Genoa, January 11 – There is already great anticipation for the first edition of The Unique Cars International Concours, which will be held in Rome from September 21 to 23, 2007.
The Concours aims to take its place in the calendar of important international events dedicated to the design and culture of the Car due to the exceptional nature of the cars involved, the prestigious locations and the high level of organisation.
MAC Events is finalising the organisational details and identifying the partners that support this new initiative and wish to contribute to the success of a gathering which will bring together cars that are unique in every way, in the magical setting of the Eternal City. As is now customary in all such events, in addition to the exhibition of cars selected from those in the Unique Cars International Register and divided into categories, there will also be an extensive display organised in conjunction with the Styling Centres of the manufacturers and coachbuilders that have enrolled their prototypes in the Register, creating an interesting comparison between the designs of different periods and the trends now emerging regarding the cars of the future.
THE PROGRAMME OF THE CONCOURS AND THE LOCATIONS
Locations that are unique in themselves will provide the setting for the various parts of the Concours, to recreate an atmosphere worthy of a great occasion like the Concorso del Pincio, which was held in Villa Borghese in 1947 and reserved initially for the great coachbuilders. The Unique Cars International Concours will mark the 60th anniversary of this event.
The display of the cars, the proceedings of the jury made up of a board of experts and of Italian and foreign designers, and the various entertainments during the Concours, will take place in the splendid setting of Casina Valadier, an historical residence in the Pincio park, where in the past the great Roman families had the largest, most ornate gardens in the city. The programme also envisages a parade and a presentation of the cars to the public in the Piazza di Spagna.
Participants will be accommodated at the Westin Excelsior Hotel, located close to the Pincio. This is one of Rome’s most prestigious hotels, and is situated in the capital’s most glamorous street, Via Veneto, the traditional meeting place of the international jet set, and populated by celebrities from the worlds of culture art and entertainment. Participants may register from Friday afternoon and depart on Monday morning.
THE UNIQUE CARS INTERNATIONAL REGISTER
The Concours is part of the activities of this register. Participation will be limited to cars that have registered with The Unique Cars International Register. The aim of the Register is to collect and disseminate information about cars built as one-off models, prototypes, cars that are the sole remaining examples of a small, limited series, show and concept cars, rare cars (of which fewer than 20 were built or have survived), and the concept cars that manufacturers and their Styling Centres have used to study new lines and to experiment with cutting-edge technologies.
A special category of the register is dedicated to cars that are unique because they are linked to legendary racing victories or because they belonged to famous people. In the site www.uniquecars.org, enthusiasts will find web pages dedicated to cars already registered.
Most of these are cars from collections owned by car manufacturers and from private museums and collections, all of which are of great historical interest. Each web page contains numerous photographs, a spec sheet, certificates, a list of prizes received, and the main articles from existing press digests, recreating the history and publishing anecdotes and curious facts about the cars. Fans will find detailed information and data about each car that will help to trace its history and past. The Register’s site is easy to consult and its bulletins provide information about any new cars that have been enrolled.
THE CARS ALREADY ENROLLED
Several collectors have already signed up for this initiative, which provides them with a web page for each of their cars. The address of the page dedicated to their car can then be sent by email to invite other people to visit the page, and to spread information about the car with a simple click of a mouse.
Lancia is entering several of the large number of one-off cars in its official collection. Web pages already created include those for the Lancia Flaminia 2.5 Coupé Loraymo that was designed for his own use by Raymond Loewy, the well known car stylist as well as the designer of the Coca-Cola bottle, built on the floorpan of the Flaminia Coupé 2.5 by the Turin coachbuilder Motto, and exhibited at the Paris Motor Show in 1960, and for the Lancia D50 Formula 1 of 1954 designed by Vittorio Jano, highly successful in the racing world in those years. Among the cars that became famous for other reasons, is the Graef & Stift of 1910 in which the heir to the Hapsburg throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife Sofia, were assassinated, the episode famous for having sparked off the First World War. The car’s web page was compiled by the Historical Museum of Vienna, where the car is kept.
Numerous museums have submitted material to insert in the register. Web pages will soon be ready for one-off models from the Alfa Romeo Museum of Arese, the Stanguellini Museum, the Nicolis Museum, the Turin Automobile Museum, the Maranello Rosso collection, the Zagato collection and several others such as the Karmann and the Monteverdi collections.
Several private collections have already enrolled, making available information about cars that are rarely shown in public. For example, web pages of meticulously compiled information has been submitted by Corrado Lopresto, a collector who has been awarded numerous prizes over the years. His is the Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Sport Stabilimenti Farina of 1947, which won the Concorso del Pincio that year, to which a tribute will be paid in September, as well as a recent prize at Villa d’Este in 2003, and the Louis Vuitton Classic International Concours in 2004.
Then there is the 1963 prototype of the Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider, with historical photographs taken at Carrozzeria Bertone and the sketches by Ernesto Cattoni, the designer of the Alfa Romeo Styling Centre. These are pages from history that have come out of the archives, collected with passion and now online, at everyone’s disposal.
For further information, please contact the secretary of the register directly, c/o MAC Events,
on +39 0105302836 or by email to [email protected] and visit www.uniquecars.org