Concorso d’Eleganza 2013 – Villa d’Este
The world’s premiere vintage and historic car auction will again be held on the shores of Lake Como at Villa d’Este which has hosted this event since 1929. Taking place this year from 24-26 May.
This is so much more than an auction and draws everybody to Villa d’Este including car enthusiasts, rich and famous, and all those who enjoy the spectacular cars.
This year has two special exhibitions, 90 years of BMW Motorrad and 60 years of the Corvette.
Ferrari is dominating the auction this year – with five rare Ferraris leading the way in the 16 available. There is a 2010 Ferrari 599XX which can only be driven on track due to the speeds it can reach and expects to reach around £940,000 in the auction. The rarest Ferrari is a 1953 375MM Berlinetta, worth around £5m. Eye watering indeed. Many of the less spectacular cars will attract bids in the hundreds of thousands.
If bidding for some of the world’s rarest cars is beyond your budget, there is still plenty to enjoy. The lakeshore road will be throbbing to the sound of streams of wonderful sports cars, being driven round for pleasure and many of those visiting will bring their own beautiful cars. The vintage motorcycle event draws huge appreciative crowds lining the roads to watch the bikes arriving at Villa Erba with many of their riders in the appropriate period outfits.
I recall driving down the lake last year with clients who had been with us looking for property on Lake Como and lakes Maggiore and Lugano, and all of us being astonished when we passed a small layby filled completely by six identical white Rolls Royces with a capped chauffeur standing to attention by each one!
Lake Como has amazing events throughout the year. Finding out about them is hard with no central tourist agency that thinks it worth telling the world. Only those in the know find out. We will be telling you more over the coming months – so watch this space!