The World’s Rarest Cars, on Display at Lake Como

(Bloomberg) --  

While car lovers and manufacturers confront a robot-driven electric future that will change transportation forever, thousands gathered on the shores of Italy's Lake Como to celebrate the best of what has come since the creation of the the internal combustion engine about a century ago.

The theme for this year's Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este show was Hollywood on the Lake, featuring 51 of the world's most desirable cars and—for the only the eighth time—30 classic motorcycles. The show was first staged in 1929, just before the great Wall Street crash, to showcase Europe's storied coachbuilders. 

The Lake Como show, about an hour north of Milan, is one of the three highlights on the classic-car circuit each year and the only one in Europe. The Amelia Island, Florida, show was held in March, and the Pebble Beach, California, gathering will occur in August.

Winner of the Coppa d'Oro Villa d'Este this year was a 1968 Alfa Romeo 33/2 Stradale owned by Albert Spiess of Switzerland.

Photographs by Alberto Bernasconi/Bloomberg

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lisa Fleisher at lfleisher2@bloomberg.net

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