Concorso Report: A. Lange & Söhne’s Highlights from the Villa d’Este Classic Car Event

All the news from the recent Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in Italy was as pleasant as the weekend event’s fair, sunny weather along the southern shores of Lake Como.

As a partner of the Concorso since 2012, watchmaker A. Lange & Söhne has an insider’s understanding of the significance and popularity of this most elegant of classic car happenings.

Here are the brand’s takeaways and its expertly taken pulse on how this year’s festivities unfolded.

There was a notable shift in the demographics of the show attendees and participants at this year’s Concorso. The road outside of the Villa d’Este was jam-packed with younger fans from all over Europe for the final night, frantically creating content for their social media feeds.

Additionally, there were many more younger owner-drivers and women participants than you typically see at these events. Owner Yuka Fukuda particularly stood out as she proudly piloted her 1972 De Tomaso-Pantera Group 4 coupe during the festivities.
 

Of course, with that diversity comes an uptick in watch knowledge and appreciation, as more and more people make that timepiece-automotive connection. Clearly, the days of the stuffier, old-school concours are giving way to a newer generation of aficionados.

While multiple awards are given to the superb show cars that participated, the “Best of Show” winner is the one everybody is on tenterhooks to find out about. This year’s top award went to this Alfa Romeo Tipo B (nicknamed “P3”) roadster.
 

This roaring-red 1933 chassis/1934 model year vehicle won Grand Prix championships in Nice, Tripoli, and Berlin in its day, with this example currently owned by Germany’s privately held Vesta Auriga Collection. (Fun Fact: A young Enzo Ferrari was handed the P3 design reins in 1933.)
 

At a gala dinner on the final evening of the Concorso, A. Lange & Söhne CEO Wilhelm Schmid presented representatives of Auriga with a one-of-a-kind 1815 Chronograph, dubbed the “Como Edition,” in white gold with a solid pink-gold dial. (Fun Fact: The “1815” in the watch’s moniker honors the birth year of brand founder Ferdinand Adolf Lange.)
 

“The 1815 Chronograph perfectly expresses the similarities between motorsport and timekeeping. Each of the 306 movement components is completed with the utmost precision in our manufacture in Glashütte,” Schmid told Watchonista. “In addition, each calibre is assembled twice to coordinate the interaction of all parts perfectly.”
 

In addition to winning Best in Show, the Alfa Romeo Tipo B also won the sporty Class B category. Meanwhile, an intriguing Bugatti racing roadster received the honorable mention in that class.
 

Probably Bugatti’s last true Grand Prix racing car, this 1933 Bugatti Type 59 is owned by American collector Gregory Manocherian.

In its inaugural year as the official Concorso auctioneer, upstart Broad Arrow Auctions managed to rack up a show record with the €7.5 million hammer price of an exquisite, rarely seen 1948 Ferrari 166 Spyder Corsa (one of only two Corsas commissioned by an early customer of the automaker).
 

Another even-more-yeti-like (that is to say, near-mythic) auction highlight was a Bond-worthy 1954 Motto-bodied Siata 208S Spider, which went for €1.75 million.