The 2014 edition of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este competition, May 23-24, could not have gone better for Maserati, especially in this year of celebrations marking the centenary of the company’s foundation.
Indeed, Maseratis earned some of the highest awards from the judges and public alike, collecting the Best of Show prize as well as other prestigious awards including the “Design Award for Concept Cars and Prototypes.”
The surprise winner of the jury’s Best of Show trophy was the dark blue 1956 Maserati 450S, owned by Swiss entrepreneur and collector Albert Spiess. In 1956 and 1957, the Modena car manufacturer built just ten of these two-seat racing cars, fitted with a 4.5-liter, 400-hp engine and a body by Fantuzzi. This car, chassis number 4502, left for the United States in October 1956 and was originally purchased by Tony Parravano. It went on to compete in a number of races, meanwhile changing ownership several times before coming into the possession of the present day Swiss owner. At Villa d’Este, the 450S also triumphed in its own racing category, “For the track—racing for glory”, reserved, as the name suggests, for racing models from the 1950s and ’60s.
In the special centenary category “Maserati—the first century”, six Maserati cars from different eras were in the running, the V4 Sport from 1929 (chassis 4002) outshone its “sister” models, taking the jury’s top award, while the jury awarded an A6GCS Berlinetta the Auto & Design Trophy for the most thrilling style. Pininfarina made only four chassis of this model, but it was this design that provided the Maserati Style Centre with inspiration for creating the 2014 Alfieri concept car (inset, above), which earned important recognition from the public at the parade held at Villa Erba, as it scooped the Design Award for Concept Cars & Prototypes, signifying it as the most exciting prototype of the 2014 event.
