Seven Stunning Classics of Europe's Greatest Car Show

Thoughts on excessive wealth put in a locker, respect is due to pretty much all who decided to show off their cars at Villa d’Este, as well as at Villa Erba on the public day. Extremely rare and significant gems shipped in from Japan, Thailand, India, and of course the United States alongside many European countries. Indeed, we even saw the WeatherTech Ferrari 250 GTO, being driven in the rain on the main road of Cernobbio. That’s cool, especially when followed by a 250 Testa Rossa, winner at Le Mans in 1960. Children need to see what platform development is all about.

Walking around, I ran into Valentino Balboni, who was taking phone pictures of the stunning Miura SV in the corner. Talked to Alois Ruf, who ended up with a class win later on. Horacio Pagani had two cars at separate events throughout the weekend. Allora, it was nice to see him, just before examining the most extreme Zonda to date, the Revo Barchetta. Same goes for Christian von Koenigsegg, who’s been chauffeured around in a CC850 on German plates. Mate Rimac said hi by the new electric Rolls-Royce Spectre, and I suddenly remembered how close I am to their new factory, given that I’ve only seen the original one. Last, but certainly not least, I came across Paolo Garella, head of Manifattura Automobili Torino, father of the New Stratos, as well as a bunch of other amazing sports cars, including the electric Aspark Owl. Turin is always worth a visit.

Travel plans and industry celebrities aside, here are seven cars I went to Como for.

1963 Porsche 901 Coupé Prototyp “Quickblau”

Porsche is celebrating its 75th anniversary as the 911 turns sixty. The genesis of the six-cylinder sports car is this delicate beauty, a 901 prototype from 1963. Just 13 such development vehicles were built. These were called Sturmvogel, Blaumeise, Fledermaus, Zitronenfalter, Barbarossa and Quick Blau. The first Porsche to have a five-dial dashboard, this particular prototype was initially driven by Ferdinand Piëch, only to go through Hans Mezger and Walter Vetter before landing in Ruf’s garage by 1968. Crashed heavily in 1971, the now oldest remaining 901 went through a frame-up restoration taking two years, finished last year by Alois Ruf’s crew. Their effort was rewarded by a class win.

1986 Isdera Spyder 033-16

Eberald Schulz started out in 1969 with a mid-engine car inspired by the Ford GT40 called the Erator GTE. This landed him a designer job at Porsche, after which he left for Rainer Buchmann’s tuning and prototype company, bb. In 1982, he founded his own firm, Ingenieurbüro für Styling, Design und Racing. ISDERA. His intention was to put the Mercedes-Benz CW311 concept into series production, which eventually became the Isdera Imperator 108i. Unlike the earlier, Golf GTI-engined examples, this wonderful Spyder 033-16 uses the Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 drivetrain. Seventeen were built, and this one belongs to a Dutch couple who drove it 220 miles to be at Como. Not bad for a speedster through the rain, while that blue interior with the glovebox on the door is pure eighties perfection.

1971 Citroën SM Espace Heuliez

The Citroën SM has everything. Space-age styling, a Maserati V-6 and the most advanced suspension money could buy at the time. However, it was also produced strictly as a hatchback coupé. Famous French coachbuilder Henri Heuliez had other ideas, so he unleashed his project manager Yves Dubernard to create a targa version, complete with powered louvers made of stainless steel. Equally shiny louvers were added to the rear glass, and with that and the wild green interior in place, the concept became the SM Espace. Citroën ultimately rejected the idea, and so Heuliez only managed to build two of these. This prototype stayed in his personal collection up until 2012, after which the new Belgian owner had it restored to its 1971 Paris Motor Show specification. The SM T-top is everything a French luxury car should be, and a whole lot more.

1981 Ferrari 512 BB LM