The
Concorso entrants and Concept Cars drove from Villa d’Este to
the Villa Erba early Sunday morning where they were spaced out around
the ground, complimenting the existing displays of the motorcycles
in their Concorso event, the BMW 90 Years Motorad exhibition, the
auction cars, and a display of Corvettes. Yes, there were some trade
stalls here, but I counted 4 in total.
The
weather was the best we had for the weekend with pure sunshine all
day, no need for the umbrella or jacket! And, a lot more people than
the previous day at the Villa d’Este with estimates floating
around of 10,000 spectators – that’s nearly twice the
population of the Cernobbio Township.
It’s
the detail of how an event is put together is what I most enjoy about
travelling wide and far to visit an event, and the entire set up was
done in fine detail, which one imagines has being continually developed
since the Concorso was re-established in 1999. The signage, ticketing,
a newspaper, and at Villa Erba sun-lounge style timber deck chairs
came out by the dozen for entrants and guests, and were spread out
across the 15 or so acres of grass the day was held in. A good touch,
and well received by patrons.
The
BMW Group Media Lounge this day was located in the stunning 19th Century
Villa Antica, a large two storey building right on the lake, and was
the most surreal location for a media centre. Lavish rooms with detailed
wall paper and painted ceilings, modern furnishings, staffed Espresso
machines for a decent coffee (almost to be expected when you’re
in Italy!), and a gourmet cooked buffet (albeit served) lunch. This
web site has cost a lot of money and time since I established it 10
years ago, but the rewards have come, yes enjoying a lunch!
I
met, and spent some time with Peter and Robyn Briggs from Western
Australia and found out that although they sold off 80 cars from their
collection recently, they have retained 70 and house most at the York
Motor Museum. This MG K3 Magnette was part of Lord Howe’s team
in the 1933 Mille Miglia, hence the grounds for their 2013 visit to
Italy, 80 years on.
Roger
Scott, preparer of the 1980 BMW M1 (discussed earlier) was kind enough
not only to show me the award he won, but also two gifts that every
entrant gets for participating at Villa d’Este – a solid
Medallion, and a Porcelain constructed model “paper-weight!”
of car shapes.
Thoughts
What
an event, what an experience.
Highly
recommend any enthusiast attend as a spectator. At Euro 14 admission
for the Sunday “Public Day” at Villa Erba, it’s
well worth it. But unless you can obtain entry to the Saturday events
at Villa d’Este you may be best to attend Cernobbio as a day
trip, and perhaps explore other parts of Lake Como either side.
Historic
Racing Australia