Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2018 - Newsletter

The Panama hat is their badge of identification. When the jurors of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este approach the automobile beauties in the grounds of Villa d’Este, the pulse of the vehicle owners starts to beat faster. These twelve appointed ladies and gentlemen decide who will win the coveted trophies. They pay particular attention to authenticity, elegance, quality of restoration or state of preservation in unrestored vehicles, functionality, overall impression and – as far as possible – the documented vehicle history. The jury members are selected on the basis of international standards. They are experts from Europe and America. The jurors originate from different specialist areas – and they include journalists, authors of automobile books and designers. The permanent Jury in 2018 includes the following jurors: Lorenzo Ramaciotti (Italy): President of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este Jury since 2004, he has worked as an automobile designer for 40 years and can draw on 20 years of experience in assessing vehicles. From 1998 until 2005, he was head of design at Pininfarina. In 2007, he was appointed Chief Design Officer at the Fiat Group, and since 2015 he has been Special Advisor to the CEO of the Fiat Chrysler Automobile Group. Ian Cameron (United Kingdom): Graduate of the Royal College of Art and until 2012 Chief Designer at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. Winston Goodfellow (USA): Journalist and automobile historian. Harm Lagaaij (Netherlands): former Chief Designer at Ford, BMW and Porsche. Adolfo Orsi (Italy): Expert on the Maserati brand and historian of Italian motorsport. Stefano Pasini (Italy): Ophthalmologist, freelance journalist and author of automobile books. Patrick le Quément (France): former Head of Design at Renault. J. Philip Rathgen (Germany): Journalist and Managing Director of ClassicDriver.com. Traditionally, the Jury is augmented by Honorary Judges each year. They might be designers or automobile enthusiasts. However, some of them are not only automobile aficionados but also well-known contemporary celebrities: Lapo Edvard Elkann (Italy): Designer, owner of the fashion label “Italia Independent”, grandson of the former head of the FIAT Group Gianni Agnelli. Sir Jonathan Paul “Jony” Ive (United Kingdom): Chief Design Officer at Apple, proponent of the principle “form follows function”. Yasmin Le Bon (United Kingdom): ex-model, classic car connoisseur and Mille Miglia competitor, married to Duran-Duran singer Simon Le Bon. Quirina Louwman (Netherlands): classic car aficionado and regular participant in classic rallies, daughter of Evert Louwman, owner of one of the oldest private automobile collections with some 300 classic cars.

Did you know . . . ... that 58 truckloads drive to the Villa d’Este and Villa Erba fully laden with material for constructing the stages, podiums, audience stands and driving tracks? They also carry computers, printers, office equipment, light and sound equipment, hundreds of square metres of carpet, exhibition panels, display boards, and lots more. ... that around 350 assistants from more than 20 companies work to ensure that the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este runs smoothly. And the special feature is that virtually everything happens behind the scenes and guests are unaware of how many people are involved. ... that 58 shuttle vehicles from BMW are used in order to drive the entrants, Friends of Concorso, jurors, honorary guests and organisers to the various events being held on the shores of Lake Como? ... that on Sunday, around 8.000 guests are once again expected to come to the grounds of Villa Erba in order to admire the classic vehicles on two, three and four wheels? ... that the 55 automobile candidates this year have a combined age of 3506 years and apply some 9509 horsepower to the road?