INAUGURAL ANANTARA CONCORSO ROMA CROWNS MASERATI. AUTOMOTIVE MASTERPIECES SHINE AND WIN BIG.

Anantara Concorso Roma delivered a highly successful debut in the Italian capital over the weekend of 18–19 April 2026, bringing nearly 70 historic Italian cars to the gardens of Casina Valadier and Piazza Bucarest, with the Anantara Palazzo Naiadi serving as the event’s headquarters. Conceived as a celebration of “La Dolce Vita delle Automobili,” the new concours was open exclusively to Italian cars and marked the return of a major concours event to Rome for the first time since 1960.

Judging was led by Chief Judge Adolfo Orsi, with Lorenzo Ramaciotti and Jean Todt serving among the honorary judges, and the event quickly established itself as one of the most ambitious new entries on the international concours calendar.

The overall winner was the exceptional 1932 Maserati V4 Sport Zagato, the celebrated “Sedici Cilindri,” which claimed Best of Show at the conclusion of Sunday’s ceremony. Presented by Lawrence Auriana, friend and supporter of Automotive Masterpieces, the Maserati gave the event a dramatic and entirely fitting headline winner, while the confirmed class winners reflected the exceptional breadth of the field assembled in Rome.

A significant number of cars counted among the Automotive Masterpieces were entered in the concours, underlining the depth and quality of the research and collector network associated with the project. Particularly notable were two class-winning entries: the 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Berlinetta (Pinin Farina), sn 915769, from the Corrado Lopresto collection, which headed the early post-war coupé category, and the 1935 Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 Gran Turismo Pescara Spider (Touring), sn 6C 700635, winner of the Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 class. The presence of the monograph beside the Pescara, unveiled for the first time on this occasion, also added an especially meaningful scholarly dimension to the concours presentation. Other Automotive Masterpieces cars present in Rome included the Ferrari 340 MM Spyder (Carrozzeria Scaglietti), sn 0294AM, which received the Best Sound Ever special award, dedicated to Ian Cameron, and Jan De Reu’s Fiat 8V (Carrozzerie Speciali Fiat), sn 106*000089*, winner of the prize for Best Restoration. Three further Automotive Masterpieces entries had been accepted for the event but were ultimately unable to attend. The Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 B Mille Miglia ex Count Mazzotti, sn 815074, and the Ferrari 250 Europa (Pinin Farina), sn 0303/EU, of the 1954 Brussels Motor Show were prevented from reaching Rome because of unresolved customs issues, while the John Houghtaling’s Ferrari 735 LM, sn 0546 LM, had to withdraw because of a setback in its restoration schedule.

Beyond the awards, the wider impression left by Anantara Concorso Roma was that of a concours with genuine long-term potential. Staged in one of Europe’s most evocative urban settings and restricted to Automobili Italiane, the event combined rarity, scholarship, style and public appeal in a way that felt distinctly Roman yet fully international. With the Maserati V4 Sport Zagato as its first Best of Show winner, the new concours could hardly have chosen a more powerful symbol of Italian automotive mythology to open its history.







Photo ©️ Jacopo Pieretti - Sandro Binelli