Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2020Corriere d’Eleganza IV

Dear Friends of the Concorso,

The year has started with a great deal of energy and lots of exciting prospects for 2020. We hope that you enjoyed a good start to this new season, which already promises a host of highlights.

We are currently preparing one of the most exciting peaks for you. You can look forward to the coming edition of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. A carefully curated selection of the finest classic vehicles will await you on the shores of Lake Como from 22nd to 24th May 2020.

These are exciting and intense weeks for the Selecting Committee. A large number of applications already arrived at the beginning of the year from vehicle owners and collectors all over the world. These include truly rare gems and treasures that have never been shown before. Experience tells us that more applications will be submitted over the coming weeks. Our experts will select around 50 automobiles from the entries we receive and these will eventually form the exquisite portfolio for presentation to another highly distinguished Jury.

If you are interested in participating together with one of your vehicles, you are urged not to delay and we encourage you to send your application documents to us. We will be delighted if you are interested in being an entrant and we anticipate with relish the fascinating vehicle you may well surprise us with. The same entreaty applies if you would like to come to Cernobbio with a motorcycle. The selection procedure for the Concorso di Motociclette is under way in parallel with that for the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.

This Corriere d’Eleganza follows in the excellent tradition of our newsletter and we are creating an enticing arc with a short and emotionally evocative film back to last May, inviting you to take part in the upcoming Grand Tour and get in the mood for one of the anniversaries that we will celebrate together this year.
We wish you an enjoyable read and view.

Your Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este Team

The film: Our Passion. Our Adventures. Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2019

This film takes you on a journey as a spectator for some three and a half minutes. You will enter a world full of magic moments where the spectacular natural beauty of the lakes in Northern Italy is the setting for an encounter between the artistry of coachwork styling, gourmet cuisine and technological delicacies. This unique collection of stellar beauties transforms the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este into a truly incomparable experience every year.

Youtube video

Beauty is never a boring topic. There are as many different facets to beauty as there are colours in the natural world. And it is able to captivate without uttering a single word. When the asphalt elegantly follows serpentine routes between the lake and the mountains, passing through deep green woodlands before rising up to panoramic viewing terraces offering unique vistas, the appropriate automobile is surely the perfect key to enjoyment. Most importantly, when connoisseurs come together with the same intention: taking time out to enjoy the magnificent automobiles narrating their life stories. “If there were no stories,” comments Juror Johann Philip Rathgen in the film, “a car would be just a lump of old metal.”

Of course, they are much more than that. They represent the spirit of their era, an enthusiasm that was already absolutely massive in the decades of yesteryear. The vehicles embody this spirit, similar to the words in a book, only with much greater versatility, in three dimensions and offering stimulus for all the senses. The short film also shows how much enthusiasm Historic Cars generate because they offer far more than just their practical value as a means of transport. This is why the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este is much, much more than simply a static competition.

What makes it absolutely unique is not simply the blue-riband selection of distinguished automobiles. It is the melange of style and architecture, culinary delicacies and the flair of southern climes. “The passion for cars here is unlike anywhere else,” commented Simon Kidston, expert and moderator of the event. He knows the entrants and the audience like nobody else: “The level of knowledge they have is unlike anything else in the world.” Or, in the words of Yasmin Le Bon, who has been present several times not only as a Juror but also as a fan: “If you are a car nut, this is… Nirvana”.

The Grand Tour 2020 will be an impressive joy

And here is a tip for close to the city of Romeo and Juliet – Verona – and the participating true connoisseurs: the Grand Tour 2020 has the reputation of being the most enticing way of getting in the mood for the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. This year, the route will start automobiles will embark on a journey to Villa d’Este lasting three days, travelling along enchanting roads.

The North of Italy emulates an invitation to life. Its regions morph from one to another in a sensuous rhythm, hilltops follow on from vineyards, olive groves extend over hills offering lakeland views stretching into the distance. Small, picturesque villages have been preserved here and roads along the shores offer unalloyed driving bliss in the balmy climate.

Nature itself is enchanting and provides this landscape with a green elegance of breath-taking diversity. People have gazed in wonderment at this panorama for thousands of years. Our forebears have bequeathed us a hugely impressive cultural diversity and it is being preserved and looked after with tender loving care. This heritage also includes the tradition of fine wines and lots of other epicurean pleasures.

The coming Grand Tour will be following in these footsteps between 19th and 23rd May 2020. The field of maximally ten vehicles will be exclusive enough to ensure that the three-day journey promises to provide individual and very private enjoyment for all the participants – without the burdens that can make large events tedious at times. Alongside little adventures and surprises, local regional delicacies will once more transform the Grand Tour 2020 into a unique experience. Naturally, there will also be a selection of luxury and exceptional four and five-star hotels.

This trip is not about speed but about the joy of driving itself. BMW Group Classic is providing a varied selection of fascinating models. These include the famed roadster BMW 328 from the 1930s and the beautiful dream automobile BMW 507 from the era of the Economic Miracle. Then there is a car of a completely different calibre, the legendary BMW 3.0 CSL, taking us into the 1970s. You can also take part in your own vehicle.

The routes taken by the Grand Tour 2020 will undoubtedly be impressive and yet the destination will be all the more phenomenal: the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. On Friday 22th May 2020, the entrants will arrive at the world-famous five-star hotel in Cernobbio with its parkland extending along the shores of Lake Como. The exclusive BMW Group Classic Cocktail will await them there, followed by a BBQ dinner in a unique atmosphere. There is also an exclusive expansion of the programme for the Grand Tour 2020: The “Friends of the Concorso” package affords access to the event at the weekend, including three nights in a Junior Suite at Villa d’Este and two exceptional dinners on Saturday and Sunday.

#100 years of Boxer engines

Precisely one hundred years ago, BMW built the first Boxer engine. 1920 was the launchpad for a successful model that has enjoyed an impressive development to this day. BMW opened up a new market for its motorcycles with this invention – the world of motorcycles. On its hundredth birthday, the Boxer engine is regarded as an archetypal BMW icon and it continues to shine as a concept with a great future.

Martin Stolle was the man who gave BMW the Boxer engine. In 1920, he was still a young engineer working in the Development Department of BMW. In his spare time, aged 34, he rode a motorcycle of the English marque Douglas – this was a model powered by a Boxer engine and it gave the talented engineer an idea. Could that be the ideal solution for BMW?

After the end of the First World War, BMW found itself in a difficult situation. Production of aero-engines – the specialist area for the Munich-based company – was now prohibited. But the company was not able to produce the necessary volumes of large-displacement, four-cylinder engines for trucks, tractors and boats. Martin Stolle presented his employer with an astonishingly mature concept. His air-cooled two-cylinder engine straight off the drawing board was an impressive power unit right from the get-go with its excellent smooth-running characteristics and reliability. Stolle had taken over the Boxer principle with the two horizontally opposed combustion chambers and aimed to create a very relaxed level of power with a displacement of 500 cubic centimetres generating 6.5 hp at 4500 rpm. This was the best guarantee for operation over a long period without any problems.

This engine enabled BMW to embark on a short but exceptionally successful era as a supplier. At the time, famous motorcycle manufacturers like Helios, Bison, SMW (Stockdorfer Motoren Werke), Corona, Heco and most importantly Victoria mounted the new “Bayern-Kleinmotor” (Bavaria Small Engine) in their models. The Victoria KR 1 powered by the innovative Boxer engine from Munich even became a sales hit with more than 1000 motorcycles sold.