This year, I will attend the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance for the 23rd time. I have gone to The Amelia, The Quail, Hilton Head, and just about any other concours you can think of more than 15 times over the years. I have shown, written, spectated, and judged at most of these events, so I feel I have an excellent breadth and depth of experience in this world. None of it prepared me for what I saw at Concorso d’ Eleganza Villa d’Este 2025, presented by BMW Group Classic.
I had heard from friends who had previously attended this event just how good it was. They all called it the best concours they had ever attended, but I was still skeptical given my experience at Pebble Beach. I thought, Sure, it is probably a nice show, maybe similar to the first few years at The Quail. I was wrong.
I have been struggling for the past few days over how best to explain the event. After thinking about what I saw and what others had said while there, here is the best I have offer.
On Saturday morning, just as I arrived at the Villa d’Este resort, I ran into a really good friend who is a collector car dealer and big-time collector. He has shown at The Amelia and Pebble Beach multiple times and won at them as well. We caught up a little, then both of us went quiet as we watched the cars roll in and get positioned for the concours. After looking at the parade of cars for about 10 minutes, my friend summed up Villa d’Este perfectly when he said, “I have entered this event five times in a row and none of the cars I entered have ever been accepted. Now I understand why.” Yes, this show is that amazing.
The Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este describes itself as “a visual celebration of automotive artistry and elegance.” That is a good way to sum up the event, but it still does not begin to give you a feel for it.
The schedule runs from Thursday through Sunday, with a tour on Thursday for entrants and a Friday cocktail affair followed by a truly gourmet dinner at Villa d’Este. The evening ends with BMW unveiling several very special vehicles. Saturday is the by-invitation-only portion of Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, with 54 cars on display, all evaluated by the best team of judges (led by my friend Kris Kramer) I have ever seen, followed by the awards ceremony. While this is happening, there is a “cars and coffee”-style event at Villa Erba next door. On Sunday, the 54 Villa d’Este cars are shown at Villa Erba, with the public invited to see them. At the end of Sunday evening, the Best of Show winner is announced at the event’s final dinner.
At the Friday cocktail party/dinner, BMW came out of the gate fast with a new model introduction. This year’s debut was the 2026 M2 CS, a car that is likely to sell out quickly and wear the crown as the quickest gasoline-powered M car available. Its designer explained the new body panels, increased power, and other little details that separate it from the standard and already amazing M2.
After a delicious, world-class dinner that was akin to one you would enjoy at a Michelin star-winning restaurant, BMW made two more introductions on the grounds of the resort. The first was the Concept Speedtop, a shooting brake GT car that will actually be produced (just like the Skytop that was introduced at Villa d’Este last year) and likely be limited to 50 examples. This really is a concept car brought to life, one that you can actually drive. The second was the BMW RR concept motorcycle, which is likely the quickest motorcycle the company has ever built.
Saturday began early, as it usually does at any concours d’elegance; I was on the show field just before 8 a.m. After meeting up with the friend I mentioned earlier, we walked the grounds to see what was around. The first thing I came across was a pair of Rolls-Royces. One was the Phantom used as the villain’s car in the 1964 James Bond film “Goldfinger.” The other was the new 1-of-1 Phantom Goldfinger, which is full of Easter eggs from the film. As a big James Bond fan, I was stopped in my tracks by these cars.
The cars on display at Villa d’Este were nothing short of perfection on wheels. The way they were carefully displayed only added to the atmosphere of the event. It was quite obvious that whomever set the show field was very aware of each car’s background, which, combined with the cars themselves, raised the concept of a concours to an otherworldly level. Take a look at the photos and you will get the idea.
One surprise at the event was running into my friend Dirk de Groen, a collector I know from the BMWCCA (BMW Car Club of America) and various concours, including Hilton Head. Dirk was showing his perfectly restored 1957 BMW 507 roadster. He had a book documenting the restoration that was completed just in time for the event. After flipping through the book and seeing the work done on the 507, I can say the final result was definitely worth the effort. When Dirk bought the car, it was a bit of a mess, but the multiyear restoration he commissioned transformed it into what is probably one of the best examples of a 507 in the world.
