BMWs are nice and all but let’s take a moment to appreciate this achingly beautiful 1935 Duesenberg SJ. Featuring coachwork design by Gurney Nutting, the gorgeous speedster won this year’s “Best of Show,” allowing owner William Lyon to take home the Trofeo BMW Group. Aside from the snazzy trophy, he also received a unique white gold 1815 Chronograph created specifically for this occasion.
Aside from beauty, the Duesenberg SJ also had muscle since it was powered by a supercharged 6.9-liter inline-eight with 320 horsepower, which wasn’t too shabby nearly 90 years ago. The same can be said for its respectable top speed of 140 mph (220 km/h) and the 0 to 60 mph time of approximately eight seconds.
The SJ was introduced in May 1932 or just a couple of months before Fred Duesenberg died of pneumonia. Only 36 units were ever made, and this model represented one of the company’s last cars since Duesenberg was sold and dissolved in 1937.
The Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este once again hosted the beauty contest for historic cars. A 1961 Ferrari 250 GT Spyder California with coachwork penned by Pininfarina/Scaglietti was voted as the favorite by the Public Referendum. The vehicle is owned by Jonathan Hui, Keybridge Collection, Hong Kong, who was crowned the winner of the Coppa d’Oro Villa d’Este. This year, a first-ever Trofeo Il Canto del Motore award was handed over to the best-sounding car – a 1970 Porsche 917 K. Other noteworthy awards included the Trofeo BMW Group Classic for a restored 1949 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith Drophead Coupe and the Trofeo BMW Group Ragazzi for a 1985 Ferrari 288 GTO.
BMW had plenty of cars on display last week on the shores of Lake Como in Italy, including the i7 M70, M3 Touring Speed Yellow, M3 CS, M2 G87, and the Concept Touring Coupe celebrating its world premiere. A one-of-a-kind M1 originally owned by BMW M founder Jochen Neerpasch was there as well, along with a Rolls-Royce Spectre as the brand’s first EV.
Source: BMW
