The Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este – or the world’s beauty pageant for cars

The iconic Grand Hotel Villa d’Este is celebrating its 150th season with the Concorso d’Eleganza 2022 at the end of the month, where the BMW Group Classic will be presenting around fifty of the most beautiful and fastest automobiles of their time. The event located on beautiful Lake Como is the world’s most exclusive pageant for outstanding historic vehicles, and a continuation of over 20 years of partnership between the BMW Group Classic and the Grand Hotel Villa d’Este. Just like every year, the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2022 puts its focus on the pinnacle of luxury, elegance and sportiness.

The fifty automotive beauties

The fifty “automotive beauties,” as organisers call them, will be separated into seven classes for the pageant: the golden age of elegance & the art deco era of motor car design; “Kompressor!” and the supercharged Mercedes-Benz ; the 150th season at Villa d’Este & how grand entrances were once made; the Cavallino at 75 with eight decades of Ferrari; “Born for the racetrack”; 50-year-anniversary of BMW M cars and their ancestors; and finally “Breaking the speed barrier” with pioneers that pursued the magic 300 kph.

BMW M 50th anniversary

The event will also celebrate the 50th anniversary of BMW M, a subsidiary of BMW AG. The brand has since then achieved legendary status with its impressive history of racing cars and high-performance vehicles. With its own judging class “50 years of mean machinery – BMW M cars and their ancestors,” the group will be documenting and honouring this year’s Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.

The premieres

This is also where BMW will premiere its long-awaited BMW M4 CSL to the world, as well as the new BMW i7, which we featured on ellectric previously. BMW Motorrad will also be presenting a special anniversary edition that will appear with the BMW M4 CSL.  Another premiere is that of the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail, a project of over four years which consists of three highly unique automobiles that have been designed for individual Rolls-Royce customers. 

A special year for Villa d’Este

2022 marks a special year for the grand hotel – originally designed for the Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio as his private residence in the 16th century and transformed into one of the world’s finest hotels in 1873, Villa d’Este now celebrates its 150th hotel season. The hotel will embark its guests on a journey of glamour and history of its grounds, having hosted the world’s greatest in cinema, art, literature, politics and business over the years. With so much legendary tradition behind it, the hotel continues to pursue innovation and its cherished traditions and remains an icon in the industry. This will also be celebrated at the vehicle class dedicated to the Villa: “Celebrating 150 seasons at Villa d’Este: how grand entrances were once made.” 

On May 22, the last day of the event, Villa Erba will also host the “Wheels & Weisswürscht” event under a more relaxed theme of “Casually Celebrating Cars” with the authentic Bavarian flavours from the organiser’s home region. The event will be an occasion for many automobile enthusiasts to make their collections accessible to visitors, with a special area reserved for automotive stars from the history of BMW M. 

At the Villa d’Este, the weekend will culminate with the top-placed participating vehicles and concept cars being exhibited on its grounds and of course, the awards celebration. 

We are honoured to be invited again to the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2022. Stay tuned for upcoming ellectric content on the beautiful Lake Como.

Pictures: BMW Group