Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2012
The 2012 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este will be held on the weekend of 25th to 27th May.
This years Villa d’Este Concours d’Elegance will again see a small grouping of the finest classic automobiles and motorcycles displayed against the incomparable backdrop of Lake Como. A subtle change for this year will be that the public will now be offered the chance to see the Concorso on Friday, whereas in the past the grounds were only open to the public on the Sunday for a viewing of the Concorso’s historic automotive gems, the 2011 event saw its gates unlocked on the Saturday as well. This year the Concorso will open up even earlier, namely on Friday evening, allowing visitors to enjoy an Italian festival and open-air cinema.
“Our aim is to preserve this exclusive ambience while at the same time welcoming further enthusiasts who are keen to experience the Concorso,” says Karl Baumer, President of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este and Director of BMW Group Classic. “That’s why we want to extend the public day into a classic weekend.”
A few of the entrants for the 2012 Concorso are…
1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta Scaglietti
The success story of the Ferrari GTO began 50 ago. To mark this anniversary, one of the vehicle categories of this year’s event is dedicated to the Ferrari 250, furnishing an overview of the GTO’s entire development history. The Ferrari GTO scheduled for display at Villa d’Este is one of the 32 units that made up Series 1 of this car and was delivered to a customer in France half a century ago. This model had just four previous owners before being acquired by its current owner in the USA.
1959 Aston Martin DBR1
When the regulations for the Sports Car World Championship were changed in 1956, the decision was made at Aston Martin to build the DBR1. No more than five works cars were produced in total, based on the Aston Martin DB3 with a 6-cylinder engine displacing 2.9 litres. It was the start of a career that culminated in victory at Le Mans – the first and only win so far by Aston Martin. The DBR1, which will take part in the 2012 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, finished second in the 1959 Le Mans event, piloted by two of the greatest racing heroes of their time – Maurice Trintignant and Paul Frère.
1957 Fiat Abarth 500 Coupe Zagato
The renowned Italian coachbuilding company of Ugo Zagato used the Fiat 500 as the basis for building a 2+2 coupe destined for the race track and powered by a high-compression 479 cc rear engine from Carlo Abarth. The car was unveiled at the Turin Salon in 1957. The 23 hp racing engine propelled the lightweight Fiat (445 kilograms) to beyond the 110 km/h mark and swiftly on to victory in the Italian 500 GT series. This four-wheeled beauty measured just 3.20 metres long, 1.32 metres wide and 1.13 metres high. Only five units were built.
So there you have it. As ever looks like it will be a great event. Will you be going?
