The 5th Eclectica Crans-Montana Concours d’Elegance on July 25 lived up to its name: The vehicles on display were truly eclectic, representing a wide variety of styles: from the legendary Ferrari F40 with barely 7,000 kilometers on the odometer to Sir Peter Ustinov’s former 1969 Maserati Quattroporte and a Carabinieri Alfa Romeo Giulia, all the way to the up-and-coming classic car, the 1991 Nissan Figaro.
High-Flying Nissan R390 GT1
Another Nissan was even named “Best of Show.” But not just any Nissan—the R390 GT1, the car that finished sixth overall at the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans with Formula 1 drivers Erik Comas, Jan Lammers, and Andrea Montermini. In Crans-Montana, the Nissan celebrated another success after having already been presented at “The ICE” in St. Moritz earlier that winter.
Camouflaged Road Car
The GT1 made its grand entrance even before the jury’s decision, as it arrived in Valais under its own power rather than on a trailer. “In 1998, the regulations for the GT1 class at Le Mans required that the race car be derived from a production model. This led to genuine prototypes being registered as road vehicles after being disguised,” reported Erik Comas, whose Nissan R390 GT1 is registered in the United Kingdom.
Rearview Camera on a Race Car
“To do that, I had to equip my Nissan R390 GT1 with a rearview camera, among other things,” added the French race car driver, who lived in Switzerland for a long time—first in Villars-sur-Ollon, later in Aigle—and who even holds a Swiss passport.
Le Mans with a Trunk
To demonstrate that his Nissan R390 GT1 “is truly a street-legal car that you can use to travel over the weekend,” Erik Comas showed automotive designer Alessia Ombrella—one of the five jury members of the Concours d’Elegance Eclectica—the trunk, which actually contained, among other things, a suitcase.
Porsche with a folding windshield
As she walked past the Nissan R390 GT1—which captivated numerous spectators—jury member Alessia Ombrella admired a Porsche 356 registered in Valais. “It dates back to 1951 and is one of the first 600 Porsche vehicles ever built,” said owner Bernard Moix. These early models did not yet have a fuel gauge.
To find out how much fuel was in the tank, you had to open the hood, unscrew the fuel cap, and insert a wooden stick marked with fuel level indicators: 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 liters!
A Famous Father
This Porsche 356 with a folding windshield, restored to the highest standards, took third place in the “Classiques” category, which included vehicles built before 1990. Second place went to the 1969 Maserati Quattroporte owned by sculptor Igor Ustinov, who lives in Rue in the canton of Fribourg. This is the car that belonged to his father, Sir Peter Ustinov—born on April 16, 1921, in London and who passed away on March 28, 2004, in Genolier, in the canton of Vaud.
The actor, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1961 for his role in Stanley Kubrick’s “Spartacus,” was a great admirer of beautiful cars in general and Maseratis in particular. “My father greatly admired Formula 1 drivers and attended numerous Grand Prix races together with the famous photographer Bernard Cahier, a friend of the family,” Igor Ustinov recounted in Crans-Montana.
Racing History in Valais
But 60 years ago, numerous Formula 1 drivers were also competing in Crans-Montana itself. At that time, the Sierre-Montana hill climb was part of the European Hill Climb Championship; in the race held on August 28, 1966, Italian driver Lodovico Scarfiotti won in a Ferrari Dino 206 P, beating the Porsche 910s driven by Gerhard Mitter and Hans Herrmann. Just one week later, on September 4, 1966, Lodovico Scarfiotti won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza behind the wheel of his F1 Ferrari 312. To this day, he remains the last Italian driver to have won his home Grand Prix!
Watch out, police siren!
Speaking of Italy: The Carabinieri’s Alfa Romeo Giulia was one of the most popular vehicles among visitors. The 1969 sports sedan—owned by a Ferrari collector—was driven in Crans-Montana by a real police officer from the Canton of Geneva, who regularly sounded the police siren to the delight of the spectators!
Winners from Italy
Italian models were clearly in the lead at the Concours d’Elegance Eclectica: Four vehicles alone won in their respective classes. The Ferrari F40 triumphed in the “Passion” category, much to the delight of its owner, Blaise Zuchuat. As for the yellow Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione owned by Norwegian Nicklass Naess —who works at Bugatti in Molsheim—and the gray Ferrari Testarossa “Monospecchio” owned by Umberto D’Amato from the canton of Vaud, these vehicles secured victory in the “Modern” and “Classiques” categories, respectively.
Beach Car with Esprit
Finally, the “Esprit d’Eclectica” award went to the Morris Spiaggetta, which was designed and built by Giovanni Michelotti in Turin. This little beach car—known in English as the Morris Shellette and now owned by Sandro De Giuli of Geneva—proves that you don’t need a supercar to win a prize at a Concours d’Elegance!
Another famous father...
“My father had proposed this prototype to the executives at Morris to offer them a production vehicle suitable for Australia’s expansive beaches,” said Edgardo Michelotti, son of Giovanni Michelotti and curator of the Archivio Storico Michelotti. “The idea was well received, but it turned out to be unfeasible because the Morris model in question had just been taken out of production.”
Picnic and Fundraising Gala
The event, led by former Indy 500 race car driver Nelson Philippe, went far beyond a mere static display of vehicles. Both the day before and the day after the Concours d’Elegance, there were drives along the magnificent mountain roads of Valais. And during the gala on Saturday evening, donations were collected for the victims of the January 1 fire in Crans-Montana.
