Rich Italian Surroundings
On a splendid sunny day on Saturday 12 October, on the extensive lawns that look like precious carpets of Villa La Massa, owned by the Villa d’Este Group that dates back to the thirteenth century and reflects the elegance and classic magnificence of Florence, it would have been difficult for anyone to choose which, among the 22 cars invited, should be awarded.
Villa La Massa Excellence, an event conceived and created in 2023 in collaboration with Canossa, a leading company in the organization of events and experiences of excellence, is, in fact, reserved for sports cars of the highest range, produced from 1990 onwards. These are recent or contemporary cars that are rare to see, arousing great interest in the public.
Top Honors
In the final award ceremony, the “Coppa d’Oro Villa La Massa”, inspired by the “Coppa d’Oro” of the Concorso d’Eleganza of the “sister” Villa d’Este, went to the 2023 Bugatti Centodieci, of the Swiss Fritz Burkard who this year, with the cars in his collection, reaps awards all over the world. Last August, in the famous Pebble Beach competition, his 1934 Bugatti Type 59 Sports was elected Best of Show.
The winning model awarded during the gala dinner in the evocative setting of Vito Mollica’s “Atto” at Palazzo Portinari Salviati, in the heart of Florence, has among its requirements, in addition to a W16 engine of 1600hp, that of having celebrated the rebirth of the 1991 Bugatti. Christened EB110 in memory of Ettore’s 110th birthday, the “Centodieci” won in the “Evolution” Class on the BMW M3 “Homage”, also from 2023.
Innovation Recognized
In the “Innovation” Class, the first place went to the only electric car of the lot: the Pininfarina Battista, a name that recalls the founder of the famous Turin company, wanted by the Pininfarina family to underline how, since the 30s of the last century, Pinin, this is his nickname, worked looking to the future. Luciano Colosio was very satisfied and presented it.
Supercars
Because these jewels are often rarely used, a Class based on kilometers traveled has been introduced to reward those who choose to drive these supercars. The BMW Z8 of Elia Dal Canton won it with 77,600 km on the dashboard. With a similar logic, the prize for the car that arrived on the road from further away: Camillo Mechaker-Vogele received it for his Mercedes Benz McLaren Roadster. The award given to Silvia and Chiara Cavallaro was well deserved, not only for the beauty of their Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, which is perfect black with chrome finishes, but also for keeping this car since 2009.
Maurizio De Angelis was awarded twice for his almost unique Gemballa Mirage GT “Gold Edition”, an aesthetic and technical elaboration of the famous Porsche Carrera GT made by the German tuner Gemballa: not only the audience present preferred it, but certainly the most challenging and unpredictable jury, that of children and teenagers present. It was a clearly perceptible plebiscite when they proudly presented the Children’s Award.
The event ended on Sunday 13 October when the Supercars left Villa La Massa for a spectacular tour in Mugello, through the legendary Futa and Giogo passes.
Looking Ahead
Work is already underway on the third edition of Villa La Massa Excellence, scheduled for October 2025, with interesting news for a formula that interprets the current trends.
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