Last weekend was the 15th annual Italian Concours d’ Elegance in Des Moines, WA. The show was full of gorgeous Italian motorcycles and cars which are arguably the most beautiful machines on earth.
The people that attend this exhibit stand firmly south of the Alps in the Italian vs. German design and engineering debate. Germans make marvelous cars and the engineering is perfect, but the Italians do just a little bit more to make them art, and many of the greats were on display. The artistry wasn’t just visual either; Ferraris and Ducatis were making their own music periodically throughout the show.
The show was well attended in the auto category with a large contingent of Lamborghinis and Ferraris. Their smaller cousins were in attendance as well by Fiat and a few shining Alfa Romeos. Somehow the show was even infiltrated by a few pieces of British Iron; a couple of gorgeous Aston Martins looked on.
A smaller showing of Aprilia and Ducati motorcycles were on display as well. Most of these fit into the vintage category and a couple shining examples of retro design from Ducati’s Sportclassic line. In surprisingly short supply were the modern superbikes where only a few examples were on display. These were swarmed by kids and I was never able to get a look, never mind a photo.
We didn’t stay long enough for the judging of this event and therefore cannot report on the outcome but that information should become available soon through the Concours’ website.
Italian Concours d’ Elegance Photo Gallery:
I’d like to thank Seattleforge for the info and pics. Please view the Seattleforge Flickr page for more pictures, as well as higher resolution versions of the pictures displayed here.
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