The Valletta Concours finds its finest hour — and issues a call to collectors for 2027.
Few cities on earth earn their backstory quite like Valletta. Founded in 1566 in the immediate aftermath of the Great Siege of Malta — when the Knights of St John repelled an Ottoman invasion against all odds — the city was raised on the rocky Sciberras Peninsula above the Grand Harbour by Grand Master Jean de Valette as a statement of permanence and power. Its military architect was Francesco Laparelli, a pupil of Michelangelo, and the resulting grid of honey-coloured Baroque streets has remained almost unchanged for five centuries. Today, Valletta holds over 320 monuments within barely a square kilometre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980, and carries the ancient epithet, entirely deserved, of “a city built by gentlemen for gentlemen.” It is the kind of place that makes the finest motor cars look entirely at home.
Which is precisely why the Valletta Concours — now in its ninth year — feels less like an automotive event and more like a natural extension of the city itself. To park a pre-war thoroughbred on Maltese limestone, within sight of bastions that have repelled empires, is to understand something about the enduring appeal of beautifully made things.
“To park a pre-war thoroughbred on Maltese limestone, within sight of bastions that have repelled empires, is to understand something about the enduring appeal of beautifully made things.”
A New Stage for an Old City
This year’s edition came with a change of scene. The concours moved to a new venue just a stone’s throw from its traditional home in historic St George’s Square, arranging the cars around the commanding modernist sweep of Triton’s Fountain — the 1959 work of Chevalier Vincent Apap, three bronze sea-gods holding aloft a basin of water just outside the ancient city walls. It was an inspired backdrop, and the footfall reflected it: notably up on previous years, with the combination of venue and warm June weather drawing crowds that spilled across the limestone piazza.
Organisers John and Joel Saliba had again pushed the event beyond a pure concours. A live art competition ran alongside the cars, a pedal car concours delighted younger visitors, and club displays for Triumphs and Ferraris added depth to the programme — the Ferrari contingent shown to particular theatrical effect beneath Renzo Piano’s Parliament building, just inside his sleek new city gates: a collisi
on of the contemporary and the classic that felt entirely, unmistakably Valletta.
Best of Show
The top honour went to Anthony Axisa’s magnificent 1939 SS100 roadster — the last of the 3.5-litre cars ever built — which just edged out a supremely elegant 1968 Aston Martin DB6 with a Webasto roof for the supreme award. The DB6 had taken the Touring Superleggera class; losing Best of Show to the SS100 was no disgrace. Over in the adjacent motorcycle concours, a 1972 Honda CB750 Four claimed its own podium, as correct a choice as any in that field.
An Overwhelmingly Maltese Field
After two years of international winners, the 2026 field was overwhelmingly Maltese, which felt right. A city with this much history deserves an event that reflects its own people and their cars. That said, tradition holds for a handful of travelling entries from Italy, and for the second year running, Eric Simpson and Barry Pickup made the extraordinary commitment of driving down to Malta from Barnsley. Last year it was a Citroën DS; this year, something altogether rarer: a one-off Australian-built Austin 1800 Landcrab ‘ute’, factory-converted to a van to serve as a support vehicle on the Australian leg of the London to Sydney Marathon. Little evidence of that former life survives today, but the pair have promised to return next year in something equally unlikely. One hopes they do.
Class by Class
The Austin competed in Popular Classics, one of 13 classes and arguably the most closely fought of the day. A striking 1978 BMW 323i took third, with a beautifully restored 1968 BMW 2002 one place above it — marked down only for a wheel upgrade and modifications to the fuelling system, both executed with skill but deviations from originality nonetheless. The winner was a 1962 Toyopet Tiara RT20, delivered to the event straight from a three-year restoration and believed to be the first Japanese car ever registered in Malta. It has been in the same family since new — the kind of provenance that no money can manufacture.
Elsewhere across the 13 classes, Gordon Vella’s breathtaking 1956 Jaguar XK140 took Best Restoration; a vivid green 1950 Fiat 500C Topolino charmed judges and public alike; and a 1958 Fiat 500 N Sport Berlina Trasformabile proved that things can be simultaneously adorable and fierce. A pair of rare Renaults caught the eye — a 1982 Renault 5 Turbo Two and a 1976 Alpine (the model sold in Britain as the Gordini) — while a 1976 Rover 3500S claimed the Preservation Class with quiet authority. Topping a dedicated all-Ferrari Pininfarina group was, entirely correctly, a Testarossa.
2026 AWARDS AT A GLANCE
B E S T O F S H O W 1939 SS100 Roadster (3.5-litre) — A. Axisa
R E S E R V E B O S 1968 Aston Martin DB6 Webasto
B E S T R E S T O R A T I O N 1956 Jaguar XK140 — G. Vella
P O P U L A R C L A S S I C S 1962 Toyopet Tiara RT20
P R E S E R V A T I O N 1976 Rover 3500S
M O T O R C Y C L E 1972 Honda CB750 Four
F E R R A R I G R O U P Ferrari Testarossa
T O U R I N G S U P E R L E G G E R A 1968 Aston Martin DB6 Webasto
Nine editions in, the Valletta Concours has quietly become one of the Mediterranean’s most authentic gatherings — intimate enough to feel personal, prestigious enough to attract serious machinery, and set against a backdrop that no purpose-built venue could hope to replicate. Valletta was European Capital of Culture in 2018. The concours, in its modest, expert way, is making a similar cultural argument. It is winning.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR · AN INVITATION TO COLLECTORS
Valletta Concours 2027
Triton’s Fountain, Valletta, Malta · 30th May 2027 · 10th Annual Edition · 13+ Categories
The Knights of St John built Valletta to endure. The Valletta Concours is following their example. We extend a warm invitation to collectors, restorers, and enthusiasts from across the world to bring their finest cars to one of history’s most spectacular cities for the tenth annual edition in 2027.
Whether you own a pre-war icon, a lovingly preserved original, a concours-prepared restoration, or a rare survivor with a story to tell — the gates of this ancient walled city are open to you. International entries are warmly welcomed. The tenth edition deserves to be the finest yet.
R E G I S T E R Y O U R I N T E R E S T F O R 2 0 2 7
Entry enquiries: John & Joel Saliba · vallettaconcours.event@gmail.com · Early expressions of interest encouraged
