Since 1929, Villa d'Este, a former palazzo turned grand hotel on the shores of Lake Como, has played host to the world's most outlandish car show. Over one weekend in May, the most beautiful cars ever built are tightly and precariously parked on every corner of the hotel's lawns and pathways: a greatest-hits compilation of the combustion engine's salad days. A 1936 Mercedes 540K on the drive; a navy 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Zagato under a sycamore tree; a jade 1960 Aston Martin DB4 GT outside the boiler room.
Riva speedboats bounce along in the lake in front; helicopters occasionally rattle overhead. Attendees, their camera phones brandished aloft, don their posiest outfits, with wonderfully mixed results. The waiting staff, each in an immaculate white jacket and black tie, can't open the rosé bottles fast enough. Even the name-Concorso d'Eleganza-sounds like an aria. The whole scene is so Italian, it must be made up; so picturesque, it can leave your eyes craving something ugly, or at least slightly askew. The closest I got was a half-eaten biscotto.
Somewhere within this frankly ludicrous scene-the mosaic garden, to be an exact-a brand-new model is given the drum roll of a world premiere. Which, considering the status of the cars all around it, doesn't really seem fair. In 2022, this honour falls to the BMW i7: the Munich marque's flagship car presented for the first time in the all-electric form. The clash of epochs couldn't be starker. While the older cars in eyeshot are decidedly analogue, this i7 is a whirr of ones and zeroes; a monument to the arriving intelligent, digital and electric eras in three tonnes of aluminium and glass.
This story is from the September 2022 edition of Esquire Singapore.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 2022 edition of Esquire Singapore.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
THE MILD HANGOVER
Hangovers get a bad rap. We know. If you’ve gotten this far in the magazine, you’ve surely divined that we’re mildly hungover most of the time.
LET'S GET REAL (ESTATE): LUXURIOUS LONDON
Royalty, shopping, the best tea and scones the world has to offer, and a lifestyle worthy of what you're working for. Here's why London is ripe for your next investment
EYE OF THE TIGER
Hailing from Singapore, Japan and Brazil respectively, Evolve Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) athletes Darren Goh, Hiroki Akimoto and Alex Silva are proof that the ring demands as much from mind as it does from matter.
THE ADONIS COMPLEX
With the rise of superhero culture making a return and bringing with it the celebration of the classically ‘masculine’ body type, can men really overcome the pressure to conform when culture keeps getting in the way?
FUNNY BUT TRUE
A comedian, an iconic Singaporean, and now a man much evolved. After overcoming two years of pandemic limbo, unlocking career milestones one after another and undergoing a life-defining physical transformation, Rishi Budhrani is ready to emerge into the world renewed-and anew.
Watches rock
Nobody needs a wristwatch. But it’s the things we don’t need that we covet most—and watches certainly fit the bill. They can be talismans of success, conversation pieces, expressions of taste, or simply good investments. In 2022, a banner year for top-notch releases, these 12 new watches were all of the above. That they also happen to tell us the time—without reminding us of all our unread emails—is really a bonus.
MEASURE OF TIME
Longines marks its 190 years with three exclusive and classic designs from its Master collection.
A WORLD OF ITS OWN
Ralph Lauren's Double RL line occupies a close and personal place in the American designer's sprawling universe-and it's finally here in Singapore.
FRESH FIGURES
Resort, Cruise, Pre-spring-call them what you will. The collections destined for boutiques towards the end of the year are packed with big ideas. On masculinity today and how it looks and feels; new shapes in tailoring and even a little fetish-garbed commentary.
NEW ROADS
Italian luxury menswear brand Zegna has quietly but surely embarked on a new direction. Its Artistic Director Alessandro Sartori tells us why this one makes all the difference.
