BMW bringing a mystery M car and a one-off droptop to Villa d'Este
It’s almost time to gather on the shores of Italy’s Lake Como again for the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2023. The event, May 19-21 at the Grand Hotel Villa d’Este, is a staple on BMW’s calendar, the Munich automaker have marshaled the event for more than 20 years. As usual, the Germans will bring several specials to park on the grounds, and as usual, we have nothing more than one-line hints about what they’ll be. BMW M’s showcase is going to count at least two new cars, one of them the new 3.0 CSL, an original 1973 BMW 3.0 CSL tagging along to keep the modern coupe honest. Guests are going to see another “very special M car” as well, and the BMW i7 comes dressed in M Performance trim with a new two-tone livery. We expect the battery-electric sedan to be the i7 M70 long promised to be the most powerful BMW 7 Series with more than 600 horsepower.
BMW’s going to straddle several eras with the “premiere of an elegantly sporty, one-off homage to motoring for two.” Based on where the industry’s gone lately, this could be anything from a concept that will never leave Munich display rooms to an extravagantly precious customer commission.
The Europe-only Mini Cooper SE Convertible is making the trip to Italy 125 miles at a time, as is an electric scooter from BMW Motorrad. The motorcycle arm already had the C 400 GT electric scooter and debuted the CE 04 electric scooter in 2021, so it sounds like we’ll either see a third model join the range or a new take on the CE 04.
The weekend’s full of events, and there are plenty of prizes for concourse entrants to vie for. The eight primary categories winning silverware are:
A century of the 24 Hours of Le Mans: Heroes of the most famous race in the world
The fast and the formal: Pre-war high-speed luxury
Grande Vitesse: Pre-war weekend racers
Incredible India: The dazzling motoring indulgences of the mighty maharajas
Porsche at 75: Delving into the Stuttgart legend’s iconic and eccentric back catalogue
Granturismo: Experimenting with the post-war European GT
That ‘Made in Italy’ look: Styles which conquered new worlds
Here comes the sun: ‘Topless’ done differently!
There are also going to be special awards for “spectacular concept cars from various manufacturers,” a Coppa d’Oro for the guest favorite, the Trofeo del Presidente presented by the head of BMW Group Classic, and the Trofeo Il Canto del Motore for the best engine note, presented by German operatic tenor tenor and BMW Group Classic brand ambassador Jonas Kaufmann.
Anyone who wants to get away to Cernobbio for the weekend of May 19-21 can get tickets here.
