Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este 2018 - mega gallery & videos - AllCarIndex

Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2018: The public select the Alfa Romeo 33/2 Stradale as the winner of the Coppa d’Oro Villa d’Este.

Visitors’ vote selects the first victorious vehicle at the weekend of classics on the shores of Lake Como +++ The award of the Coppa d’Oro Villa d’Este with the greatest heritage tradition goes to the mid-engine sports car Alfa Romeo 33/2 Stradale from 1968 +++ The Jury of experts will announce the class victors and the winner of the “Best of Show” award at the exclusive beauty contest for historic cars and motorcycles on Sunday +++ The BMW Group and the Grand Hotel Villa d’Este join together to hold the Festival of Elegance under the motto “Hollywood on the Lake”.

Munich /Cernobbio. The public has reached a decision and conferred the award on the first winning vehicle at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2018 held in Cernobbio, Northern Italy. This year’s winner of the Coppa d’Oro Villa d’Este is the Alfa Romeo 33/2 Stradale, which was presented in the award class “New World, new Ideas: The Story of the GT” at the world’s most exclusive beauty contest for historic vehicles, and the contest with the richest heritage tradition. The coupé derived from a racing sports car received the coveted award on the 50th anniversary of its creation. The mid-engine sports car from the Italian marque captivated the visitors with the spectacular styling of its body shrouding a lightweight chassis and a 230 hp V8 engine.

The Swiss collector Albert Spiess is the owner of the rare treasure finished in bright red paintwork. He received the trophy in the garden of the Grand Hotel Villa d’Este accompanied by applause from the public. Spiess’s passion for collecting primarily concentrates on Italian rare treasures and this is not his first major success at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. In 2014, he won the title of “Best of Show” with a Maserati 450 S from 1956 on the shores of Lake Como. Now he has been able to raise the Coppa d’Oro Villa d’Este beaming with happiness. “This prize is something very special for me. While it’s true that I have already won the Best of Show, winning a prize decided by the public is an incomparable experience. The atmosphere here at Villa d’Este is absolutely unparalleled.”

The success with the visiting public for the Alfa Romeo 33/2 Stradale continues the triumphal procession of vehicles made in Italy in the competition to earn the Coppa d’Oro Villa d’Este for the fifth year in succession. More than the home advantage, factors in favour of this year’s winner were above all its exceptional design, the car’s outstanding condition and a fascinating history. The winning vehicle is just one of twelve cars of this model to be bodied by the Bertone designer of the time, Franco Scaglione, and hand crafted by skilled stylists. The bonnet at the front and the tail end of the low-slung mid-engine sports car – which is just 99 centimetres high – can be opened up entirely so the open gull-wing doors stretch high into the sky. This opens up the view of an interior with Spartan equipment, leaving no doubt that this model is based on a racing car. The 2.0 litre eight-cylinder engine powers the two-seater weighing 700 kilograms to acceleration that is still impressive to this day. The supplementary designation of “Stradale” refers to the automobile’s road-legal capability.

The Coppa d’Oro Villa d’Este is not only the first trophy to be awarded in the course of the weekend celebrating classics on the shores of Lake Como, it is also the prize with the most traditional heritage. As far back as 1929, when the automobile pageant was held for the first time in the grounds of the Grand Hotel Villa d’Este, the winner received a trophy of this name. At that time, illustrious automobile manufacturers competed for the honour of this trophy with their new creations. Since the 1980s, the event has been dedicated to the history of the automobile and the public vote pays tribute to this tradition. The Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este has been under the patronage of the BMW Group since 1999 and in 2005 the company joined forces with the Grand Hotel Villa d’Este to stage the beauty pageant together.

In parallel with the public referendum, the Jury made up of international experts on automobile and motorcycle history and a number of distinguished connoisseurs of classic cars were carefully going about their work of evaluation. The expert committees select the winners of numerous special prizes and also make their decisions on awards for the class winners on two, three and four wheels. This year, the experts had to assess 50 historic cars and 30 classic motorcycles and sidecar combinations. In accordance with the event motto “Hollywood on the Lake”, six automobiles were nominated in a corresponding award class whose history is closely associated with the history of cinema. There is also the category of Concept Cars and Prototypes that once again this year creates a bridge between the past and the future. Four visionary vehicles compete for the Concorso d’Eleganza Design Award, which is decided on the basis of a vote by the public. The crowning finale to the beauty pageant comes on Sunday, when the class winners are announced and the title of “Best of Show” is conferred with the award of the Trofeo BMW Group.

Text & photos: BMW Group