SWELLS ON THE LAKE; We hang with the rich for the 19th Concorso d'Eleganza at Villa d'Este, and just getting there is plenty fun.(News)

Byline: STORY & PHOTOS BY MATT DAVIS

The first concours for pretty cars of the sick rich held in Cernobbio, Italy, at the heavenly Villa d'Este on Lake Como's left bank was in September 1929. That was just prior to the global economic meltdown. Then, after a 10-year pause for Adolf and the boys, the concours sort of sputtered along halfheartedly until it got its act together in 1999 and became seriously annual with full sponsorship from BMW.

People owning these cars all know one another and many use the same restorers for their chosen classics' up-do. Go to the Louis Vuitton Concours at La Bagatelle in Paris and they're all there. Hit Pebble Beach or Amelia Island and several are there, too.

Entrants are richer than most small nations, with Swiss, German, British and American collectors owning the lion's share of impeccably restored wealth on display. Something that Villa d'Este started last year and added to the modern-day pertinence of the whole affair was the inclusion of recent concept cars from the world's auto shows. These were represented by the likes of the Pininfarina Ferrari Rossa barchetta from 2000; last year's wonder car, the Italdesign-Giugiaro Alfa Romeo Brera; and the BMW Z8-based Bertone Birusa from this year's Geneva show.

This Villa d'Este was a major Giugiaro/Turin love- in. Besides the coveys of classic sheetmetal and modern composites, this was the 35th anniversary of Giorgio Giugiaro's company in Moncalieri and the 25th anniversary of production of the Giugiaro-designed and -built BMW M1 supercar of which 456 were ultimately assembled. Twenty-one past prototypes from the Giugiaro museum from as far back as the 1969 Alfa Romeo Iguana were driven here, many ignited and pointed down public roads for the first time. Most even had working sets of brakes.

For the drive up from Moncalieri to Cernobbio with a one-night detour through Barolo wine country, we managed to take the wheels of several rolling dreams:

The 1991 BMW Nazca M12 with the 350-hp 5.0-liter V12 from the old 850i mounted longitudinally behind the seats; the mid-engined 1984 Ford Maya (250-hp 3.0-liter Ford N.A. 60-degree V6); the 1980 Lancia Medusa (120-hp 2.0-liter four from the Lancia Beta Monte Carlo); the 1980 Fiat Panda 4x4 Strip (45-hp 903-cc four from the Panda 5); and 1978 Lancia Megagamma (140-hp 2.5-liter boxer four from the Lancia Gamma).