Villa d'Este

The Spyker display at Villa d�Este
The freshly reborn Spyker Automobielen BV displayed not only the sensational C8 Spyder (which was launched in 2001), but a fantastic C8 Coupe, called C8 Double 12 S. This is the road version of the Spyker C8 Double 12 R, that was unveiled at the IAA Frankfurt in September 2001, an all alloy sports car developed especially for endurance racing events such like Le Mans.

The Double 12 S was presented to the public on March 21, 2002 on the occasion of the inauguration of the new Spyker factory, and the Vila d�Este Concorso was the second outing for the Double 12 S. It has an all alloy space frame, and the underside of the car is fully enclosed and generates considerable ground effect without the addition of wings or diffusers.

At the Le Mans 2002 test weekend, the Spyker C8 Double 12 R achieved a 6th place in the GT class, driven by Hans Hugenholtz and Norman Simon. This result gives an impression of how seriously Spyker Automobielen takes the task to establish its name in the supercar heaven.

Addicted to the Concorso d�Eleganza
For the second time as a contributor to Barchetta.cc, I traveled to the shores of Lake Como to attend the Villa d�Este Concorso d�Eleganza 2002 and � like last year � I came home with thousands of pictures, often showing one and the same car in over 50 different images. Is there a need to have so many similar pictures, you would ask � Probably not�

Well, nevertheless I�m trying now to explain, why I made the same �mistake� as last year: This event with its exceptional style, luxury, the landscape, the surroundings, the weather and last but certainly not least, the unique historic cars, simply fuelled my addiction to take pictures almost all the time�

Sensational Villa Erba display on Sunday
The main theme at Villa Erba on Sunday was Bertone. Almost every design study or concept car, Bertone had designed over the years was presented, including:

1963 Bertone Testudo (based on a Corvair)
1966 Lamborghini Marzal (based on a lenghtened Miura chassis)
1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo (based on a Tipo 33)
1969 Bertone Runabout (based on a Autobianchi A112)
1970 Lancia Stratos 0
1971 Lamborghini Miura SV
1973 Lamborghini Countach LP 400 (2nd prototype)
1986 Bertone Zabrus (based mechanically on a Citroen BX 4 TC)
1988 Lamborghini Jalpa (last production example)
1990 Bertone Nivola (powered by a Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 engine)
1992 Bertone Blitz (electric car)
1994 Bertone Karisma
1995 Bertone Kayak (based mechanically on a Lancia Kappa)
1996 Bertone Slalom
1998 Bertone Pickster (powered by a BMW 3.2 liter 6-cylinder engine)
1999 Bertone Bella (based mechanically on an Alfa Romeo 166)

�Bertones� of particular interest
Lamborghini Marzal
In 1967, the Lamborghini Marzal, a creation of then Bertone's chief designer Marcello Gandini, was unveiled to the public at the Geneva Salon and created much interest with its gullwing doors and silver leather interior.
It was mounted on a lengthened Miura chassis to allow two extra seats and had a 2 litre 6-cylinder engine installed giving 175 hp. With the heavy use of glass and the fact that one couldn�t open the windows, the Marzal was designed for those who like it hot in summer�

The Marzal become famous when Prince Rainier of Monaco and his beautiful wife Princess Grace used it as pace car for the 1967 Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Today the Marzal is owned by the Bertone Museum in Italy and is taken out only on special occasion.

Zender Straight 8 � �vert soleil� � or �mud green� ?
Not only was the colour open for discussion but the whole appearance of this latest Zender creation � the Straight 8. Standing in clear contrast to the very elegant lines of most of the cars exhibited at Villa d�Este, the best you can say about the Straight 8 is that it looks aggressive! The Straight 8 with its composite bodywork uses a lot of components from the BMW M3, mainly its engine, giving 321 hp.

Giorgetto Giugiaro�s Italdesign studies
Giorgetto Giugiaro and Italdesign, one of the world's leading designers and styling houses, recently revealed at the Geneva Salon 2002 an unique proposal for a future Alfa Romeo sports car � the Alfa Romeo Brera, a sports coupe with a 4.3 V8 engine installed producing 400 hp. This concept car was shown at Villa d�Este as well as Giugiaro�s 2001 creation - the Aston Martin 2020.

With the Alfa Romeo Brera concept car, Italdesign and Giorgetto Giugiaro drew inspiration from the themes of their coachbuilding predecessors in their heydays, favouring those styling tracks paved over the years by Alfa Romeo, but realising the abilities of the modern materials used in the Brera, such as the bodyshell entirely in carbon fiber and its drivetrain, a powerful front mounted 90 degree V8 engine of more than four litres producing 400 hp. Like Alfa Romeo's models from the 1950s, the hollow-shaped bonnet slopes downward to the distinctive emblem badge that characterizes the brand identity. The V-shaped profiles converging into fascinating headlights and parking lights that are modelled by the downward sloping bonnet.

