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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Jonathan Sharp

London Concours June 3-5, 2025

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1978 Ferrari 308 GTB. This example was purchased from Cooper’s of Leicester via Tony Willis, to the sales director of BMW Concessionaires TKM.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

After several long trips to Italy to follow my passion for old cars, a trip from Brighton to the London Concours was a pleasant diversion. It is but a short train ride up to the capital; catch a Thameslink train up to London bridge station, then a pleasant stroll across London Bridge, pass the monument to the Great Fire of London, then pass the Bank of England, and a few minutes later you arrive at the green oasis that is home to the Honourable Artillery Company.

But as the train pulls into London Bridge Station it starts to rain.

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Villa Erba 2025: Italians

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Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

It’s easier to understand Villa Erba, Villa d’Este and the Fuori Concorso if we list the schedule:

Saturday, Sunday, May 24-25 Fuori Concorso
Saturday May 24 Exhibition and Inspection of the cars by the Jury, Villa d’Este
Sunday May 25 Transfer of all Historic Cars and Concept Cars to Villa Erba
Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este Public Day – Il Festival, Villa Erba

After the Fuori show (see last week) is the Villa d’Este concours, which then shifts over to the nearby Villa Erba, still on the lake shore, for the public day, which is what we cover here.

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Villa Erba 2025, Non-Italian

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Christian Troelsfeldt’s 1950 Bugatti Type 101 C by Antem. Of the one prototype and six series Bugatti 101s constructed only one, chassis,101504, carried two-seater coachwork by Antem. Commissioned by Rene Bollore, the second husband of Ettore Bugatti’s widow, chassis 101504 was originally painted dark green with chrome spoke wheels and white wall tires.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

This we covered in two parts last week. This week we continue the event coverage with the non-Italian cars featured at this year’s show at Villa Erba. Villa d’Este Class winners are listed below the gallery.

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Fuori the Bountiful

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Alfa 159

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

This was the fourth edition of the Fuori Concorso, held on the glittering shores of Lake Como on May 24. The theme chosen by the event creator Guglielmo Miani and his chief curator Andrea Luzardi was ‘Velocissimo’ a celebration of Italian motor racing. Spread across the gardens of Villa Grumello and Villa Sucato the event was certainly a sight for sore eyes. Beautiful cars, a gorgeous backdrop and beautiful weather… what more could an Italian car fan wish for. Part 1 below informs the readers via captions, Part 2, Fuori the Beautiful, is a non captioned gallery of our favorites.

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Goodwood Members Meeting Part 1

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Freddies, as in Freddie March, located just in front of the Members Market at the event, the Members market being a food hall selling street food, all very Goodwood!

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

We begin with shots from the ever-interesting Paddock, then move on to what we call the ‘Centenarian’ events. The only other time you see 100-year-old plus cars racing is at VSCC (Vintage Sports Car Club) events and Hill Climbs so racing these is probably a British thing. In fact, while some events in Europe and the U.S. have pre-WWII cars on their grids, it is much more common in the U.K. and pre-WWI cars are almost impossible to see elsewhere.

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Goodwood Members Meeting Part 2

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Star of the weekend, Frank Stippler and the Ferrari 206 Dino.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

There was lovely weather on Saturday at the Goodwood circuit for the 82nd Members Meeting, (April 12-13). Sunday was not as nice but no rain so one cannot complain. Nor can one complain about the superb races held at the Goodwood venue, and I would urge everyone to try to attend at least one Goodwood event.

This year, I witnessed what was perhaps the best race I have ever seen at Goodwood. It was the Gurney Cup (a 45 minute two-driver race for Sports Prototypes of a type that raced between 1963 and 1966) which started early on the Saturday evening.

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Lingotto: Art, Flora and Fiat

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See below for more information about this exhibit.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

Prior to planning our trip to the Lake Como Concours last May, I read that Fiat had transformed the roof top of the old Lingotto site into a garden. We decided to travel from the UK to the concours events via Turin, staying at the Lingotto Hotel for a chance to view the art and garden displays.

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Jonathan Sharp’s Car of the Year

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Advance and retard

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

So the ex-King Leopold Bugatti Type 59 was named car of the year at this year’s International Historic Motoring Awards (a public vote and a good choice, it got my vote). But this got me thinking. Of all the fantastic cars I have seen and photographed this year what would be my ‘Car of the Year’? That is a hard one, but the 1907 130HP Fiat that took part in this year’s London to Brighton Veteran car run would be very near, if not on top of my list.

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Brooklands New Years Day Classic Car Show

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1933 Duesenberg Single Seater

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

I have just bought a new camera! Not that there was anything wrong with my old one, it’s just that technology has moved on in the 10 plus years I have been using it, and when shooting indoors, unless the room is well lit, is was, to put in mildly, a bit of a pain in the butt. So a new camera, but it is early January, and I have nothing to point it at! But wait, how about The Brooklands Museum New Years Day Classic car gathering? Ideal!

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And How! VeloceToday’s Most Valuable Assets

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In addition to our comments section below each article, VeloceToday often gets very nice compliments, sent via email or included in a note with a subscription check. These comments rarely get published, but are meant as recognition of the work done by our contributors, who create the content that makes VeloceToday what it is. Magazines are nothing without good content, and therefore contributors are our greatest and most valuable assets.

They are historians, authors, editors, photographers, columnists, journalists, judges, drivers, restorers, artisans, collectors and constructors. They hail from the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Germany, France, Belgium and Italy. Here are the names of thirty-three whose contributions made the year 2024 one to remember.

Jeff Allison, Gary Axon, Giles Chapman, Bob Cullinan, Rodney Diggens, Joseph Duray, Brandes Elitch, Graham Gauld, Greg Glassner, Bob Harrington, Joe Hurwich, Stefan Ivanov, Vince Johnson, Jackie Jouret, Allen R. Kuhn, Dale LaFollette, James Lanoway, Frederic Levaux, Bernard Linck, Roberto Motta, Herb Miska, Chris Nugent, Willem Oosthoek, Paul Sable, Charley Seavey, Jonathan Sharp, Jim Sitz, Roy Smith, Sean Smith, Pete Vack, Hugues Vanhoolandt, Paul Wilson, Robert Young

A Glorious Day at Goodwood, 2019

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36 photos by Jonathan Sharp

Stop: Forget rivet counts and restoration details.
Stop: Enlarge each photo by clicking on it to double the size. Slow it down.
Stop: Enjoy the ambiance for there is nothing else quite like it in the world.
Stop: Look at the faces, feel the tension, imagine the noise, thrill with the excitement.
For this is Goodwood at its most glorious, and how great it would be there to see and hear and feel what Jonathan Sharp did on that wonderful September day in 2019.

[Read more…] about A Glorious Day at Goodwood, 2019

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