Cernobbio, 22nd - 24th of May, 2015
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Class E – Gentlemen´s Racers – Speed meets post-war style
Class E was dedicated to the post-war stars of the coach built
era, the most spectacular sports and race cars of the 1950s.
When looking on the action results and the collections of the
major players in the concours scene these examples are the
stars on the scene. In a time when the wealthy gentlemen raced
their cars on the weekend and drove them home afterwards some
of the most elegant designs were created, especially in Italy and
it is not a surprise that apart from the Touring bodied Pegaso all
representatives of the class came from Ferrari, Maserati and Fiat.
The star of this class was without doubt the Ferrari 166MM
Touring Barchetta (0064M). The “small boat” is one of the purest
designs by Touring ever finding its way on a Ferrari and a 2.5 litre
version of this car was just sold this weekend at RM Sotheby´s
auction at the Villa Erba at 6.7 Mio Euro and the car at the
concours is even on top of that. Being the first Ferrari owned by
Gianni Agnelli this was not ordered in the typical Italian red racing
colour but in very stylish two-tone blue over green, certainly the
best possible colour combination. Agnelli’s grandson Lapo
Elkman was present at the concours Saturday and joined the
owner at the award parade in front of the Villa.
Even without knowing the background of the celebrity first owner
and the continuous Belgian history at the Garage Francorchamps
of Jaques Swaters this car was the crowds’ favourite winning both
public awards, the Coppa d´Oro at the Villa d´Este and the Trofeo
BMW Group Italia at the Villa Erba. But not exactly in concours
condition the jury had the difficult choice how to judge patina
against a fresh restoration to the highest standards. Most severe
was this question when comparing the two Ferrari 250 GT in the
class, one a totally original LWB Berlinetta TdF (0723GT) with
continuous Finish history and a lot of patina and on the other side
a perfect 250 GT SWB (3367GT) that was just restored in
midnight-blue over red interior to the taste of its owner.
At the end the Agnelli 166 MM became runner up behind one of
two Zagato bodied Maserati. On one side the early A6 1500 S
with a very high glass roof and on the other side the later A6
G2000 with a more stylish low roof. Restored in time for the
centenary class of Maserati at Pebble Beach last year chassis
2124 was awarded with the class award at Como to be one of the
contenders for the BoS. When talking about Italian race cars the
marque Fiat does not come to mind at first hand. Although many
cars at the Mille Miglia were based on cheap Fiat drive trains Fiat
just once took up the challenge against Ferrari and Maserati with
the 2-litre 8V. The car in Como was designed by Vignale and has
some period MM history and one of the many rarities at the Villa
d´Este.
... 001 - 036 Ambience >>>
... 037- 072 Class A >>>
... 073 - 108 Class B >>>
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... 181 - 216 Class E >>>
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Report & images ... Peter & Wolfgang Singhof
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de
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