Special features and peculiarities at the 19th Concours d'Elégance Basel
09/01/2015
Among the 65 classic cars competing for the CIC Bank Prize at the RAID Suisse-Paris Concours d'Elégance in Basel on August 26, 2015, was a white 1962 Cadillac Series 63 de Ville, and a sign stated that it was Marilyn Monroe's last car.
But something couldn't be right: Why would the legendary sex and movie star be chauffeured in a right-hand drive Cadi? The driver of Marilyn, who was present as a "double", knew: a fan in England could not register the celebrity car purchased in the USA without converting it to right-hand drive. Incidentally, the car pictured is not that car but a predecessor of it, namely a 1958 Cadillac Series 62 Sedan de Ville, in pink paintwork after all
The history of this Cadillac, which has long been part of the Renaud collection, shows once again how important the documented past of every collector's car is. In Basel, only a few oldies with as yet unknown faces and design features were encountered. For example, the EHP with Cime engine or the Swallow Doretti with Shapecraft bodywork. Or, if you wanted to go into a little more detail, the 1956 Ford Fairlane Crown Victoria with Plexi roof.
Once again this year, a top-class vehicle from the prestigious collection maintained in Germany by Estonian Saulius Karosas, who specializes in the preservation and rebirth of bodies from the bodywork company Erdmann & Rossi from Berlin, shone. This time it was a Maybach of the twelve-cylinder DS 8 Zeppelin type. Its chassis dates back to 1931, but the body was not built until after the end of the Erdmann & Rossi era.
The jury chose this car as the winner in the pre-war vehicle category, and it also received the trophy from Concours President H. A. Bichsel.
However, "Best of Show" went to a particularly rare Delahaye, a model 135 MS from 1948, which received its convertible bodywork from the Italian coachbuilder Viotti. At the time, it had only fitted three Delahayes, two of which have survived. The prize-winning example was rebuilt in central Switzerland over a period of nine years and is now in Dutch ownership.
Not all of the classic cars on display in Basel were in such pristine new condition as the Maybach and this Delahaye.
But there was also a Porsche 356 B from 1963, for example, which was fully restored by the major Swiss specialist Tanner, or a Plymouth Fury Hardtop Coupé from 1959 with just a few thousand miles on the clock, which came from an American new car collection that was broken up in 2014.
The top finishers by category
- Pre-war vehicles: 1st Maybach DS 8 Zeppelin, 1931; 2nd MG SA, 1939; 3rd Lancia Augusta, 1935.
- Post-war vehicles: 1. Plymouth Fury, 1959; 2. Alfa Romeo 2000-S, Coupé Vignale, 1958; 3. Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible S2, 1958.
- Sports cars 1950 - 1960: 1st Alvis TD 21 Convertible, 1961; 2nd Austin-Healey 3000 Mk II, 1961; 3rd MG TD, 1951.
- Best of Show: Delahaye 135 MS, Cabrio Viotti, 1948.
Picture source: Roger Gloor
