The World’s Rarest Cars on Show at Lake Como, Italy

Nobody let a little rain dampen the display of many of the industry’s most beautiful designs, with highlights including a rare factory brown 1967 Ferrari and a one-of-a-kind BMW.

For those fatigued by the hordes populating the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, here’s a new goal: The Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, a multi-day show and promenade held annually on the shores of Lake Como, Italy.

Sponsored primarily by BMW Group and the German watchmaker A. Lange & Sohne, the concourse displays 50 of the most expensive and beautiful collectible cars in the world from 1925 to today. These are the blue-bloods of the car world, like a 1936 Bentley 4 ¼ Litre, a 1960 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta, a 1985 Aston Martin V8 Vantage—plus a Lamborghini driven by Princess Grace and a BMW roadster owned by Elvis Presley.

The Villa d’Este concours started as a way for automakers to show new cars to prospective buyers and to celebrate winning racecars in town from Milan and Munich. Now it is perhaps the most stunningly arranged car show in the world, with the historic Grand Hotel Villa d’Este mansion as its backdrop, and prices for the value of most of the cars on display nearing or surpassing $1 million each. And that tally excludes the few lucky one-of-one modern creations that earned the right to be parked in such rarefied air as well. Those included the $12.5 million Bugatti La Voiture Noire and the priceless BMW Garmisch, which was created as an homage after a lost BMW concept car from 1970. Tickets for Saturday’s private viewing event starting at €490 ($550) per person.

The cars were displayed over the course three days on the lawn of the Villa d’Este and the Villa Erba estate grounds. Guests from France, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, England, South Africa, Japan and beyond wore summer suits with straw boaters and floral dresses with wedged heels while they took photos of the cars, sipped champagne, and ate beef sirloin. A string quartet played on the lawn.

Late afternoon rains slowed some of the ladies in the highest heels, but not our photographer. Here is a look at the best of what we saw.