The BMW Museum in Munich was the venue for one of the automotive industry’s most prestigious awards ceremonies. Held on the eve of the Geneva motor show, the winners were...

...well, before we come to that, a few short words on the awards themselves. Every year since 2005, the famous French design house has recognised excellence in the closely related fields of Classic Concours, for historic cars, and Classic Concept, an award presented to a modern designer making the most significant contribution to the styling of today’s cars.

So, the Louis Vuitton Classic Concours Award is given to a Best of Show winner at one of the world's most prestigious automobile concours d’elegance, and the Louis Vuitton Classic Concept Award is presented to a modern concept car that has the potential to win one of the major concours d’elegance in 40 years' time.

The illustrious jury, chaired by Christian Philippsen, convened at the 2009 Frankfurt motor show to decide which two cars would be most worthy of awards. After much deliberation, it was decided that the Louis Vuitton Classic Concours Award 2009/10 would go to American Jon Shirley’s Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B Touring Berlinetta.

The modern, Louis Vuitton Classic Concept Award 2009/10 was presented to Adrian Van Hooydonk, Design Director of BMW, for the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics.

"A vehicle can both take the current sustainable mobility concerns into consideration and seduce,” said Christian Philippsen.

“The proof? The breathtaking BMW Vision EfficientDynamics. Its entwined lines are good for a Cx of 0.22 and its avant-garde technology delivers a mileage of over 25km/litre with an acceleration of 0-100km/h in less than four seconds. Everything is [a] pleasure inside the luminous cockpit and at the wheel of this thoroughbred!"

Text: Steve Wakefield
Photos: Louis Vuitton