It all started as an experiment in 2019 when Guglielmo Miani of Milanese fashion brand Larusmiani organized a small gathering of bespoke Bentley Continentals from the 1990s at the scenic Villa del Grumello on the shores of Lake Como. And as it was the same weekend as the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este, he named his event FuoriConcorso - beyond the concours. Fast forward to 2025, and FuoriConcorso has grown into one of the most influential, elegant and exciting events of the collector car world - an annual celebration of car culture for the global community, blending Italian lifestyle with surprising themes and exhibitions. This year, Guglielmo Miani and his head curator, Andrea Luzardi, had chosen to pay homage to the history of Italian motor racing.
One could have hardly picked a more ambitious theme - after all, many of the most mythical and prescious automobiles were born in the countless workshops between Turin, Milan, Modena, and Maranello or at the country's most iconic racing events, from Monza to the Targa Florio and the Mille Miglia. But astonishingly, FuoriConcorso Velocissimo beat even the highest expectations with a bang: after all, when have you last seen a parade of the most relevant Italian F1 cars in history, the greatest Ferrari racers from early monoposti to modern endurance prototypes, the crown jewels of the Alfa Romeo Museum, and the most iconic rally machines from Lancia, all gathering in a fairytale park overlooking Lake Como, with Rivas and seaplanes roaring past? Not even in your wildest dreams!
But let's take two steps back, to the wrought iron gate at the entrance of Villa del Grumello, where visitors were greeted by a mind-bending starting grid of Formula 1's all-time greats, starting with a Alfa Romeo Tipo 159 Alfetta and featuring Scuderia Ferrari legends such as a 126 C piloted by Gilles Villeneuve, a F1 87/88 driven by Gerhard Berger and a F1 248 pushed around the track by Michael Schumacher, all parked under the palms and tropical flowers gently moving in the wind. But the true surprise for all Ferraristi awaited on top of the driveway, where a light blue Ferrari 250 GTO from the N.A.R.T. racing team - a unicorn car that had been traded for 56+ million dollars a decade ago - was flanked by the very Ferrari 499P hypercar that won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2024, still proudly carrying the dirt from its endurance victory!
But that wasn't all: near the neoclassical villa overlooking Lake Como, even more Ferrari thoroughbreds from the Maranello hall of fame were paying testament to Italy's unparalleled racing heritage. So visitors had to pick their favourite racing horse among a Ferrari 250 SWB Competizione, a 750 Monza, a Daytona Group 4 N.A.R.T. racer, a F40 LM, a 550 Maranello GTC, and a modern-day 296 GT3 - already an impossible task, if there had not been a Drogo-bodied, metallic green and breathtakingly beautiful 250 LM stealing the show.
Slightly underrepresented in sheer number, but perfectly combined were the three Maseratis representing Modena's racing glory in form of 420M Eldorado, the 200S previously exhibited at Larusmiani in Milan, and a stunning, dark blue MC12 GT1.
Besides Formula 1 and endurance racing, Italy has collected global fame and countless laurels by getting down and dirty in rally racing - and there is probably no other rally brand as successful and iconic as Lancia. At Fuoriconcorso Velocissimo, we had the opportunity to marvel at a Stratos proudly wearing the Alitalia livery and the renowned 037 Evo 1 Eminence, as well as two Martini Deltas and a Safari Delta. But Lancia also did well on the track - and the LC1 Group 6 racer, together with an Abarth SE 10 and SE 26, reminded us of this glorious (and gloriously loud) era of hardcore motorsports.
While Abarth, Fiat, Ferrari and Maserati all fought for sports victory, Ferruccio Lamborghini always steered away from motorsports. The few excemptions from the rule were still present at Fuoriconcorso in the form of a white Countach with red lights on top - the Monaco 1982 Formula 1 pace car we applauded drifting across the frozen lake in St. Moritz earlier this year at The ICE - and a brutalist Diablo SV-R.
Over at Villa Sucota, a short walk from the main exhibition passing through two extraordinary Maseratis, a GT2 Stradale finished in the fuoriserie Bianco Audace and a MCXtrema, Alfa Romeo had set up tent with a fantastic display of 14 classic and modern race cars carrying the quadrifoglio badge. Starting with the Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 and Berlinetta Touring Mille Miglia, the exhibition featured an 8C 2300 Spider with Le Mans history, a TZ1 and TZ2, the iconic 33 T12 Campari, two Giulia GTAs, the Jägermeister Racing 155 V6 TI, two 75s (a Group 4 and a Superturismo Turbo) as well as the all-new 33 Stradale. Studying these marvellous racers under the Italian sun, it's hard to imagine a more impressive and diverse Italian racing brand than Alfa Romeo.
Astonishingly, the Italian racecars were only the tip of the Fuoriconcorso iceberg, as visitors who made it further up the hill behind Villa del Grumello were surprised by a trio of the greatest silver endurance racers from the Mercedes Museum - including the C11 Group C prototype and two CLK GTRs - paying tribute to the late, great Jochen Mass. A few steps away, Porsche Design had again taken over the pavillion with a display of bespoke sports cars inspired by the brand's rich racing history and its own personalized chronographs.
On Saturday, visitors were even able to witness the birth of a whole new automotive brand when Andreas Bovensiepen unveiled the Bovensiepen Zagato. The coachbuilt BMW M4 is the first independent project since the family's iconic tuning house Alpina was sold to BMW in 2022. Another premiere was the inclusion of Villa Flori, where FuoriConcorso for the first time expanded to the gardens of the lakeside hotel, shining the spotlight on the ultimate restomod cars of our days, including Kimera, Nardone, Totem and friends. Flanked by many other cool brand pop-ups, including a display of racing-inspired Breitling watches, and a very insightful conversation program about car collecting and racing history, Fuoriconcorso Velocissimo offered outstanding entertainment, all weekend long. Having supported the Fuoriconcorso from the very beginning, we at Classic Driver could not be happier for our friends from Milan for their overwhelming success! Well played!
