At the end of January, the world’s most prestigious ski resort will host the 2027 edition of the automotive equivalent of “Stars on Ice”. Since 2019, the crème de la crème of the collector scene has made the pilgrimage to the Engadin to see some of the most beautiful four-wheeled creations and most spectacular racing machines of all time against a backdrop straight out of a James Bond film.
In previous years, the ice has already hosted stunning pre-war icons such as the Talbot-Lago T150C SS “Teardrop” Coupé, motorsport heroes like the Group B monster Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2, and one-offs tied to the history of St. Moritz, such as Gianni Agnelli’s Fiat 130 Shooting Brake “Villa d’Este”. Expectations for the next edition are correspondingly high. If you would like to send one of your own treasures out for a few laps on the frozen lake, applications are open now. Following a careful selection process by the committee, you will be notified whether or not your car has been accepted.
The ICE 2027 will feature five categories in total. “Barchettas on the Lake” is intended for open two-seaters, with the organisers focusing on the open racing cars of the 1950s. With “Concept Cars & One Offs”, the name says it all: visionary design studies, so far mostly from the 1960s and 1970s, are just as welcome as uniquely coachbuilt one-offs created to their owners’ wishes. The “Racing Legends” category is reserved for machines that wrote motorsport history in a wide range of series during the last century.
For these three classes, there is no fixed age limit, although modern cars are not admitted onto the ice. It is a different story for the “Early Stars”, which are open to treasures built up to 1955 and shaped by the artistry of pre-war coachbuilding, and for the “Icons on Wheels”, which bring together glamorous classics built between 1956 and the early 1980s, all of which perfectly suit the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the venue. Below, we present two cars per category that we would particularly love to see in action on the frozen lake at the end of January. If one of these collector’s items is sitting in your garage, we warmly invite you to apply and become part of one of the most exclusive automotive events of the year.
Motorsport royalty
In the “Racing Legends” category, top of our list would be a Matra MS670. The blue sports prototype brought three consecutive Le Mans victories home to France between 1972 and 1974, and its spine-tingling, screaming V12 would echo spectacularly off the mountainsides of the Engadin. Since post-war French racing cars have been something of a rarity on the ice so far, it would also make a welcome change. The Lancia 037, chassis 305, in which Walter Röhrl won the 1983 Monte Carlo Rally, would be an equally good fit for St. Moritz. Victory at the season opener laid the foundation for Lancia’s manufacturers’ title, making one of the first Group B cars the last rear-wheel-drive world rally champion. With the Stratos HF and Delta S4 having already drifted across the lake, the 037 would finally complete the trio of Lancia rally legends at The ICE.
Supercharged titans of the 1930s
In the “Early Stars” category, the 1935 Duesenberg SSJ Special Speedster would be a real coup, not least thanks to its supercharged straight-eight, which, with almost 400 hp, was outrageously powerful by 1930s standards. Originally built for Clark Gable, the car was crowned Best of Show at Pebble Beach in August 2026 and would bring a dose of early Hollywood glamour to the Swiss Alps. Our second candidate is the Mercedes-Benz 540 K Spezial-Roadster, whose elegantly sweeping body captivated pre-war high society. Like the Duesenberg, it hides a straight-eight with an engageable supercharger beneath its impressively long bonnet, lending it an effortless power that perfectly matches its well-proportioned bodywork and the awe-inspiring aura of the three-pointed star. Although it ranks among the most sought-after pre-war classics of all today, it has yet to appear on Lake St. Moritz.
The first of their kind
For “Barchettas on the Lake”, the Ferrari 166 MM is the obvious choice, since the entire class owes its name to this car: in 1948, journalist Giovanni Canestrini dubbed the open two-seater a “barchetta”, or little boat. In 1949, the 166 MM won both the Mille Miglia and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, establishing Ferrari’s reputation in international motorsport. Just as glorious would be an appearance by the Aston Martin DBR1/1, the first of only five DBR1s built. Stirling Moss drove it to victory at the 1959 Nürburgring 1000 km in one of his greatest races, paving the way for Aston Martin’s World Sportscar Championship title. When it sold for 22.55 million dollars in 2017, it became the most expensive British car ever sold at auction up to that point.
Science fiction in its purest form
In the “Concept Cars & One Offs” category, the Ferrari 512 S Modulo tops our wish list. Pininfarina designer Paolo Martin penned the low-slung spaceship, which looks more like 2070 than 1970, as a futuristic show car for the Geneva Motor Show. Finished in brilliant white, its otherworldly silhouette would look particularly striking against the snow-covered peaks of the Swiss Alps. At least as spectacular would be Bertone’s BAT cars (officially named Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 5, 7 and 9), which Franco Scaglione designed between 1953 and 1955. With their sweeping tail fins, the bat-like studies took the aerodynamic ambitions of the Jet Age to the extreme. Just one of the three would be enough to leave the crowd in St. Moritz speechless.
Exclusive GTs with VIP status
In the “Icons on Wheels” category, few cars could be better suited to St. Moritz than the Monteverdi 375L once owned by Gunter Sachs, the ultimate playboy. The Frua-bodied 2+2 coupé is a one-off from the Swiss marque, and its famous former owner shaped the glamorous social life of the Engadin like few others as founder of the Dracula Club. It is quite possible that Brigitte Bardot, then married to Sachs, once sat in the passenger seat. Exuding just as much glamour is the Facel Vega Facel II that Ringo Starr treated himself to in the 1960s. Hand-built near Paris, the grand tourer could reach over 240 km/h, making it the fastest four-seater in the world at the time. High society on both sides of the Atlantic was queuing up to own one. The Beatles drummer’s example is one of only two Facel IIs with the 6.7-litre Chrysler V8 and a manual gearbox. The elegant two-door represents the last great chapter of French luxury carmaking before the Bugatti revival.
Photos: Keno Zache, Kevin van Campenhout, Błażej Żuławski, Mathieu Bonnevie and Rémi Dargegen for Classic Driver © / Bonhams / RM Sotheby’s / Stellantis / Tom O'Neal for Rolex / Lies De Mol / Tom Shaxson for Phillips / Glen Allsop
