A 2025 Dallara Stradale won Best of Show – officially the Coppa d’Oro – at the Villa La Massa Excellence 2026. The fourth edition of the event was held on October 16-18 in the grounds of the five-star Villa La Massa hotel on the banks of the River Arno, just outside Florence.
The Dallara joins an illustrious line-up of previous Coppa d’Oro winners, beginning with a Ferrari F40 at the inaugural event in 2023. Fritz Burkard’s Bugatti Centodieci followed in 2024, before a gold-trimmed 1987 Lamborghini Countach LP5000 Quattrovalvole took the honours last year.
This year’s jury was chaired by Magneto contributor Massimo Delbò. It rewarded the car Giampaolo Dallara conceived to celebrate his 80th birthday, describing it as a racing car homologated for road use and noting that each example is built to individual order, so no two are the same.
The Dallara’s victory at Villa La Massa Excellence 2026 came at the largest edition of the event yet, with 43 cars assembled on the concours lawn, up from 23 last year. Event co-organiser Canossa Events also reported record numbers of participants and spectators.
Celebrating modern-era supercars, hypercars, restomods and competition cars, Villa La Massa Excellence takes inspiration from early editions of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. When it was founded in 1929, that event showcased the world’s finest contemporary models.
The larger field at Villa La Massa Excellence 2026 also saw the introduction of two new competitive classes, Racing Heritage and Restomod, joining the established Innovation and Evolution categories. Each class awarded first, second and third places, alongside the overall Coppa d’Oro and a series of special prizes.
A Touring Superleggera Sciàdipersia Cabriolet, based on the Maserati GranCabrio, claimed the inaugural Restomod class victory at Villa La Massa Excellence 2026. Second place went to Jeremy Clarkson’s Jaguar F-type (below), rebuilt with the assistance of the car’s original designer, Ian Callum, and featuring a flax-fibre composite grown on Clarkson’s own farm as a sustainable alternative to carbonfibre. It finished ahead of the Ares Panther ProgettoUno.
The Racing Heritage class was won by the Porsche 959 ‘Evo Dakar’ one-off that competed in this year’s Dakar Rally. It finished ahead of a 993-generation Porsche 911 Carrera RS Club Sport and a Maserati MC12.
Interestingly, the Evo Dakar (below) dates from 1989, while last year’s Coppa d’Oro-winning Countach was built in 1987. Both predate the 1990 cut-off cited at previous editions, suggesting that ‘modern’ is interpreted generously.
The Evolution class emphasises the value of provenance – even among relatively contemporary models. This year’s winner, a 2006 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, was the Geneva Motor Show launch car before serving as former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo’s personal car until 2009. The 599 finished ahead of a 2017 Ferrari F12tdf and a 2019 Bentley Continental GT Number 9 Edition by Mulliner, which also won the Highest Mileage prize.
The Dallara also topped the Innovation class, ahead of a Ferrari Daytona SP3 that won the People’s Choice vote, with a 2002 Bentley Continental R Mulliner third. Villa La Massa’s Choice went to a Ferrari F80 finished by the marque’s Tailor Made department. A 2001 Maserati 3200 GT Assetto Corsa won the Longest Drive award for the car that travelled furthest to reach the event.
This year’s edition came to a close with a tour crossing the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines before finishing on track at Mugello.
The fifth edition of Villa La Massa Excellence is expected to return in 2027, with dates announced in due course. For more information, click here.
