One of the grandest events in the international car calendar, the Concorso d’Eleganza at the Villa d’Este in Tivoli celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2009. Essentially an automotive beauty contest, the Concorso dates from the grand era of coachbuilding, when the sturdy mechanical underpinnings of the great European manufacturers were graced by flowing bodywork hand-made by the many hundreds of small workshops devoted to creating truly unique motor cars.
As the art of coachbuilding was usurped by modern production methods - the intergrated body and chassis - and the evaporation of their core clientele in the years following the war, the original competition fizzled out in 1949. In 1995 it was revived for the modern era, ostensibly as a platform for the very upper end of the historic vehicle market, bringing together those responsible for keeping these most rarefied and iconic cars alive. A few years later, the BMW Group stepped in to offer patronage of the whole event, maintaining the classic car focus but also encouraging design debuts from around the world, from big names as well as small studios.
Photographer Henrik Jauert brings us his highlights of the 2009 Concorso, a year that saw a renewed focus on both beauty and innovation
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This listed house in London is transformed through a contemporary celebration of the archSegmental House, a listed house transformation by Dominic McKenzie Architects, taps into the playful powers of the contemporary arch
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The Rolls-Royce Ghost Series II glides into the DMs of the world’s 1 per centThe Series II version of the ‘Baby Rolls’ has slight but sophisticated revisions to keep this hefty saloon in the targets of an increasingly idiosyncratic and individualist buyer
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The 24 best photographs of 2024, shot for the pages of Wallpaper*Photography editor, Sophie Gladstone, completes her year in review, with some personal highlights from Wallpaper* photographers in 2024
