Concours d’Elegance jury chair Alessandra Giorgetti has the challenging task of helping choose the winner of this year’s Sydney event. Stewart Hawkins asked her about what distinguishes “haute automobilisme” from mere motoring enthusiasm.
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Passion is ethereal. What is it about automobiles that quickens your heart?
The automobile is a piece of art; it’s the engineering, the lightness, it’s a form of elegance and it’s a status symbol as well. We don’t know exactly why we are enchanted by it. Collecting cars is not only a matter of the possibility of buying a piece of history but is also matter of culture. You are buying the genius and effort of several actors involved in the masterpiece!
Where and how did this passion begin?
My passion is a family passion and a destiny. Alfa Romeo was founded in Milan the 24th of June 1910, I was born in Milan 24th of June, some years later but same day, same place. I’m a 3rd generation collector, my son Ascanio will be the 4th! An appreciation of the classic car word was transmitted naturally using vintage cars every weekend for car meets around Italy with my family.
What separates something that is merely a passenger vehicle from a classic car?
The difference between a classic car and a normal vehicle is the research of detail and uniqueness. Extreme design, experimental lines, innovation at the time, makes you experience the fashion of a vintage car.
The Citroen Ds in 1955 was mechanically very innovative, the mechanism of its suspension was something never used before, the shape, inspired by a fish in the water, was created by Bertoni and was absolutely revolutionary, breaking completely with the past.
Now cars are more a household appliance, something with an expiry date, all the same colour – white as fridges or washing machines. Vintage cars since the very beginning of their history have been a balance between elegance, mechanical skill and detailed research.
Are there design elements which are essential that are integral to taking a vehicle to classic status?
The pureness of lines and shapes and proportions are what make a car eternal. Cars at the beginning of the last century were more horse coaches than cars, fascinating for the engineering and mechanical skills and technical elements to reach more speediness, more lightness, more stability in driving, more resilience for long distances.
Some years later, the technical elements started to combine with elegance and comfort. It is in the early 40s that we notice the first design approaches; the simplicity of the lines – the ‘Less is more’ approach is one of the elements for not getting bored by the line of an object.
We still admire, after 2000 years, the Greek and Romans statues as a symbol of elegance and defined lines – simple, often naked bodies to present the power of the man or the essence of a woman. Many of the automotive masterpieces were designed following the idea of the simplicity of the lines, underlining certain coach shapes of the car as muscles: fenders usually from the side sight, the front bonnet as a movement, as an animal ready to jump or run. The iconic cars commonly considered masterpieces all have essential lines: The Lamborghini Miura, The Jaguar E type, the Ferrari 166 Barchetta Touring Superleggera, the Ferrari GTO, the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, Porsche 911 and Aston Martin Db4. All are cars that follow the rule of simple, clear lines.
Can you describe how you feel when you’re behind the wheel of a beautifully designed car?
The sensation behind the wheel of a vintage car is the smell of the natural elements contained in it, you can smell the leather, the wood, the petrol, the heating metals of the engine and you feel the power of the history, the power of the elements and the power of the men with the hunger to overtake limits. When you buy a vintage car, I think about the history of people that lived with the car. They bought it for many different reasons from you; they lived a part of their lives with this car, some spent most of their lives working and assembling it – engineers, pilots, test divers, designers, sellers, mechanics; all workers in the factory while fixing a bolt have a souvenir of assembling your car.
When I drive my Alfa Giulia Super 1960 and I stop at the gas station, every single person comes near and reveals his father or his uncle used to own the same model or similar car – ‘I remember the police in my village used to have it’. All people remember something or an episode of their life gazing at a vintage car – that’s the magic; old cars move emotions when you drive them around.
Is there a car you have driven that you feel has transcended mere motoring – that takes you to a different emotional plane and why?
I love driving my Alfa Romeo 6c 2500 1947 Aerlux Touring Superleggera. It’s like a box that opens an emotional chain reaction of a jump to the past. I drove it during a Mille Miglia in 2008 – it was hard, but one of the best experiences ever. My dream is to drive an Alfa Romeo 1750 Zagato of the 30s.
What do you look for when judging a vehicle in competition– what are your criteria?
The criteria in judging a vehicle, for me, are preservation and the correct responding to the originality of production.
Saving an old original part, even if it is not perfectly shining or sparkling, or has some damage, is very important.
Preserving cars as they were made is important for future generations: the materials, shapes, colours, and cloths used at the time or the technical decisions about certain equipment instead of others.
For example, leather was used because leatherette was not yet invented; cloth was used for simple cars, leather was for rich cars.
In the early 1900s cars did not have rubber joints. Between metal panels pipelines of leather were used to avoid noise during driving. Those details are important to understand an epoque.
Are there any specific things you will be looking for when you come to judge the Sydney show?
Specifically, I will look at design and elegance because Sydney is the Concours of Elegance.
I will consider the historical importance of the car as well, the effort made by the owner to restore it, his passion in deciding to buy it. Passion has a great relevance as well. Passion saves cars from oblivion and from rust. Many collectors started investing and restoring their cars for emotional reasons,
We will check the restoration – most of the cars are perfectly restored, but shining is not the point: correspondence to originality and respect of the history of the car: this is important. Detailing has improved a lot in materials and techniques, some product contain nanotechnologies.
Sydney Harbour Concours is a special setting; an exclusive allure. In the 2025 edition there will be cars coming from abroad, international participants and vehicles with fascinating histories. Some cars have participated in Concours around the world winning prizes, this event will be a challenge for the international jury on site.
What impact will the electrification of vehicles make both on a design (aesthetic) level and a practical one?
Electrification in terms of design has the limit of weight and volume of the batteries, once they become less bulky more attractive designs will hopefully be introduced for them as well. Now, most of the everyday use cars have the aspect of cubes, designed all similarly to one another by AI with edges and no roundness. The law imposes many safety rules that limit the designer’s imagination, as do the limits of industrialisation dictated by machinery to amortise production costs.
What is your opinion on autonomous vehicles?
It will be a different way of driving and moving, most of the everyday cars have already killed the joy of motoring, it’s not necessary to wait for AI. An autonomous car has to deal with utility not with emotions. There will be two transport models: the one you buy for moving and necessity, and the model you will use in your spare and happy moments!
Vintage cars will never decay because emotions will never die; we will live forever in a vintage state of mind.
Do you have an all-time favourite car?
Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale by Scaglione. Why? Just have a look at it.
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