2012 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este : Classically Inclined!

Every year in May, a small bunch of carefully selected classic cars and bikes assembles in the vicinity of Cernobbio, a picturesque village on the shores of Lake Como where the Hotel Villa d’Este and the neighbouring Villa Erba play host to what many state is the best and the most prestigious concours d’elegance in the world.  The 2012 edition was held on the weekend of May 25-27 and in keeping with tradition, the event was a stunner with mind-blowing cars and bikes. I say mind blowing not just keeping in view the restoration (sympathetic but not over the top) but also the rich histories behind many of them and also the fact that all the owners weren’t averse to giving the cars their head, making the grand spectacle a really marvelous outing for enthusiasts and the public alike.

As always there were 51 cars carefully vetted  (by the time of the annual Geneva Motor Show in March every year) and when you understand how effectively yet passionately has BMW patronised this event that the who’s who of the international motoring world were there to see the beauties from the classic twenties to the latest concepts. Yes this is another aspect of the Concorso d’Eleganza that highlights one-off modern concepts and protos so that it carries the original theme of the event as it was in 1929.

Loads of great cars made the nine classes (many of these classes being evocatively named – Interpretations of Elegance, The Art of Streamlining, Little Jewels, Stars of the Rock ‘N’ Roll Era, La Dolce Vita, Gentleman’s Sports Cars and Heroes of Le Mans to name some of them) but what stood out was not just the grand oldies but the diverse spread lavishly laid out. From the only example of the 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540K Spezial Roadster on a short wheelbase chassis to a 1941 Chrysler Town & Country (replete with a replica child push car in the luggage bay!), from the ultra rare 1950 Abarth 204A (only seven were built and one of these was raced by none other than the great Tazio Nuvolari) to the Porsche 917K which actually starred in Steve McQueen’s movie epic Le Mans and had wins at Monza, Daytona, Osterreichring, Spa, Monterey and Barcelona.

Ferraris, Maseratis (a couple of them were just plain dead gorgeous), an original Countach and a Miura SV Jota, fastback Bentley Continentals, one of the rare Graber-bodied Alvis coupes, a smattering of Rolls-Royces, almost a complete line-up of every type of Ferrari 250 GT, a grand Packard V12 (driven all the way from Spain!), an elegant 1937 Delahaye 145 Coupe with bodywork by Chapron, and an amazing Avions Voisin C25 sedan were some of the great machines one got to ogle, hear and soak it all in. If that wasn’t all, there was a separate display at the Villa Erba which focused on bubble cars only – the tiny micro cars of which there were aplenty in Europe in the 1950s.

As a small window into the wonderful world of automobiles, the 2012 edition of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este ran true to form. Classy and understated but totally unrestrained in displaying the joy of motoring, it was an eye opener in more ways than one.

 Ferrari 250GT SWB Berlinetta

ALFA IS BEST OF SHOW!

Tiny and petite it might appear but this 1933 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS packs a mighty punch! No not just because it did the unthinkable and walk away with all the three Best of Show awards at the Villa d’Este (happened only once before with the Mercedes-Benz Trossi roadster of Ralph Lauren) but because this rare sixth series 6C 1750 was the very car which appeared on the firm’s stand at the 1933 Paris Motor Show. It featured the same swoopy coupe body by Paris-based Italian coachbuilder Figoni (the firm didn’t become Figoni & Falaschi till 1935) and then its owner decided to race it at Le Mans in the 24 hours classic! For this purpose the Figoni body was removed and a lightweight alloy roadster body was fitted. Armed thus it went ahead and raced to a class victory in the 1935 Le Mans 24 Hours and also finished 6th overall!

After this race win, thankfully the owner decided to swap back to the original closed coupe body by Figoni and then the car was sent to South Africa where it was discovered and owner David Cohen embarked on a ground up restoration. The quality of the job plus the efficacy of Vittorio Jano’s inline six-cylinder motor and assorted mechanicals powered this Alfa to the Best of Show by the jury, the invitees and media as well as the public! No one begrudged it this clean sweep. Now Pebble Beach beckons in August and it would be hard for this Alfa not to add to its repertoire!

