Cernobbio, 22nd - 24th of May, 2015
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Class F – Hollywood on the Lake, convertibles for a grand
entrance at Villa d´Este
Whereas the coupés were favoured by many for the racing
purposes the convertibles were the more glamorous choice for the
wealthy playboy in California or the Cote d´Azure.
If one asks what is a typical for the Villa d´Este concours the first
coming to mind is the Ferrari 250 GT California Spider. There was
rarely an edition in the last years without showcasing on of the
open Ferrari of the late 1950s. Named after its targeted market at
the American west coast the California was actually the cheapest
version of the convertible with a spartan cockpit and roof
compared to the more luxurious versions of the Pininfarina
Cabriolets. Just as the Porsche Speedster with the same purpose
the California Spider today is the most sought after version both in
short and long wheelbase variants. The car in Como (1057GT)
was the earlier long version based on the TdF chassis as seen in
class E and with the more popular covered headlights
configuration giving it a sportier look compared to the open
headlights. During the 1990s the car was in the typical red and
could be seen from time to time in Stuttgart parked roadside by
its owner back then, now it is restored in a very stylish
combination of grey metallic over tan.
When thinking about the Lancia Aurelia the B24 Convertible
comes to mind but already a year earlier Pininfarina built a spider
on the B52. Inspired by a jet at the front this car was displayed at
the 1953 Geneva Motor Show. More recently the car was sold in
Monterey by RM in 2014 and won its class at this year concours.
As mentioned earlier one does rarely see a Pegaso, not to think
of three at the same venue. After the special display at the
Retromobile earlier this year Como did not just feature the Cupula
and the Touring Berlinetta but also the Saoutchik Cabriolet in
class f. Very interesting is the comparison of the French and the
Italian design on this chassis and one has to admit that the
Saoutchik version looks more vintage than the timeless design of
Touring.
In this period BMW also produced one of its most prestigious
models ever, the BMW 507. Built as opponent of the Mercedes
300 SL Roadster the Graf Goertz designed Bavarian was long
time in the shadow of its counterpart with the three pointed star,
just to get its recognition to be the rarer car lately. Celebrities like
Elvis Presley owned one but the car on show even has a Mille
Miglia history as indicated by its starting number, the starting
time of 5:25am at the very last Italian road race from Brescia to
Rome and back.
The class was rounded off by an Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 S Pinin
Farina and the small yet elegant Cisitalia 202 SC Cabriolet by
Stabilimenti Farina.
Class G – GT man has arrived. Interpretations of opulence
As mentioned before this year concours took the theme well into
the 1970s and class G was one of these classes. Whereas many
of the convertibles and coupes of the previous eras featured some
sportive genes the cars of this class featured a more luxurious
approach to the theme.
The two winners of the class could not be more different, on one
side the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II Convertible and on the other
side the Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona. Unlike the previous models
the Daytona was not a race car in the common sense anymore
apart from some specially developed Competition versions but a
more refined cruiser taking the design from Pininfarina into the
1970s.
The rival of Ferrari in the 1960s in the GT class was also Aston
Martin and just like Ferrari developed more into the luxurious
market Aston did as well. Originally designed by Touring the DB4
started the GT line highlighted by the DB5 as known from the
James Bond movies. Presenter Simon Kidston introduced the car
at Como as “James Bond on holidays” as the DB5 was also
produced in a convertible version. Today on of the rarest Astons
the DB5 was the last car before the name “Volante” was
introduced for the open versions.
One of the strangest car in Como was the Panther Six of 1976. In
this F1 season the Tyrell P34 surprised the world with the 6-wheel
concept that was also shown on this design study of Panther
featuring a huge 600hp engine and a top speed of 320 km/h.
Apparently two examples were built and the car in Como was
surrounded by many people all day long.
A little bit less exciting was the Rolls-Royce Camargue, the
coupé was certainly well in the theme of the luxurious GT cars
but not few did not really see a concours car in its lines.
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Report & images ... Peter & Wolfgang Singhof
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de
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