlinetta Zagato | 1956 | US | Class winner |
| E | 60 | Ferrari | 250 GT LWB Competizione TdF | 1957 | FI | |
| E | 62 | Ferrari | 250 GT SWB | 1962 | UK | |
| F | 64 | Alfa Romeo | 6C 2500 S Cabriolet Pinin Farina | 1946 | US | Trofeo Foglizzo (best interior design) |
| F | 66 | Cisitalia | 202 SC GS Convertible Stabilimenti Farina | 1952 | US | |
| F | 68 | Lancia | Aurelia B52 PF 200 Spider Pinin Farina | 1953 | US | Class winner |
| F | 70 | Pegaso | Z-102 Cabriolet Saoutchik | 1954 | LI | |
| F | 72 | BMW | 507 | 1957 | EN | |
| F | 74 | Ferrari | 250 GT California Spider | 1958 | SE | Honorable mention |
| G | 76 | Rolls-Royce | Silver Cloud II 4-door Convertible H.J. Mulliner | 1961 | MC | Honorable mention, Trofeo Rolls-Royce |
| G | 78 | Aston Martin | DB5 Convertible | 1966 | EN | |
| G | 80 | Ferrari | 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider | 1972 | EN | Class winner |
| G | 82 | Panther | Six | 1976 | AT | |
| G | 84 | Rolls-Royce | Camargue | 1979 | CZ | |
| H | 86 | AMC | AMX/3 | 1970 | EN | |
| H | 88 | Lamborghini | Miura P400 SV | 1971 | UK | Class winner |
| H | 90 | Porsche | 911 Carrera RS 2.7 | 1973 | IT | Trofeo Vranken Pommery (Icon) |
| H | 92 | Lamborghini | Countach LP 400 | 1976 | CH | Honorable mention, Trofeo ASI (best preserved post-war car) |
| H | 94 | BMW | M1 | 1980 | EN | |
| I | 96 | Maserati | Tipo 50/51 Birdcage | 1959 | AT | Class winner |
| I | 98 | McLaren | M1-A | 1964 | AT | Honorable mention |
| I | 100 | Ferrari | Dino 206S | 1966 | EN | |
| I | 102 | Lancia | Stratos | 1976 | IT |
