Couldn’t get to the 2016 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este? We’ve got the story!

17 October, 2016

Villa d’Este is not only home to beautiful people, it has also been home to the world of beautiful motor cars since 1929, when the first Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este took place.

Originally the event demonstrated the latest vehicles built by the great coachbuilders of the time, but since the 1990s it has become the pre-eminent celebration of classic cars.

The 2016 Concorso once again displayed the very best of the best in the automobile world, with just 52 classic cars, six prototypes and concept cars, and 30 motorbikes, all divided into appropriate groups to be judged by the jury, which included Charles Lord March — organizer of the Goodwood Revival, Adolfo Orsi — the Maserati expert, and a host of top car designers led by Lorenzo Ramaciotti, formerly head of design at Pininfarina, chief design officer of the Fiat Group, and now special advisor to the CEO of the Fiat Chrysler Automobile Group.

We’ve put together a gallery from the event for you to explore to try to evoke the feeling of being in amongst the action!

Check out our full story in the November issue of New Zealand Classic Car (Issue No. 311).

Grab a print copy of the mag now!

A second dose of Dash

24 April, 2025

When the car arrived in Wellington in December 2018 it was duly taken along for entry certification. Vehicle Inspection NZ (VINZ) found some wrongly wired lamps and switches — not too bad — but, much more significantly, some poor welding repairs. As the structural problems were probed more thoroughly, we realized the previous owner’s restoration would not do and we needed an upgrade. Dash had made it into the country but it would take some time and money before he would be free to explore any of New Zealand’s scenic highways.
We took the car to our new home in Johnsonville in the northern suburbs of Wellington and I pored over the car in detail to figure out what was next. There were lots of new parts on the car and a very perky reconditioned drivetrain but the chassis needed serious work.

Lunch with… Jim Palmer

16 April, 2025

In the 1960s, Hamilton’s Jim Palmer won the prestigious ‘Gold Star’ four times and was the first resident New Zealander home in the New Zealand Grand Prix on five consecutive occasions. He shared the podium with Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart, and Chris Amon. The extent of his domination of the open-wheeler scene in New Zealand will probably never be matched or exceeded. Yet he’s always been modest about his achievements.

Couldn’t get to the 2016 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este? We’ve got the story!

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