The Alchemy of Aerodynamics
The most influential designer in automotive history is not Battista 'Pinin' Farina, Giorgetto Giugiaro or Marcello Gandini. It is the wind. After all, the flow of air has shaped some of the most stunning cars ever built. Ever since carmakers left behind the boxy shape of the carriage a hundered years ago and started to experiment with the alchemy of aerodynamics, streamlined shapes, organic bodies and a constant battle to reduce the drag coefficients have drastically changed and defined the look of the automobile.
While aerodynamics dominates all automotive fields, from sportscar design to motor racing, their impact on the shape of the automobile is rarely the substance of events and exhibitions. Now, the team behind the FuoriConcorso event series has decided to pay tribute to the driving forces of air and explore the evolution of aerodynamics in an unparalleled concours event.
Shark on Wheels
One of the streamlined star cars on display at FuoriConcorso Aero will be the breathtaking and record-breaking Fiat-Abarth 1000 single-seater from the Stellantis Heritage Hub. In the late 1950s, gifted racing engineer Carlo Abarth had understood the potential of the Fiat Nuova 500 and commissioned Bertone to build a highly aerodynamic body around the lightweight 2-cylindre engine and send it to the track for a record hunt. In February 1958 on the Monza Autodrome high speed ring, six records were beaten in seven days. Inspired by the success, Abarth teamed up with Pinin Farina to build even more variations of the light and sleek single-seaters that broke dozens of speed and endurance records. Resembling sharks more than cars, the sliver prototypes went down in history as some of the most stunning and successful archetypes of non-compromising aerodynamic design.
A Celebration of Automotive Culture
Created by Guglielmo Miani in 2019, the FuoriConcorso event series celebrates the finest aspects of automotive culture with events and rallys in Italy and around the world. Coinciding with the famous Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, the main FuoriConcorso event is held annually in May in the gardens of Villa Grumello and Villa Sucota, two glamorous estates overlooking Lake Como and the surrounding mountains. Every year, the special exhibition highlights a different aspect of automotive history and creativity with a line-up of iconic, rare and previously unseen custom cars and prototypes.
This year, FuoriConcorso Aero is taking place on 20th and 21st of May on the shores of Lake Como. And in the truest sense, the event promises a breath-taking selection of highly aerodynamical sports and racing cars as well as concept cars and prototypes, from the early decades of the automobile to the latest and rarest hypercars. While the exact line-up of cars is held confidential until the day of the event to guarantee the factor of surprise, guests of the show can expect a serious exhibition of wings, spoilers, diffusors and all sorts of wedge-shaped wonders from the world’s most prestigious car museum and private collections. Furthermore, the history of aerodynamic design will be explored in a top-class panel discussion featuring some of the most prominent names in car design and engineering.
“Ever since I was a young boy, I have been fascinated by aerodynamics and the fantastic shapes that designers and engineers have created to make their cars faster, faster and faster”, says Guglielmo Miani, President of the Milanese luxury brand Larusmiani and founder of the FuoriConcorso event series. “The impact of aerodynamics on the history of car design cannot be overestimated – and I am delighted that we have managed to gather some of the most relevant, rare and remarkable cars of streamlined design at this year’s FuoriConcorso Aero. It has been great fun to curate these wonderful sculptures of speed – and my team and I cannot wait to reveal them to our guests.”
FuoriConcorso Open Museum celebrates 75 Years of Porsche
Since 2022, the event format has been extended to a third outstanding location with FuoriConcorso Open Museum. Every year, this special open-air exhibition hosts another world-class car museum, a foundation or a collection at the impressive, neoclassical lakeside estate of Villa Olmo. This year, FuoriConcorso Open Museum celebrates the 75th anniversary of Porsche with a spectacular open-air exhibition of some of Porsche’s most iconic road and race cars.
Celebrating Autodelta, Pagani and the Ferrari BB
The 75th birthday of Porsche is not the only anniversary that will be celebrated in style at this year’s FuoriConcorso. 50 years ago, in 1972, Ferrari launched its very first mid-engined sportscar in the alluring form of the 365 GT4 BB. Designed by Leonardo Fioravanti for Pininfarina, the Berlinetta Boxer became an icon of aerodynamic design. At Fuoriconcorso Aero, the “BB” will be revisited with a tribute exhibition and a very special surprise. Meanwhile, Alfa Romeo’s competition department Autodelta is celebrating its 60th anniversary and, of course, Fuoriconcorso Aero will host a streamlined guest to mark the occasion. Finally, as a homage to the aerodynamic excellence of the turn of the millennium and the early 21st century, Fuoriconcorso will honor the extraordinary hypercars built by Horacio Pagani for the last 25 years.
The FuoriConcorso Experience
Since its launch in 2019, FuoriConcorso has been praised by tastemakers and media as one of the world’s freshest, most exciting and most talked-about automotive events. But FuoriConcorso is not only a revolutionary event series and community that brings together likeminded car enthusiasts at some of the world’s most iconic and luxurious destinations. For FuoriConcorso Aero, the creative team behind the event has worked closely with a group of carefully selected brand partners to create an even more exciting, entertaining and engaging experience. Villa del Grumello will host a solo exhibition of the trending photographer Riocam from Miami, as well as a stylish bar for refreshments and a selection of luxury pop-up boutiques.
Photos by Andrea Luzardi
