With a daring choice, the Villa d’Este jury awarded Best of Show in the Concorso d’Eleganza to an unrestored 1932 Figoni-bodied Alfa Romeo 8C 2300. A McLaren F1 was voted as the crowd’s favourite.
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And yes, this year’s Concorso winner is a race car. It’s rare, only ten of the 8C 2300 Alfa Romeos received a Spider body from the workshop of Parisian coach builder Joseph Figoni. The first owner, known only as a Mr. Weinberg, ordered it with competition in mind, it has a reinforced chassis and Joseph Figoni created this Spider bodywork for it, one of just ten he made.
The car was intended for the 1933 and 1934 Paris – Nice rallies. In 1935, Count François de Bremont used it on the Grossglockner hill climb. The Alfa survived World War II, hidden in a barn, and was used only occasionally right up until the seventies. It stayed with its owner Henri d’Autichamp for an incredible 77 years, being serviced but otherwise remained untouched.
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Jury’s choice
The Alfa, currently in the care of a Belgian owner, won the ‘Cars that the Outside World forgot’ class and wowed the jury for overall Concours victory. It’s a rare occasion seeing an unrestored car win one of the world’s most prestigious Concours.
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Mille Miglia 1957
After last year’s Le Mans bonanza, race cars where a little less popular on the Concours field bordering Lake Como this year. Other entries included the 1922 Alfa Romeo RL Sport, a 1952 Ferrari 225 S Tuboscocca that competed at Sebring in 1953, the 1957 Ferrari 335 S that Wolfgang von Trips drove to second place in the infamous 1957 Mille Miglia and another unrestored racer in the form of a 1928 Bugatti T35 that ran for the works squad that same season. It raced in private hands for a long time afterwards.
The 1963 Abarth Simca 1300 GT was also prepared to racing standards by the factory.
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