Munich/Cernobbio. A triple success achieved by a
unique vehicle. The Alfa Romeo Giulietta SS Prototipo was awarded
“Best of Show” on Sunday evening when the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa
d’Este 2017 held in Cernobbio, Northern Italy, celebrated its crowning
finale. The Jury conferred the most important award of the competition
– the Trofeo BMW Group – on the unique special from the year 1957.
Besides being acknowledged as a class winner in die category
„Supergioiello – Little Toys for Big Boys“ the coupé contoured with
streamlined styling was also rewarded by visitors in the public
referendum and won the Trofeo BMW Group Italia. The Jury bestowed the
award of “Best of Show” at the seventh Concorso di Motociclette on an
endurance touring motorcycle manufactured in Austria. The Puch 250
Indien-Reise was manufactured in 1933 and the machine impressed the
experts with its authentic condition and a fascinating history.
The Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este is regarded as being the world’s
most exclusive and traditional beauty contests for historic
automobiles and motorcycles. Once again this year, the vehicle pageant
staged jointly by the BMW Group and the Grand Hotel Villa d’Este lived
up to this reputation. The selection of vehicles, the ambience on the
shoreline of Lake Como and the knowledgeable and enthusiastic public
audience generated an absolutely unique atmosphere. The Concorso
d’Eleganza Villa d’Este is also a unique event of its kind that
presents modern concept vehicles and prototypes alongside rare
historic treasures. This year, automobile designers were joined for
the first time by motorcycle manufacturers who also had the
opportunity to present their two-wheeled studies. This unique
synthesis enables the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este to create an
exciting bridge from the past into the future of mobility.
Majestic backdrop for a journey through the history of
mobility.
Once more, the magnificent ambience of the Grand Hotel Villa d’Este
and the neighbouring park of Villa Erba formed the backdrop for the
pageant of rare beauties. The visitors were intrigued by the elegance
of the exhibited vehicles and the especially unusual and illuminating
episodes from automobile and motorcycle history. Thousands of visitors
embarked on a sublime and fascinating journey in time through the
history of mobility, with the benefit of bright sunshine and summer temperatures.
This year’s motto of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2017 is
“Around the World in 80 Days – Voyage through an Era of Records”. It
comes from the novel by Jules Verne and harks back to the era at the
end of the 19th century. This was a time when rapid technological
progress enduringly expanded the opportunities for mobility and
covering large distances. The field of participants was also drawn
from different parts of the globe with competition vehicles from 16
countries. In their day, a large number of classic vehicles had
created sensations with successes in motor sport, speed records or
trailblazing technical innovations.
The members of the two Jurys were made up of renowned experts in
vehicle history and well-known enthusiasts. They conferred awards on
the individual class victors and the winners of numerous special
prizes selected from the 51 automobiles and 40 motorcycles being
showcased at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2017. “Here before
us, we can see eight wonderful class winners, each of which could also
have deservedly earned overall victory,” declared Ulrich Knieps, Head
of BMW Group Classic and President of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa
d’Este at the grand finale with the “Best of Show” for historic
automobiles. “The Jury’s selection of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta SS
Prototipo has conferred the award on a particularly fascinating
representative of automobile history that is utterly unique. This
decision is entirely in the character of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.”
The “Best of Show” for the year 2017: synthesis of fact and
fiction.
The victorious Alfa Romeo Giulietta SS Prototipo was designed by
Franco Scaglione (1916 – 1993) in 1957. The chief stylist at the time
of the great Italian coachbuilder Bertone developed the coupé based on
three aerodynamic studies that emerged from the cooperation between
Bertone and Alfa Romeo from 1953 to 1955 under his leadership. To this
day, they are known as B.A.T. Mobiles – the acronym stands for Alfa
Romeo Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica. The prototype had an equally
elegant and streamlined alloy body. A four-cylinder engine generating
100 hp was mounted under the bonnet and this prototype was a precursor
for the series model Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Speciale presented in
1959. It can therefore be considered as a synthesis between fact and fiction.
The victorious one-off special is owned by Corrado Lopresto. He
registered the vehicle at the beauty contest on the shores of Lake
Como in the name of Giovanna Scaglione, the daughter of the famous
designer, and accepted the prestigious special prize from the hands of
Jury President Lorenzo Ramaciotti. “We are overjoyed to have received
this prize and doubly delighted because this is the first time that
the car has been awarded a prize by a Jury,” declared Lopresto. “I
feel sure that the Jury has primarily paid tribute to the design
because at the time it was very futuristic. Franco Scaglione was a
genius and the automobile sector owes a great debt of gratitude to him.”