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THE BATMAN ROLLS-ROYCE!

Well, that is not exactly true though to be honest this car could very well have been apt for Batman to traverse in the city of Gotham thanks to its sheer drama, length, girth and overpowering presence! This 1925 Phantom I is a Rolls-Royce like no other and was ordered new by none else than the Maharaja of Nanpara who kept it in London for his exclusive use until he tired of it and sold it off a few years later. The buyer than had it re-bodied, by Belgian coachbuilder Jonckheere, in this extravagantly racy coupe bodywork and it went through a series of owners until it was acquired by the Petersen Museum. The sloping radiator, the round doors, the massive tail and the awesome weight – over three tonnes, means this is a machine you never mess with! Batman would have loved it!

 Ferrari 250GT SWB Berlinetta

CLASSIC TWO-WHEELED MASTERPIECES!

In his opening address at the second edition of the Concorso E Mostra Di Motociclette held on the grounds of the Villa Erba, Hendrik von Kuenheim, bossman at BMW Motorrad made a most profound statement. He said that about 50 years ago, in Italy precisely, it was often mentioned that motorcycles were the masterpieces of engineers who remain young at heart and many including yours truly can obviously identify with this statement. It was precisely this thought that got BMW to add a motorcycle section to the concours and some of the greatest bikes in the world made for a fantastic turnout!

BMW, which made its mark with motorcycles, has been fortunate that it has examples of every one of its series produced motorcycles since inception in its collection coupled to some of its greatest racing motorcycles and some rare prototypes, which the world never got to see. As such ushering in a motorcycle concours was a well thought out plan. Collectors, enthusiasts and the public gave this event a big thumbs up, for giving the bikers the space and the respect without being put in the shade by the car-wallahs. To see some of the greatest machines within handshaking distance was only bettered by each and every one of them being fired up and ridden past the packed viewers’ gallery! Moto heaven it sure was!

FAB ITALIAN FOUR!

For many who revere the fabulous inline four-cylinder 350cc and 500cc Grand Prix bikes from Gilera and MV Agusta in the 1950s, then this bike should delight them! Carlo Gianini and Pietro Remor wanted to make a four-cylinder racing bike as far back as 1923 and four years later such a bike saw the light of day. However it was not until the duo further developed the bike whose manufacturing was entrusted by them to the Compagnia Nazionale Aeronautica did it make a name for itself. With forward sloping cylinders, water-cooling and a supercharged engine, it set numerous speed records and won a host of races all over Europe. 

This in turn attracted the venerable firm of Gilera who saw in it the basis to challenge its Moto Guzzi rival on the racetracks. And so it proved, the bike now renamed the Gilera 500 Rondine took the 1939 European Championship for Gilera with Dorino Serafini riding the bike to glory. This is the very bike of Serafini, which won the Best of Show this year.

The history doesn’t end here though. After WW II, the engine was further revamped and with supercharging banned, the new naturally-aspirated Gilera fours were a force to be reckoned with. Pietro Remor however was spirited away to MV Agusta where he developed a very similar machine and this run of success, which essentially started in the mid-1960s, was to go on all the way into the early 1970s on the classic race circuits of the world!

 Ferrari 250GT SWB Berlinetta

Wasp & Gnome!

No, that’s not the name of a bike manufacturer but just trying to indicate what I thought about the original Vespa prototype on the left and BMW’s attempts to make a scooter in the 1950s on the right! The BMW scooter is one of just two prototypes made in 1955 and featured a fan-cooled single-cylinder engine with cardan final drive. Earlier in 1953, the first BMW scooter prototype was made with large 16-inch wheels but this was dropped in favour of the 1955 version you see here. It almost got into mass production but BMW management pulled the plug and till the C1 came along BMW only concentrated on motorcycles. Both prototypes from 1955 still survive.

The Vespa though is the classic scooter that has enthralled millions the world over and this is an example from 1946 itself, the Vespa 98 conjured up by aviation engineer Corradino d’Ascanio in a matter of three months after being commissioned by Enrico Piaggio. The rest, as they say, is history that sees no signs of abating!

 Ferrari 250GT SWB Berlinetta