Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Magnificent cars at the Concorso D'Eleganza della Villa D'Este 2012

A survey of the cars which caught my attention during the recent showing at Concorso D'Eleganza Villa D'Este in Cernobbio, Italy.

This is a premier event for vintage cars...showing the most elegant, the most beautiful examples on the planet. Held annually since 1929, and only stopped...like the Olympic Games during the war years in Europe, this Concorso is where the creme de la creme...the best of the best vintage cars are shown. I attended as a guest of A. Lange & Sohne, one of the new sponsors of the Concorso.

Here is a selection of my favourites. More on each car to follow...

The lead Rolls Royce...not entered in competition, but by special request from the Peterson Museum in Los Angeles. Magnificent car...comments ranging from Batmobile to Darth Vader's car abount...but this is a masterpiece. Magnificent, massive, imposing.

The rest of the cars...in the order they were presented to the judges and jury.

Rolls Royce Phantom 1 (1925)

Packard Twelve 15th Series (1937)

Delahaye 145 (1937)

Mercedes Benz 540k (1939)

Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS 6th Series (1933). This car won the Jury Prize, the Public Prize of Best of Show Prize...the prestigious Coppa d'Oro Villa d'Este. And special for this year, the additional prize from the newest sponsor to this event: the fine watchmaking house of A. Lange & Sohne who presented a special edition of the Lange 1 Timezone to the winner. This piece unique has the city of Como engraved on the timezone disk instead of the customary Berlin. And features a hunter caseback, with a hand engraved motif of the coat of arms of the Concorso.