The Concorso d'Eleganza at Villa d'Este is my new favorite fancy car show
Gorgeous cars from the '30s and hot supercars from the '90s? Set in the Italian Alps? Move over, Pebble Beach.
Nestled on the banks of Lake Como in the foothills of the Italian Alps, Villa d'Este is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Riva boats cruise past and seaplanes buzz overhead as cappuccinos and champagne cocktails are served to fashionable patrons smoking cigarettes in the lush courtyards.
Originally built for the Cardinal of Como by architect Pellegrino Tibaldi in 1568, Villa d'Este opened as a luxury hotel in 1873. A lot of the original architecture remains intact -- pebbled paths line the gardens while engravings and sculptures in stone courtyard walls cause one to pause as you walk the grounds. It's one part European history book and one part Romantic landscape. You guys, it's idyllic AF.
Villa d'Este is the perfect place for a fancy car show, and since 1929, it's hosted the Concorso d'Eleganza. The closest analog we have in the US is the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, arguably the pinnacle of American automotive events. But now that I've had the chance to attend both, I've gotta say, Villa d'Este is the Villa d'Best. Here's why.
A maximum of 50 cars are on display each year.
Smaller is better
Villa d'Este doesn't have the expansive square footage of the concours lawn at Pebble Beach. And because of that, it limits the number of cars in attendance. Pebble has around 200. Villa d'Este? No more than 50.
You might think this would make it less interesting, and I'll admit, after my first walkthrough, I thought, "Huh, guess that's it." Turns out, that's totally a good thing. I could spend more time with each car, poring over the details and listening to owners tell their stories. I'd find myself passing by cars noticing things I hadn't noticed before. Oh, and crucially, the slower pace made it easier to enjoy all that beautiful scenery. Also, more breaks for coffee and champagne.
Pretty sure I had posters of every one of these cars on my bedroom walls when I was a kid.
There's a wider variety of cars
With only 50 cars in attendance -- actually, 47; there were three no-shows this year -- the Villa d'Este organizers make a point of avoiding duplicates. And when there are similar entries, they're at least different enough so as to be interesting, like this year's 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Alloy coupe and 1963 300SL Roadster. Don't get me wrong, I love that Pebble Beach has entire classes for a certain automaker or specific car -- where else are you going to see a whole bunch of Porsche 917s? But Villa d'Este's finely tailored variety is one of the reasons it's so special. Every entry is truly unique.
Plus, Villa d'Este allows for a wider representation of automotive history. This year, I went gaga over the whole class of 1990s hypercars -- none of which you'll find at Pebble Beach. For someone like me in their mid-30s, cars like the Bugatti EB110, Ferrari F50, Isdera Commendatore, McLaren F1, Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR and Porsche 911 GT1 are absolute icons. I had so many posters of these on my bedroom walls; to see them all in one place is just... well, let's just say I had a moment.
The car that won the 2021 Concorso d'Eleganza was a 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France, which in itself is significant since it's rare for post-war cars to win big concours events like this. It just shows that Villa d'Este is moving in a more progressive direction than Pebble Beach, which makes it more accessible to younger generations. These shows aren't just for old money, after all.
Let the good times roll.
Car companies haven't turned it into an auto show
The Pebble Beach Concours occurs at the end of Monterey Car Week, which is an event so big and so jam-packed with debuts and first drives we pretty much treat it like a full-blown auto show. And while the concours itself is limited to old cars, there's enough spill-over from the rest of Monterey Car Week that it's hard to ignore the major corporate presence. Companies have full-on dealership-like displays on the driveway leading up to the main lodge and executives host roundtables and interviews for attending media. Heck, the entire Pebble Beach putting green turns into a roped-off concept lawn, where half the cars on display aren't actually concepts at all. #Brands.
That's not to say Villa d'Este is void of automaker involvement; this year the Bugatti Centodieci and Hispano Suiza Carmen one-offs were on display out front, along with Lamborghini's extremely cool Countach LP500 recreation, though I'll give that a pass since it's basically a reborn 1971 prototype. Beyond that, the BMW Group is the Concorso d'Eleganza's lead sponsor, but even then, the new car tie-ins are limited. Outside the event space, BMW had a small display of M5 and M8 models, and in one of the Villa's courtyards, Rolls-Royce showed off the coachbuilt Boat Tail. BMW has also used Villa d'Este as a place to debut new concept cars, though like the aforementioned Lambo, they've usually had a vintage twist.
But even with that limited involvement, Villa d'Este feels largely organic by comparison. At Pebble Beach, the judging field is lined with automaker hospitality suites and participants can enter a raffle to win new Lexus or Mercedes-Benz crossovers. I know corporate sponsorship is what keeps events like that alive, but a scaled-back approach like Concorso d'Eleganza's is so much more enjoyable for everyone.
I hope it stays this way forever.
Editors' note: Travel costs related to this story were covered by the manufacturer, which is common in the auto industry. The judgments and opinions of Roadshow's staff are our own and we do not accept paid editorial content.