Imagine a concours where there is no damp golf course, no lines of highly restored cars, no boxes to be ticked and scores to be added, and no lengthy prizegiving.
Concours Croatia had small spaces around a delightful waterside hotel on the idyllic island of Mali Lošinj, where cars could be parked in a variety of groupings. Entrants moved their cars around, taking them for an occasional drive, then finding a new place to park when they returned. Almost all of the 30 or so entrants discovered that the event is more about the people that you can meet than the cars they arrive in.
The cars ranged from the latest Ferrari to an oft-forgotten Porsche 918 (still captivating) and a lovely 1970 Mercedes 280 SL.
The first Croatian concours was held in 1924 as part of the first International Automobile Exhibition in Zagreb. All cars registered before October 1, 1924, were eligible. The requirement was to show “Elegance of Line, Driver and Passenger Clothing, and Harmony of the
Overall Impression”. With Austria’s very close relationship with ‘Yugoslavia’ at that time, through the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it is not surprising that a Vienna-built Gräf & Stift was the winner, owned by a Mrs Dagmar Habsburg. Gräf & Stift is probably best known as the
vehicle in which Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo in June 1914 – and we all know what happened after that.
In slightly more peaceful times, the thing that was really different about this concours were the small seminars held around particular vehicles. These seminars were given by either the designer or a top representative from the company.
Fabrizio Giugiaro talked about the recent 2019 Kangaroo (below) electric off-road sports car – designed by the Giugiaro’s GFG Style studio, founded when Giorgetto and Fabrizio Giugiaro left Italdesign – and the exposed aluminium-framed 2001 Aston Martin Twenty Twenty concept.
Adriano Modri, Rimac’s often very serious first designer, was very amusing when describing the process of getting from the first Rimac electric sports car, Concept One (below), in 2010 to production in 2015. This was probably a car that was too far ahead of its time; Mate Rimac, founder of the company, thought that if you showed a prototype at a motor show, investors would flock to you with huge amounts of money – which they didn’t.
Best of all was Paolo Di Taranto of Zagato talking about the wonderful ‘re-imagining’ of the Zagato bodied Porsche 356 from 1959 (pictured top). This car was perfect in every detail, with its beautiful Furmann-built version of the four-cam original Porsche motor. It very deservedly won Best of Show, and it was the car that everyone wanted to take home. The new Dutch owner, who had yet to see his car, had agreed that Zagato could borrow the car for the Concours. It’s now on its way to Holland with its Best of Show trophy.
