Ryan Merrill
While it’s commonly held that the collector-car microcosm revolves around Northern California’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, another exhibition has comparable gravitational pull when it comes to attracting the finest automobiles in the world: the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. The latter, founded in 1929 at its namesake hotel flanking Italy’s Lake Como, differs from its stateside counterpart in that it displays no more than 50 rarefied examples of the most prestigious classic models—and to a limited number of cognoscenti. This year, the four-wheel fete (running May 23 through 25) has brought Broad Arrow Auctions into its orbit for a two-day sale.
“Villa d’Este is the grandest of Concours d’Elegance and the oldest,” says Simon Kidston, renowned Geneva-based collector, market analyst, and purveyor of classic cars. “Broad Arrow are the new kids on the auction block, so I think it’s a cocktail which should produce some fireworks.” Here, his insights on five stellar lots—each promising its own moment of spectacle.
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1. 1948 Ferrari 166 Spyder Corsa
Image Credit: Ryan Merrill One of the first two Prancing Horses ever sold by Enzo Ferrari, this 166 Spyder Corsa—chassis No. 004 C—was originally purchased in 1948 by Soave Besana (his brother Gabriele got the other). Bodied by Carrozzeria Ansaloni and born to race, the roadster took sixth place at that year’s Targa Florio, competed in consecutive Mille Miglia endurance contests, and was campaigned in numerous other motorsport events. Retaining its original body, engine, and gearbox, it’s touted by the auction house as “quite possibly the most original early Ferrari extant,” which easily explains its class win at the 2004 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. “The origin of the species, but not what the younger generation of collectors think when they hear ‘Ferrari,’ ” says Kidston. “They should be worth more than they are: This will need someone small of stature but big of wallet,” he says of the diminutive car, which is being auctioned for the first time.
Estimate: Approx. $6 million to $8.1 million
Number build: Nine
Engine: 2.0-liter Colombo V-12
Output: 108 hp
Top Speed: 105 mph
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2. 1949 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport Coupe
Image Credit: Liberda Studio Debuted in 1947, French marque Talbot-Lago’s short-wheelbase T26 Grand Sport was, for a fleeting span, the fastest production car on the planet. Only 32 chassis of the model were made, each mated to a six-cylinder power plant. Chassis No. 110102 was one of two dressed by coachbuilder Dubos Frères, and the only one still with us. An award-winner at the 1949 Concours d’Élégance du Bois de Boulogne, it was later bought and raced in period by sports-car dealer Otto Zipper before moving on to multiple owners and receiving a frame-off restoration in 1997. “Dubos isn’t Figoni & Falaschi, the most flamboyant and sought-after coachbuilder to body these cars, but it’s a lot (literally) of car to get you on the lawn at the world’s top-flight concours events,” says Kidston. Regarding the dashboard alone, he refers to it as “Gallic eccentricity at its stylish best.”
Estimate: Approx. $1.3 million to $1.6 million
Number build: 32
Engine: 4.5-liter, six-cylinder twin cam
Output: 190 hp
Top Speed: 120+ mph
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3. 2022 Ford GT
Image Credit: Courtesy of Broad Arrow Auctions Carrying on the legacy of Ford’s GT40 race car, storied for its milestone podium sweep over Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966, the Blue Oval marque reimagined the model as the first-generation Ford GT in 2004. A second generation was revealed 11 years later, then fittingly introduced as an entry in the 2016 edition of Le Mans, taking first and third in the LMGTE Pro class. Production of the street-legal iteration yielded 1,350 examples, and the one set to cross the auction block through Broad Arrow—consigned by the original owner—was specified for Italy and is pristine, with only 33 miles on it (at the time of cataloging).
“Another area Broad Arrow are making their own: modern hypercars,” says Kidston. “This one has great colors and virtually negative mileage, the ultimate trump card amongst owners… and the price is keen. Don’t tell anybody, but I actually quite like it.”
Estimate: Approx. $569,000 to $678,000
Number build: 1,350
Engine: Twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6
Output: 660 hp
Top Speed: 216 mph
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4. 1990 Citroën ZX Rallye Raid
Image Credit: Tom Clutterbuck Motorsport ventured gloriously off the beaten path in the 1970s with the introduction of the World Rally Championship series. Citroën’s factory team campaigned this ZX Rallye Raid car—Citroën Sport No. C05—through four seasons. Highlights of its career include a fourth-place finish at the 1990 Pharaohs Rally, third place at the same race the following year, and finishes in three consecutive variations of the famed Paris-Dakar Rally, where sixth place in 1991 was its best result.
After being sequestered by Citroën for nearly two decades, the car was acquired privately in 2011 and given a ground-up restoration. It has since competed in the Goodwood Festival of Speed and been presented at the Salon Privé Concours d’Elegance. “Definitely one for the video-game generation,” says Kidston. “Broad Arrow are strong in this niche, and it’ll
be interesting to see if this flies on the auction podium as it once did on gravel.”Estimate: Approx. $515,000 to $569,000
Number build: Believed to be 29
Engine: Turbocharged inline four
Output: 320 hp
Top Speed: 127 mph
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5. 1958 BMW 507 Series II Roadster
Image Credit: Paolo Carlini Rivaling the open-top Mercedes-Benz 300 SL in beauty if not brawn, BMW’s 507 Series II Roadster is far more difficult to find, as only 252 were built from 1955 though 1959. Due to its ethereal styling (from prolific designer Albrecht Graf Goertz) manifested in hand-formed aluminum, the car was coveted—and acquired—by the glitterati of the day, including Elvis Presley, Ursula Andress, and the King of Belgium. Chassis No. 70127 was under the attentive stewardship of the same family for 46 years and has had just two owners since. Considered BMW’s “ultimate model,” by Kidston, he points out that it “almost bankrupt the company as it went so far over budget.” As for the drive experience, it “feels and sounds like a Riva speedboat behind the wheel, the ultimate ‘Deutsche Vita’ cruiser,” he says, further opining that “adding non-original wheels is a small black mark, but one of the iconic models any collector would like to own.”
Estimate: $2.1 million to $2.5 million
Number build: 252
Engine: 3.2-liter overhead-valve V-8
Output: 148 hp
Top Speed: 127 mph
Authors
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Viju Mathew
