Auto Design

The Concorso d’Eleganza di Villa d’Este this years has been as good as the weather. That is to say that half of it was very good, with peaks of excellence, and the remaining half was bad, raining and boring, with touches of ugliness.

 By the end of the elegant week-end on the Lake of Como, one would say it was not one the best edition ever but still offered enough interesting cars to look at, people to greet and talk to, and subjects to discuss.

As such it was one not to be missed. Those who did not attend it missed the extremely rare chance of hearing the sibilo and smelling the pollution of its turbine engine, not to mention seeing this extraordinary visualisation of the dreams about the cars of the future they were dreaming in the fifties and sixties.

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Obviously, the American gentleman and car connoisseur Mr. Peter S. Kalikow loves cars and the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. Two years ago he visited the Concorso with his brand new Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, subtly redesigned exclusively for him by Pininfarina.

Last year he returned to the Concorso with his stunning Ferrari 250 GT Serie 1, 1958 and went back home with a new trophy.

This year he is coming back again with a very intriguing car which story must be said.

When Mr. Kalikov visited the New York Auto Show in 1957, he became an instant fan of European cars. This passion led him to Alfred Momo of the New York Jaguar Garage, and a close friendship was to ensue. One day, some years later, Kalikov and Momo travelled to Italy, to drive cars and meet all the key personalities of the car world: Enzo Ferrari, Sergio Pininfarina, and the Orsi brothers. In 1967, Mr. Kalikow sought Momo’s opinion before deciding whether to order a new Aston Martin DBS and what emerged from their conversation was the happy idea of designing a sports car of their own. Against the advice of his family, Kalikow decided to build a four-seater GT for the American market to fill the gap between the spirited Ferrari and the luxurious and comfortable Rolls-Royce. In Pietro Frua he quickly found a designer and coachbuilder. The original plan to turn out 25 vehicles a year fell victim to high production costs and an ailing economic environment. And so just five cars were built, three of which remained in Peter S. Kalikow’s ownership. One of them will be participating at the Concorso on April 24 through 26.

BMW and the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este will be celebrating their 80^th anniversary this year with a very special edition that will also mark the ten anniversary of the BMW sponsorship and involvement of the famous event on the banks of Lake Como. Although BMW was established in 1916 (as a constructor of aircraft engines) the company built its first passenger car in 1929 after becoming famous for its motorcycles. Read the rest of this entry »