Concorso d’Eleganza di Kyoto
Kyoto, Japan 29 March – 3 April
CHERRY BLOSSOM created the magic background for the second Concorso d’Eleganza di Kyoto, held at the 400-year-old Nijō Castle. Carrozzeria Touring was the celebrated coachbuilder this year, and 16 of the cars built by the famed Milanese officina were on display, including the car that was judged Best in Show, a 1951 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Villa d’Este, one of only 31 believed built and 20 known to survive, which belongs to Italian collector Nicola Livon.
‘The Alfa 6C Villa d’Este is among the most beautiful cars ever built,’ said head judge Antonio Ghini, now the man in charge of the Lamborghini Museum at Sant’Agata Bolognese. His team included car designers Shiro Nakamura (styling chief at Nissan for 18 years) and Louis de Fabribeckers of Carrozzeria Touring.
The public vote went to the 1971 Lamborghini Miura SV of Japanese collector Eizo Tomita, who has owned it for more than 25 years. In recent years it has undergone a comprehensive restoration and received Lamborghini Polo Storico certification.
As well as the Miura, one of the most admired cars on the field was the 1946 Fiat 1100 Frua Spider belonging to American collector David Word. It was the first car built by Pietro Frua, who had left his post as director of styling at Pinin Farina just before the Second World War. ‘It is a very interesting car,’ said US-based classic car historian Donald Osborne, ‘not only because it was the first to be built by Frua but because it sports some of the details that, in later years, would become a trademark for Frua. It is selfevident how the project was developed on a budget, hence the almost total lack of chrome parts and plentiful use of readily available components.’
Other notable cars included the 1962 Maserati 3500 GT of Japanese collector Hidetomo Kimura, which was first owned by Hollywood superstar Liz Taylor. Meanwhile, the Craftsman Award went to the Delfino (‘Dolphin’), built as a one-off at Martelleria Artigiana for the 1926 International Exhibition in Milan, after the 17-year-old Alfredo Acquati approached FIAT for the loan of a 1926 509 chassis and persuaded his boss to allow him to create a car that would show what their shop was capable of.