VILLA D'ESTE 2018
The 2018 Concorso d'Eleganza 'Villa d'Este' promised, as always, an extremely interesting line-up of splendid automobiles. Being part of the Jury once again is always a great honor; this time, we got there with our Jaguar XJR
Thursday 24 May 2018
Thursday evening we had dinner with our great friend Dorotea, wife of Marco Makaus
Monteverdi....
In Villa d'Este there are great cars everywhere. We were welcomed by this stunning V8 Vantage Aston Martin
Friday 25 May
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Peter Read and his lovely wife met us Friday on the Terrazza for lunch. It was great to have those friends with us and enjoy together the sunshine on the lake
Weather forecasts predicted thundering rain
Saturday 26 May
Anna with Kimura-san, the smart and very enthusiastic organizer of the beautiful Kyoto Concours d'Elegance. He's a great artist as well
Duccio driving the LoPresto's family SCAT to a sure win in the 'Archeology' class of the Concorso
It was great to see Pierluigi Martini, one of the best drivers of the '80s in F.1, driving his own personal 6-wheels Tyrrell
Albert and Rita Spiess' extraordinary Alfa Romeo 33 'Stradale' won the Coppa d'Oro Villa d'Este Saturday. It is the trophy awarded by the public
Great Martini connoisseur Valerio Berruti ('La Repubblica') joined me for a quick but very pleasant Martini Saturday afternoon before the official BMW party
Sunday 27 May
My favourite bike: Norton+Vincent= Norvin
Does Mr Bean's Mini fit in Villa Erba....?
Glorious car, glorious sound: Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 'Monza'
A black XJR looks quite low and sleek when parked near a massive modern Rolls-Royce.....
...but suddenly that low, sleek 1995 XJR looks very tall and classic when followed by the striking 1970 Stratos 'Zero' and the car that was developed from the 'Zero' shape, the original P400 'Periscopio' Countach. To be honest, also the Countach, one of the world's lowest cars in this original shape, seems positively tall in this comparison
Many thanks to Ronnie Krabberød of 'Right On' Magazine for this charming portrait of Anna and me coming back from the Sunday parade in Villa Erba
Dressing for dinner
The Best in Class wait to parade to the Winners Circle Sunday afternoon
The Stratos Zero on its way to the winners' circle
Exchanging quips with the Jury's President, Lorenzo Ramaciotti, before the Gala Dinner
Anna got an Oscar as well
Congratulating Mr Moehringer about his Ferrari 335S, the Best in Show
Sunday's evening thunderstom left the cars quite dirty; luckily, the sun was shining once again Monday morning for a fast, comfortable trip back home
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 was 13,4 litres/100 km, true to the tradition of horrendous fuel consumption of all the big 'Blower' British machines