The overall victory for the Alfa Romeo Giulietta SS Prototipo means
that a vehicle from Italian production has won the most important
award from the show presenting classic cars on the shores of Lake Como
for the fourth time in succession. The successful home performance of
the Alfa was completed by winning the Trofeo BMW Group Italia. This
award was the outcome of a public referendum. A majority of the
visitors to the park of Villa Erba also voted for this unique special
from Bella Italia.
Coppa d’Oro Villa d’Este: Historic, record-breaking vehicle
becomes darling of the public.
The most traditional prestigious award – the Coppa d’Oro Villa d’Este
is also conferred by public referendum. This special prize was awarded
on Saturday to the Lurani Nibbio record-breaking vehicle built in
1935. The visitors to the park of Villa d’Este were enthused by the
pristine condition of the compact, open single-seater and with its
fascinating family history. It is the creation of the Italian
journalist, publisher, automobile designer and racing driver Giovanni
Lurani Cernuschi, VIIIth Count of Calvenzano (1905 – 1995). He
designed and built the vehicle himself and went on to break numerous
speed records driving the car.
The car was powered by a 500 cc two-cylinder motorcycle engine from
Moto Guzzi that developed 46 hp, and the Lurani Nibbio broke four
World Speed Records with its designer at the wheel. Another eight
records followed on from optimisation of the body in 1939. Later a 250
cc engine was mounted in the Lurani Nibbio and the car broke six more
speed records in the period up to 1947. The grandson of the
constructor, Federico Göttsche Bebert, entered the Lurani Nibbio in
the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2017. The vehicle has been in the
possession of the family until the present day. He brought his
grandfather’s car back to life again and was very proud to accept the
Coppa d’Oro Villa d’Este. “It is an incredible feeling to be able to
celebrate the successes of my grandfather on a stage like this after
so many years have passed by,” he declared.
Concorso di Motociclette: Authentically preserved globetrotter
is awarded “Best of Show”.
Since 2011, the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este has also had a fixed
place in the calendar for fans of historic motorcycles. Visitors were
once again able to enjoy the atmospheric Street Run of the competition
vehicles through the streets of Cernobbio at the seventh edition of
the Concorso di Motociclette. The Jury conferred the most prestigious
award on a veritable globetrotter as their favourite from a select
field of participants. The Puch 250 Indien-Reise manufactured in 1933
was awarded “Best of Show” and the Trofeo BMW Group went to the
Italian owner Peter Reisch. He lives in Bolzano and is the son of
journalist, writer and scientist Max Reisch, who made one of his most
famous long-distance overland trips riding on the Puch motorcycle. In
the year when the motorcycle was manufactured, Max Reisch – famed as a
“pioneer of long-distance travel” – joined forces with his research
colleague and pillion passenger Herbert Tichy from Vienna to start out
on an epic expedition. The two riders travelled more than
13 000 kilometres across the Balkans, through Turkey, Syria, Iraq,
Persia and Baluchistan to Mumbai in faraway India.
This legendary long-distance journey gave the motorcycle its name,
and the machine has once again been in the limelight on its outing to
Lake Como. The Puch 250 Indien-Reise still fascinates to this day,
fully equipped with authentic saddlebags, tools and spare parts. The
motorcycle was originally manufactured in Graz, Austria, and it
appears to have emerged from a journey through time yet at the same
time be ready for a new adventure.
BMW Group presents spectacular concept vehicles.
At the launch of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2017, the BMW
Group presented two spectacular concept vehicles on the shores of Lake
Como. They conveyed fascinating perspectives on the future of
individual mobility. The BMW Concept 8 Series is the precursor to a
luxurious sports coupé that will already be presented in the
marketplace next year. The BMW Group uses this coupé to give a vision
of a sports car combining uncompromising dynamic performance with
modern luxury. The study continues the successful tradition of large
coupés from BMW and interprets classic design attributes in a new
language of form. This is expressed in clear and precise line contours
and powerful choreography of surfaces.
The BMW Motorrad Concept Link is presented as a vision for
all-electric urban mobility. The study is a means of transport and
communication platform powered by an electric motor and inspired
stylistically by the BMW Motorrad Vision NEXT 100. The design of the
BMW Motorrad Concept Link breaks the bounds of established
conventions. Right from the start, the vehicle concept was based on
the technical attributes of the electric motor and it offers ideal
enablers for agile handling in urban traffic and contemporary
functionality. New opportunities for digital networking between
vehicle, driver and the surrounding environment are created with the
innovative control concept.