Broad Arrow Auctions is set to ignite the glacial waters of Italy’s Lake Como with a two-day sale during the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este (May 23–25), where 50 of the world’s most pedigreed cars parade for judges—and deep-pocketed buyers. The lineup reads like a motorsport hall of fame: A 1948 Ferrari 166 Spyder Corsa, one of Enzo’s first customer cars (est. $6M–$8.1M), rubs fenders with Elvis Presley’s 1958 BMW 507 roadster (est. $2.1M–$2.5M), while a Dakar Rally–hardened 1990 Citroën ZX Rallye Raid (est. $515K–$569K) caters to the Forza Horizon crowd.
The motoring icons in this auction are something to behold, another we’ll point out is the 1939 Lagonda V12 Rapide James Young Drophead Coupe as seen in the headline image of this post. Delivered in 1938 as a rare short-wheelbase Lagonda V12 Rapide chassis, this car—chassis 14107—was one of just 17 Rapides built, and even more uniquely fitted with the Sanction IV engine developed for Le Mans racing. Initially bodied by coachbuilders James Young as an elegant Drophead Coupe, it was first owned by Major Godfrey Gillson, a British Special Forces officer likened to a real-life James Bond. After changing hands several times—including a long stint in Australia with collector Jim Whitehead—the car underwent a $500,000 Pebble Beach-standard restoration in New Zealand, winning First in Class at the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Forget Art Basel’s blue-chip canvases: Here, horsepower eclipses brushstrokes. Broad Arrow’s catalog taps into 2025’s collector trends—provenance trumps polish, and millennials want cars they’ve virtually driven in Gran Turismo. The takeaway? Lake Como’s auctions are now as much about Instagram-worthy patina as they are about podium finishes.
Context & Background
The Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, established in 1929 on Lake Como’s shores, is Europe’s answer to Pebble Beach—a curated showcase of ultra-rare automobiles judged by design and historical significance. Broad Arrow Auctions, founded in 2022, has quickly become a major player in the collector-car auction scene, specializing in modern hypercars and competition-proven classics. The market for vintage Ferraris remains white-hot, with exceptional provenance and originality commanding premiums, while rally-bred icons like Citroën’s ZX Rallye Raid attract a new generation of collectors raised on motorsport video games.