After spending a few hours looking at the cars at Villa d’Este, Dirk and I took a water taxi to nearby Villa Erba for the Amici & Automobili – Wheels & Weisswürscht event. The water taxi ride was something out of a James Bond film. The gorgeous wood-hulled boat took us on a scenic route on Lake Como to the event. The view over the bow was stellar, as was the interior.
Wheels & Weisswürscht was, in essence, a cars and coffee event, but it was like nothing I had ever seen before. There were, of course, scores of BMWs, all parked by series and (in most cases) by year, with some special cars parked in small groups. The most amazing of those was the 16 E36 BMW M3 GTs that were in attendance – a significant percentage of them, considering that there are only 200 in the world.
Various Italian, British, and other German cars were also in attendance. There was even a vintage BMW motorcycle club display of some amazing old bikes.
After spending about an hour there, Dirk and I again took the amazing wood-hulled water taxi back to Villa d’Este for lunch and the awards presentation, which is called “The Parade.” Simon Kitson served as the MC for that part of the event, which was different from any other concours because guests were sitting at tables along the path the cars took to receive their awards.
Another surprise was that my friend Dirk won the Coppa d’Oro (a.k.a. People’s Choice Award) at Villa d’Este. That might not sound impressive until you consider that the people who voted were the attendees at Villa d’Este, and a select group of entrants, journalists, and VIP guests.
Sunday, all the cars from Villa d’Este headed over to Villa Erba for the general public portion of the concours. Reasonably priced tickets for this part of the event are available to all, but are limited to 20,000. If that sounds like a lot of people, keep in mind that the grounds at Villa d’Este are so spacious that the cars on display are never blocked by crowds of people.
In addition to the Villa d’Este entrants, there were also other cars on display. This year, the most impressive group consisted of every BMW Works-raced 328. It was the very first time all these cars had been gathered at the same time and place. The display was tasteful and extremely well curated. There were no huge signs – just info on signage that framed the entire group. It was a museum-quality exhibit along the lines of the Museum of Modern Art or the Louvre.
Just down from the 328s was the BMW Art Car display. The walls of the hallway were covered with images of the various BMW Art Cars and led to the actual cars on display at the end. This year’s featured Art Car was the 1992 M3 GTR painted by Sandro Chia.
Sunday’s show ended with a parade of the winning cars from Saturday, which spectators could see from the grandstands. Although it was not as exclusive as the Saturday procession, it was still the best one I have seen at any concours.
Sunday concluded with a black tie dinner back at Villa d’Este. You might notice that I have not revealed the Best of Show winner yet. That is because the winner is announced at the end of the dinner. Even those who aren’t there know when the announcement is made because it is punctuated with fireworks over the water.
This year, the Best of Show winner was the 1934 Alfa Romeo P3 from the Auriga Collection. This car is fantastic, an Alfa 8C 2900 race car that was campaigned by Scuderia Ferrari. What a deserving winner!
The Best of Show winner receives a wonderful trophy specially made by A. Lange & Söhne and the satisfaction of knowing their car beat the absolute best ones at the world’s most exclusive and magnificent concours d’elegance.
If you have always wanted to attend Villa d’Este, here are a few tips. The only way to get into the Saturday show is to display a car, be invited, or sign up for the waitlist for the special Villa d’Este hotel package. That being said, the Villa Erba Saturday event is open to spectators and tickets are available. It may be the second-best day in concours events behind Saturday at Villa d’Este. You can get more info at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este website.
I want to thank my friends Tom Plucinsky and Helmut Käs from BMW Group Classic for sending me to the best concours event on the planet. I now understand what all the fuss is about and hope my story here conveys the grandeur of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.
