Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2023
Public day at the Villa Erba is back! After a few years with alternative formats, the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este is back to its best known formula. Saturday is the closed day only for invited guests and journalists. On Sunday morning all the vehicles, competing in the event, are driven to the nearby Villa Erba where they can be admired by a wide audience. All you need to do is buy an affordable ticket.
I think it’s very good that any enthusiast can have the opportunity to experience those emotions. I remember when I first entered the Public Day a few years ago. For the first hour, I was so amazed that taking photos was not an option. Taking it away from the wide audience was, in my opinion, unfortunate.
And speaking about “wide” audience. Despite surprisingly bad weather, the event was extremely popular. Maybe even a bit too popular? Sometimes it was even hard to find the cars in the crowd. Some of the vehicles, like the silver Ferrari 250 GTO, I’ve only noticed when queuing to the presentation before the grand stand. Is it possible to overlook the GTO?! It turns out that yes!
One thing that will help to tell this edition from the previous ones will be the placement of the cars. Because of heavy rains, that preceded the weekend, the grass in the usual place was turned into a swamp, making it unavailable. Organizers had to find an alternative spot. Fortunately, the meadow behind the Villa wasn’t that affected by the water. Cars were placed in a huge circle. Not a very fortunate setting, but probably there was nothing better available in those compromised conditions.
Similarly to the Amici & Automobili event, here I also won’t blame the organizers for muddy ground and compromised car setting. I believe they did the best they could to handle the situation. But I can’t turn the blind eye on the ugly white tents which were obscuring the picturesque views on the lake and Villa.
After every edition of Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este I have a problem in pointing the most interesting cars. They are simply all magnificent and all have an amazing story behind. For me, the most memorable vehicle will probably be one of the newest ones: Isdera Spider. I remember this car very well from the car catalogues and books from my childhood. I’ve liked the design and have a huge sentiment for it. I was very happy to have the opportunity to see it live.
As usually, all participating cars were split into a few categories. One of the most original was called INCREDIBLE INDIA:
THE DAZZLING MOTORING INDULGENCES OF THE MIGHTY MAHARAJAS. The presentation of this category was opened by dancers wearing traditional Indian dresses, followed by a spectacular selection of majestic Rolls Royces, Duesenberg and Packard. One of the representatives of this class grabbed the Grand Prix of the whole event.
A very important anniversary of the year was addressed by the class called: CENTURY OF THE 24 HOURS OF LE MANS: HEROES OF THE MOST FAMOUS RACE IN THE WORLD. The winner here was the silver GTO. Yes, the one I’ve missed in the cloud.
The whole year is filled with events celebrating the 75 anniversary of Porsche. I’ve already wrote about the special exhibition during FuoriConcorso. Villa d’Este paid the tribute to the brand by setting a class called: PORSCHE AT 75: DELVING INTO THE STUTTGART LEGEND'S ICONIC AND ECCENTRIC BACK CATALOGUE.
One of the cars that caught my attention was LANCIA FLORIDA COUPÉ PININ FARINA from 1955. The car was representing the famous Lopresto family. They keep on delivering on every edition of the event.
Usually I don’t pay much attention to the prototype class. New plastic concepts are often very disappointing for me. But this time it was different. Unlike in the previous edition, when Bugatti was represented by a plastic fake car, this year a real thing was present. The W16 Mistral is really impressive. But a much more surprising vehicle was the Hyundai N Vision 74. Yes! I’ve noticed a Hyundai on Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este and I remember it better then the winner in this category the Pagani Huayra Codalunga.
Staying with the concept cars. I must also mention the BMW Touring Coupe. A car which shows what the designers from Munich can do when they are not forced to draw the most vulgar and ostentatious car on the market. This concept pays tribute the Z3 Coupe from the late 90s and I really wish it was put into production.
Huge crowds, awful decorations and bad weather. For those who like to complain, there were few things to point. But after all, the memories from this edition are as always positive. Amazing cars, picturesque venue and lots of emotions. Every visit to the Concorso is an amazing experience and a highlight of the year.
