Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2021 – the highlights

After more than a year of postponement, the elegant hall of the Villa d’Este returned, but in a smaller form. Due to the Covid restrictions in place this year, BMW decided to give up the motorcycle show and public parade, which usually took place on Sunday at Villa Erba, in exchange for a smaller and cozy event focusing on Villa d’Este.

Nevertheless, the vehicle selection consisted of almost 50 automotive jewels, which were presented in eight award classes and traditionally conquered the hearts of every lover of the genre with their immaculate condition, their significant contribution to automotive history and their fascinating individual stories. And that’s what you expect from Villa d’Este.

The jury of international vehicle experts awarded the “Best of Show”, the class winners and the Mentions of Honor in the individual award classes. The Ferrari 250 GT TDF won the Best in Show, the Lancia Dilambda Series I by Italian collector Filippo Sole won the Coppa Oro Prize, while the public referendum on the most beautiful concept cars and prototypes went to the Battista study presented by Pininfarina .

As GTspirit is more focused on performance cars, we must not forget to mention two more awards in the class, awarded in the Birth of the Supercar: Latin Style Landmarks and The Next Generation: Hypercars of the 1990s class, each dated from Lamborghini Countach LP 4000S prototype Walter Wolf Special and the great one Isdera Commendatore 112i that my contemporaries will remember from their appearance in Need For Speed ​​2 (1997).

A special mention (from the jury and the GTspirit team) went to the Ferrari F40 and McLaren F1 (the famous Chassis 12, which used to sport Tag Heuer livery).

2021 also marked the 30th anniversary of the Bugatti EB110 and for this reason La Maison pur Sang showed a flawless EB110 Super Sport (a very rare US bumper) and its reincarnation, the Bugatti Centodieci concept car.

Lamborghini also celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Countach, introducing the Polo storico Lamborghini Countach LP500, which recreated the original concept car presented at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show from the ground up.

Rolls-Royce traditionally chose Como as the venue to unveil the four-seater luxury convertible Rolls-Royce “Boat Tail”. The name of the absolutely unique, tailor-made automobile highlights the narrow and flowing stern, which is modeled on the deck of a yacht with a surface made of fine wood. At the push of a button, the flaps of the boat’s stern deck open and reveal all the utensils you need for a lavishly stylish picnic: chilled drinks, matching glasses and high-quality cutlery, a parasol and two carbon fiber-reinforced plastic stools.

What can I say, well done Villa d’Este and welcome back! We are really looking forward to next year!

Photos and words by Yaron Esposito