VILLA D'ESTE 2017
The 2017 Concorso d'Eleganza 'Villa d'Este' promised, as always, an extremely interesting line-up of splendid automobiles. Also this year there wasn't one single car that could thought be the unquestionable overall winner before the event...
Being part of the Jury once again is always a great honor. This time, we got there with the 403
Thursday 25 May 2017
Starting from my garage in 14th Century Bologna on our way to Villa d'Este
The Bristols are loved by the Pasini family, on top of their undisputable engineering qualities and individuality, because both our 409 and 403 can swallow a quantity of luggage that would be very difficult to fit in any other comparable saloon of times, let alone a sporting saloon. So I can take 2 dinner jackets with me, just in case; try this with our Porsche 911....
To reach Villa d'Este you get out of the A8 highway at last exit before the Swiss-Italian border
When parked in her natural spot in VdE, the 403 attracts a lot of attention, this time by a couple of very lovely young ladies
Friday 26 May
Safely parked then in the underground car park, full of extraordinary jewels for the Concorso week-end
A good breakfast is highly desirable
Simon and Anna look pleased to meet again
The watch-making sponsor of the Concorso displayed some amazing watches in several cases like this one
Nice boats everywhere, and several Rivas as well. That's Villa d'Este
A typical traffic jam during the Friday before the Concorso. The 'Blue Train' Bentley is a replica, of course, but beautiful all the same
An elegant display by Loro Piana
A really lovely vintage AJS trials bike, on sale the R&M auction saturday afternoon
Martini cocktails have greatly improved since the last few years, Francesco is a very good bartender and using the Sipsmith gin is a warranty of excellence
Saturday 25 May
What we saw from the window of our room....
Sir Tim Birkin's single-seater 'Blower' Bentley
Fascinating...
Mr Kimura-san is the Patron of the excellent Concorso in Kyoto and he's organizing the 2018 edition, so he did visit Villa d'Este
Dora LoPresto. So charming
A miniscule but attractive OSCA
Nice woodwork in an Itala's engine bay
The mother-of-pearl dashboard is nice, but was it necessary to put labels on its controls?
Donald Osborne always puts a smile on everybody's face. Superb opera singer as well
Simone Bertolero slowly cooking in his Abarth streamliner
'Johnny' Lurani's Nibbio, a splendid example of record-beating in a different era
Sunday 26 March
I had to take the 403 out of the garage for several pictures and an interview. The blue tie I'm wearing in this picture was the official tie of the Jury for the 2017 Concorso
During a Concorso, elegant ladies always wear nice hats
Pommery is another sponsor of the Concorso, and their presence is very much welcome on Sunday at Villa Erba, where they offer a glass of their excellent bubbly to the house's qualified guests
Preserved? Dilapidated, I'd say
I did love Tatras before somebody began to say that Ferdinand Porsche hadn't invented anything and just copied Ledwinka's ideas....Luckily, I wasn't part of the team that had to judge it
A proper motor car. This racing Group 4 Daytona was astonishing, its twin pipes thundering like the broadside of a great battleship. I fell in love with it
The Ballot's 8-cylinder was fascinating. I didn't like the 'oily' look of its body
Fiat 8V 'Supersonica'. Exciting, but IMHO flawed
A great group. Top row, Fernanda, Margherita, Anna and Serenella; bottom row, Edoardo, Tommaso and a friend of him from Canada
Fernanda and Margherita: a lovely mom/daughter pic
The Jury
From left to right: Rathgen, Orsi, Berryman, LeBon, Goodfellow, Hill, Tumminelli, LeQuément, Ramaciotti, Pasini, Cameron, Xu and Lagaaj. We really missed Charles March this year
Philip J. Rathgen and Harm Lagaaj
Lorenzo Ramaciotti, the President of the Jury, and his old pal, His Grumpiness Ian Cameron
Ian delivers the prize for the 'Best in Class' to the ex-Doyle Miura
Ascanio shows something from the back seat of the Giulietta SS prototipo driven by Duccio LoPresto
Anna and Fernanda have always a good time together....
Patrick le Quément, a great designer, great chap and great friend, enjoying a Martini with us Sunday afternoon after the prolonged broiling under the Jury's tent in Villa Erba. Patrick, here proudly sporting his well-deserved Ruban Rouge of the Legion d'Honneur, is one of the very few great car designers who appreciate the fascination of a classic 2-Litre Bristol; my beloved Godson, Tommaso (below), was enchanted by Patrick's youthful enthusiasm and joie di vivre
A Blackwatch dinner jacker deserves a selfie
Ascanio is really nice
With Sven Xu, an influential motoring writer from China who this year was a Honorary Member of the Jury, and Simon Kidston. I unavoidably lost the battle for the most extravagant dinner jacket to Simon
From L to R Guy Berryman, Derek Hill and Sven Xu, three new and very good Members of the Jury. Guy was surprisingly well-mannered and so knowledgeable
A casual ray of light revealed the Best in Show well before the official announcement
The LoPresto family receives the 'Best in Show' award, with them Ingegner Lorenzo Ramaciotti, Dr Danilo Zucchetti, Dr Ulrich Knieps...
Monday 29 May
All good things must come to an end....time to go back home
Only in Villa d'Este you can have breakfast with this kind of scenery
A splendid breakfast
The 403 swallowing three large soft bags, 2 small suitcases, several shopping bags, 5 hats, 2 large dress/jacket holders, tools....
Lorenzo Ramaciotti speaks about the Aerodynes
The way out of Villa d'Este is no less elegant than the rest of the Grand Hotel
The exquisite garden of this sophisticated villa in Cernobbio, home to a couple of Swiss-Milanese aristocrats who are great friends of us, is a perfect setting to admire the elegant tail of an Aerodyne
The smoothness of the whole body is more evident from this point of view. No handles, locks, etc....
The temperature of both oil and water remained more than reassuring for the whole trip keeping the 403's natural cruising speed of 70-80 mph. Oil pressure is a healthy 30 lb/sq.ft when idling with the engine oil temperature never going over 75°C (above, left) whilst it rises to 50-60 lb/sq.ft when the 403 cruises at 3.000 rpm. And God bless the overdrive....
SUMMARY
The 'Villa d'Este' trip was this time a little big longer than last time, having started from Faenza; something like 410 miles or 670 kilometers, return trip to/from Faenza). Fuel consumption remained around 10 litres/100 kms; oil consumption was negligible. The 403 drove very well even in a very hot weather, being Monday the first day of the year with measured temperatures over 34°C all along the Milano- Bologna highway
