Today
Giorgetto Giugiaro designed his first Ferrari, this unique 250 GT SWB, at Bertone at the age of 21. It is a light and elegant two (plus two) seater coupe with a low belt line, large glass area and a modern style. The patron who commissioned the project had indeed asked for a discreet and refined style in contrast with the “racing” character of the typical Ferrari.
The car was built by Bertone as a fuoriserie and was unveiled at the 1960 Turin’s Salone dell’Automobile.
At that time the bespoke 3.0 litre, 12 cylinders, Ferrari was simply known as 250 GT and introduced innovative light alloy wheels built by Campagnolo.
Aldo Brovarone and the Maserati A6GCS/53 Berlinetta
The gentleman who penned the stunning Maserati A6GCS/53 Berlinetta for Pinin Farina in 1953 recalled his first days at the famous coachbuilder and how he had the chance to create the beautiful sport car 61 year later, at the Concorso d’Eleganza di Villa d’Este.
The elegant gentleman is well known to the aristocratic circle that gathers on the shores of Lake Como in May. His name is Aldo Brovarone, and he is 88.
Why we love the Concorso d’Eleganza at Villa d’Este.
If you may wonder why we are posting so many stories from the Concorso you well deserve an explanation.
Yes, we do love the Concorso. However that has nothing to do with nationalities, organisers, participants and venue, although they play a fundamental role to make such a nice event and a beautiful work place for design enthusiasts and writer, as we are.
We love because of facts. First: we can see cars in their natural (though privileged) environment. They sit on the ground, rather than on high platform. They are to be seen in and in daylight and not under thousand of lamps providing all sorts of artificial light. They are more beautiful to photograph with their natural reflections and there is not that wild and increasingly more uncivilized crowd of visitors of all professions putting the cars on siege.
So far for the quality of our work as reporters.
A short story of the Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS styled by Mario Revelli de Beaumont.
What sophisticated car collector Corrado Lopresto has presented the latest Concorso d’Eleganza at Villa d’Este comes with a story heard many times and yet always fantastic. A story of loves for speed, creativity and beauty that is 83 yeas old and will live for many more years.
All the Winners at the 2014 «Concorso d’Eleganza di Villa d’Este».
Many awards have been delivered on the final days of the 2014 Concorso d’Eleganza di Villa d’Este» but with no doubt the supreme and outstanding winner was the unique Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS Spider built in 1931 and brought back to life by famous Italian classic car collector Corrado Lopresto.
His spectacular open-air two seater was immediately awarded the Coppa d’Oro top-prize from the selected public invited to Villa d’Este on the first day and went on to win the same honour next day from the paying public at Villa Erba.
SO WHAT'S IN A NAME...
As a vegetarian, I was more than a little concerned some years back when a (short lived) trend seemed to be emerging with regard to "crossing" one species of fruit with another and giving it some new fictional (marketing) name. Whilst unaware of it at the time, this was perhaps one of the first deployments of a "niche" segment strategy, where the gullible shopper would buy a kilo of this and a kilo of that as well as a kilo of thas if not thit...
This can, of course, all back fire with the less gullible family provider buying only thit if not thas. But the seed of thought had been sewn, if not thrown before swine, for it got me thinking about the progressive detachment that seems to have crept into the "science" of product branding, not only in the recent scandals surrounding meat product content and description (as I said, I am vegetarian, so don't come cry on my shoulder), but in the automotive world of tight suited marketing savvy and the still all important badge identity stakes.
