VILLA D'ESTE 2012
I was extremely honored to be invited by Lorenzo Ramaciotti, the Head of Design of the Fiat Group and formerly the chief at Pininfarina, to be a part of the Judging Panel of the 2012 Villa d'Este Concorso. A great honor: this surely the most elegant Concorso in the world, and some of the cars displayed there are simply stunning....
Friday 26th May: people arriving (strictly on invitation) in the inner yard of VdE are greeted by this most spectacular 1925 'Round Door' Rolls-Royce. Puts the Heinz' Phantom Corsair in the shade, I think
Stunning....I'm trying to find other words to describe it
An icon of the best years of motor sport: Porsche 917K in its classic Gulf livery
The good life.... Villa d'Este bartenders have marginally improved their Martini Cocktail. It's still not cold enough but it's better than before, and they use very good gin now. A real pleasure after the 200-miles trip from Bologna, in our Bristol of course
The members of the Jury are some of the best-known stylists, collectors and historians of the classic car world. From left to right Winston Goodfellow, Hideo Kodama, me, Lorenzo Ramaciotti, Martin Roth (director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London), Harm Lagaay, Patrick LeQuement, Lord Charles March. Nick Mason and Ian Cameron are on the right of Lord March
A marvellous Chrysler 'Town and Country'. We all loved this extraordinary piece of perfectly restored Americana
Also Porsche 917Ks, sometimes, need some help
Talking about the Volkhart 'Sagitta' from the Jury podium
Discussing the merits of one car with Hideo Kodama and Winston Goodfellow. Great guys, real enthusiasts and perfect fellows for a jury like this
Anna and myself were really happy to be in Villa d'Este once again, this time with the added pleasure and honor of being part of such an exceptional Jury. BMW's organisation of this extremely complex event was faultless as ever; Vanessa Staffa did a splendid job
On my left peerless connoisseur Marco Makaus and the President of the Jury Lorenzo Ramaciotti; we are toasting with a glass of excellent bubbly at the end of the Saturday afternoon parade. Standing behind us is the great Simon Kidston, the effervescent speaker of the Concorso.
The crowd at the invitation-only Saturday parade (left) is obviously more selected but by no means less enthusiast than the one watching the Sunday event in Villa d'Erba (right)
Simon Kidston masterfully illustrates a Rolls-Royce to the Sunday public. Roars of applauses greeted him every time he had a joke for someone
An exquisite background for a family portrait
Fellow Jury member Nick Mason proved to be a real gentleman, always relaxed and very friendly. Apart from being a legend of rock music, he's one of the greatest car collectors around
Well, BMW, the main sponsor and organizer of the Concorso, is Bavarian, isn't it? So the idea of someone to convert a vintage 5-series BMW in a mobile brauerei is not only acceptable, it is in fact quite appealing
Our Bristol, parked in the Grand Hotel Villa d'Este inner courtyard
Delivering the Class Prize to the stunning Ferrari 400 Superamerica of mr Kalikow
The 409 looked very much at home in the exquisite surroundings of the Grand Hotel Villa d'Este, with its elaborate Italian gardens and classic monuments all over the place. Time to drive back home.... you can't help feeling a hint of sadness leaving such a beautiful place
SUMMARY
The Bologna-Villa d'Este-Bologna trip was 600 kms (380 miles) long. As usual our 409 drove beautifully and kept its now usual fuel consumption of 7-7,5 km/litre or 16,5 mpg, like during our trip to Goodwood in 2011. I added one half kilogram of oil to the engine before the journey and then it didn't need to be topped up anymore.
