Asking whether or not the world needs an all Lamborghini Concours is a bit like asking if the world needs Lamborghinis at all: Of course we don’t. Lamborghinis are the automotive embodiment of everything that is unnecessary and delightful and amazing and ridiculous in this world. The Miura is a work of art punctuated by a an alarming amount of displacement. The LM002 doesn’t have movable seats and was built to do 100mph over sand dunes! The idea of a concours dedicated to the long history of the raging bull is so delightfully absurd that it just works.
I spent the weekend in Lake Neuchâtel Switzerland, birth region of Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, better known as Le Corbusier, who is considered by everyone including myself to be one of the greatest architects and designers of the 20th century, surrounded by more than 50 of the most pristine examples of Lamborghini’s history. But it wasn’t just the idea of dozens of Miura (Miurai? Miuras?) ripping through the Swiss mountainside that drew me there. It was the chance to see cars that rarely leave the company vault, gems like the pre-marketing-era Marcello Gandini-designed Marzal concept, the GT2 Diablo, and the completely batsh*t insane Veneno Roadster.
As traditional concours go, this one was held to all of the rules that you might normally see at something like Pebble Beach. A jury composed of a celebrated panel of international judges and design specialists inspected the cars that best represent the different eras in eleven categories. The “Best of Show” prize, selected among the winners of the eleven classes, was awarded to a Miura SV in Verde Senape (mustard yellow) from 1971 (car serial number # 4838), which belongs to a Japanese collector.
The entire event was of course put on under the stewardship of Stefano Domenicali, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Automobili Lamborghini as a way to highlight their herculean effort in building Centro Polo Storico, the tip to tail restoration and historic department that helps Lamborghini owners verify the history of their cars (an almost insane task, considering the amount of serial numbers on every inch of the Miura; each rear shade for instance carries a separate and sequential serial number unique to each car.) Cars eligible for verification and restoration by Polo Storico must be of course out of production for a minimum of 10 years.
“This concours is a combination of passion and culture, reflecting a Lamborghini that looks ahead to the future, yet combining the desire to be innovative with an appreciation of its legendary past,” said Stefano Domenicali.
It was, in every sense, an over the top experience.
