Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2023: My personal top 5

Before I go into specifics, I have to say here – the order is random. When I started to think of one car that I would choose as the best, I couldn’t make a decision because each one was unique in its own way. Even the top 5 gave me a headache.

You must know that the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este is a real festival of automotive excellence. The cars, before they even appear in the competition, are carefully selected by a team of experts. So, just being there in front of Villa d’Este, and the second day in front of Villa Erba, is a big difference.

That’s why choosing the best cars on your own is a pain in the ass. So here are the 5 best and most painful weekends on Lake Como.

With great difficulty, I refrained from including more than one Porsche in this list, because there were also, among others, Porsche. Ruf-restored 901s, 935s, 911 GT1 Strassenversions, and a few other cars whose presence immediately gave me criminal tendencies once I started calculating how many years I would have to take out a loan and what vehicles I would have to sell. to own them.

Ultimately, however, I would take the 917K home. It is for this year winner of the Trofeo il Canto del Motore, i.e. cup of excellent engine sound. No wonder – its 4.9-liter V12 with an opening angle of 180 degrees is, in my opinion, ahead of history in this regard.

However, this amazing car is more than an attractive look and an engine from hell. Behind it is a history of many victories, crowned by victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Daytona, both in two consecutive years: in 1970 and 1971.

The car you see in the picture visits the tracks regularly at various historical events. So she is not a garage girl.

Although this car didn’t make it to the parade on its own, that doesn’t stop me from featuring it on my list. I really like small sports cars, so it’s small (especially compared to the neighboring bodies of the Chrysler Custom Imperial, Lancia Astura or Mercedes 680S) seemed good in my opinion.

This B-Class (Pre-War Weekend Racers) is from 1936. Powered by an in-line, 3.3 liter 8-cylinder engine. Although the Type 57 is best known for its legendary Atlantic work, the bodywork is less elegant in my opinion. These modified shapes were created, interestingly, in a bodywork company based in London.

Finally, it is worth adding that although the history of this article is long – it has, among others, won the first post-war race at Silverstone – it is in the hands of only the third owner. Most of its features are still original features.

This BMW stood surrounded by nothing but open bodies Italian grandeur. And yet, if I were to take home a fancy convertible, this is the car I’d choose. Perhaps my weakness for the Z8 is revealed here, which was inspired by this model.

The car painted by Albrecht Graf von Goertz is unmistakably a BMW thanks to the wonderfully designed flat kidneys, and yet it has a lightness and southern elegance. It is quite different and interesting, but not so dry M1 is standing next.

The silver coin that was seen at the end of May on Lake Como dates from 1959 and is one of the last 20 507s produced by BMW.

The automotive industry of the 1930s is, in my opinion, the essence of beauty. Cars have never been so beautiful before, because technology did not allow modern curves before. They were also not very clever in their greatness, because the style changed, the needs of customers changed, so the wheel arches had to be forgotten.

To love these shapes, in my opinion, you have to be mature. Like olives and jazz. These are cars from an era where detail and refinement reigned supreme in the beauty of artisan bodies. If I could take my top 5 from the Villa d’Este, it would also have to include a classic car in size and appearance for the era that dominated the 1930s.

Why this lagonda? Because despite her large size, she wears something stylish about her figure. Although it has heavy chrome headlights and a sculpted grille, its narrow wheel arches give it a low profile.

Not without importance is the fact that under its hood works a 4.5-liter V12 developed by WO Bentley. A total of 190 Lagond V12 cars were built, of which only 17 were in the Rapide version, and of these. Only 2 were made in the Drophead Coupe version from James Young. This is one of them.

Now look, because I will blaspheme. At the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, there was a Ferrari 250 GTO – a beautiful example with a bodywork that is a complete work of art by Giotto Bizzarrini, painted Silver Metallic, in the same configuration as the one in which this 24. competed in 1963 at Le Mans (he took 4th place at the time). There was also a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT Spyder California that won the Coppa d’Oro, the audience trophy for this beauty contest. And I didn’t choose any of them.

This is where the 10-year-old boy in me spoke, which every car enthusiast has in him. This 10-year-old may not be the wisest, but he knows exactly what he’d like to have on the poster above the bed. And he would love to have a 288 GTO. and period.

The 80s were not a good time for luxury in the automotive industry. Everything was angular back then, because the computer-aided design that filled the salons still didn’t allow much finesse. And yet, at that time, several very interesting structures were created.

The final point for me is the gearbox sticking out from the back. There is something very dirty about it when in a prestigious place like Villa d’Este one of the cars is not afraid and shows a lot from under the bodywork for such a place.

The example you see here is one of the best preserved Ferrari 288 GTOs. It has never been raced, has not been involved in any collision, not even the smallest, so it is in pristine condition.