Lamborghini 3500 GT Zagato Coupe
Last year, Jean-Claude Paturau�s one-off Lamborghini Flying Star II created huge attention and loads of applause. This time, Mr. Stumpen from Germany played this part very well with his very special Lamborghini � the 3500 GTZ s/n 0310 !

This white painted thoroughbred, designed by Ercole Spada of Zagato, was built on a Lamborghini 350 GT chassis shortened by 10cm, and is one of only two Lamborghinis ever designed by Zagato.

0310 appeared for the first time at the London Motor Show in 1965 as a LHD car. it was originally sold to well-known gentleman race driver Gerino Gerini, Lamborghini's agent in Milan. Later, 0310 was repainted red and converted to RHD while owned by someone in Australia.

For a long time, the existence of the second Zagato car, based on a 400 GT chassis (s/n 0322), was not clear. But this car indeed still exists today, residing in Hong Kong.

Resumée
All in all this was a weekend that car enthusiasts dream of. The range of extraordinary and expensive automobiles, all presented in wonderful surroundings � the Villa d�Este Hotel in Cernobbio � make this event unique in the world. It seems that there�s no better place in the world to put an exceptional car in the right light. Bring your historic car to Cernobbio and you�ll do it the favour, it deserves.

My special thanks go to Attilia Ricci and Fritz Hartmann for the wonderful Saturday afternoon while we were sitting in the spring sun on the terrace of Hotel Villa d�Este, watching the cars going by.

Bjoern Schmidt

The Concorso d�Eleganza in general: A bridge between old and new
In particular the huge gathering of rare Alfa Romeo automobiles gave this years Villa d�Este Concorso a special note. Watching all these wonderful pre � and post-war Alfas on this weekend one could easily imagine, how important this marque was for the whole development of the automobile.

Not only historic cars could be seen in the gardens of Villa d�Este but concept cars and prototypes from the most famous automobile designers around the world, all battling for the newly created �Villa d�Este design award� and the main sponsor�s �BMW design award�. Additionally, BMW showed up with virtually all prototypes and pre-production cars, which usually can�t be seen in one assembly.
In the main, one BMW prototype deserved a closer look: The Z9 Gran Turismo. We all have seen it in various magazines often decorated with sarcastic notes about its strange styling. However, looking at a Z9 Gran Turismo in the metal there�s only one word to describe its design: Stunning !

Ferrari 342/375 America PF Cabriolet � Best of Show
The Best in Show Award this year was won by Arthur W. Zafiropoulo's sensational 1953 Ferrari 342/375 America PF Cabriolet s/n 0234AL, first owned by King Leopold of Belgium. In addition 0234AL was awarded the Corrado Millanta Trophy - Press Award and the BMW Italia Trophy - People's Choice Award.

Together with Mr. Zafiropoulo, Wayne Obry of Motion Products Inc., the restorer of this car, was present to explain his whole restoration job.

The Villa d�Este jury this year included Dr. Ing. Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni (Chairman) of Carrozzeria Touring fame, Charles Lord March (Goodwood), Mr. Patrick Le Quément (France, Chief Designer of Renault), Mr. Shotaro Kobayashi (Car Graphic in Japan), Dr. Lorenzo Ramaciotti (Managing Director Pininfarina SpA), Mr. Jürgen Lewandowski (Automobile Historian and book author,Germany) and Mr. Carlo-Otto Brambilla (Secretary, Italy).

The second Ferrari competing for the Best in Show award was Christoph Ringier�s 250 Europa GT s/n 0391GT, seen in public the frist time since its complete restoration where the colour was changed from red to grey.

Lamborghini Countach LP 400 (Second Prototype)
The second prototype, chassis 1120001, is the earliest existing Countach since the first prototype � the LP500 � was used for crash tests and written off. The engine capacity was reduced to 4 liter due to the fact that the initially considered 5 litre engine installed in the LP 500 exploded while being tested on the road. Fitted with six horizontal Weber carbs 45DCOE it produced 375 hp

The styling remained similar to the LP500 prototype, note the side windows with the small openings, an unique feature on the LP 400 prototype, which appeared for the first time at the 1972 Geneva Salon, painted red with black interior. Later it was repainted in green and appeared again at the 1973 Geneva Salon and the 1973 Paris Show. After a meticulous restoration it is displayed in the Lamborghini factory museum in Italy.