Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este - Happy 90th Birthday from Italy

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An enchanting combination of one of the most luxurious hotels in the world with some of the greatest classics ever created. This year was a very special occasion for it was the 90th anniversary of the first-ever Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. With its association with the Grand Hotel Villa d’Este, which since its inception as the summer palace of Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio in 1568 has been the home of the great and the good from all walks of life, the Concorso immediately became the most important event of its kind.

The Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este still holds that pre-eminent position, despite the claims of other events of a similar nature particularly in the United States of America. The reason? Not only tradition and style, but its ever-evolving desire to be the ‘e pluribus unum’ of the genre. Since 2011, all participating vehicles have been required to have FIVA accreditation. Under the watchful eye of scrutineer and selecting committee expert Dominik Fischlin, all the cars here are as exactly as they should be.

By the end of the 1920s, motor cars had become items of beauty and automobile design its own art form. The era of the Concours d’Elegance had dawned. In 2019 this age was celebrated and represented by Alfa Romeo, Minerva, Lancia, Rolls-Royce, and the wonderful class winning 1925 boat-tail tourer Vauxhall 30/98.

An amazing array of pre-war cars was grouped in the class entitled, Fast Forward: A Quarter Century of Progress. The elegant 1914 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost with coachwork by Kellner stunned with its chrome and Bleriot instruments. A 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet once the property of Django Reinhardt was redolent of music and decadence; the sensitively restored and graceful 1937 Bugatti 57S with its Vanden Plas sports tourer body; the Delahaye 135M daily driver of its splendidly dressed Monageque lady owner; and the other members (Bentley 4 1/4, Lagonda V12, Lancia Astura) of this most competitive of classes had to bow to the 1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B. Not only did this Alfa Romeo (Best of Show at Pebble Beach in 2018) win the class, it also won the Coppa d’Oro Villa d’Este as Best of Show by Public Referendum and took out the top honour being crowned Best of Show by the Jury.

Indeed, it was very hard to look past the Alfa Romeo 8C, a technological tour de force of its time. It had everything: lightweight alloy inline eight-cylinder; two overhead camshafts; twin superchargers; rear-mounted gearbox; independent suspension on all four wheels; all wrapped up in a glorious ‘Superleggera’ body by Touring. At the time it was a star at the Paris, Milan and Berlin motor shows. Simply jaw-dropping it still has everything and was the undoubted star of the Villa d’Este show.

Even the torrential rain could not dispel the rare beauty of this amazing automobile, as everyone rushed for shelter as the cars were paraded to the assembled guests on the now slippery mosaic terrace. Created in 1873 and depicting the coat of arms of the hotel, this same terrace was where the participating vehicles were presented at the first Concorso, 90 years ago. Despite the weather, the Concorso d’Eleganza celebrated 90 years very much in the manner to which it is accustomed at the pinnacle of historic car beauty contests.

Words and photographs by James Nicholls.

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