EUROPE'S PEBBLE BEACH.(Revs)

Byline: MATT DAVIS

At this year's Villa d'Este Concorso d'Eleganza, anniversaries and sun-drenched curved metal abounded.

Picture this killer duo coming at you on a crystal-clear Italian spring day: one impeccably restored 1955 Ferrari 375 America with coupe body by Pininfarina and one utterly sinister black 1956 Maserati 450 S sculpted by Costin and Zagato. The Maser was entered in the 1957 Le Mans 24 Hour driven by Stirling Moss and wearing No. 1. They seemed poised to win every trophy at the 2004 Villa d'Este Concorso d'Eleganza.

As it turned out, a perfect 1933 Lancia Astura with double-phaeton body by Castagna quietly absconded with the two biggest awards of the weekend.

If you can afford two such extravagant weekends per year, the concours at Villa d'Este is the other event you should attend along with Pebble Beach. Think of it as Pebble Beach Europe. Whereas Pebble is big and thoroughly over-stimulating in a good way, Villa d'Este is purely refined European charm, with the absolute best from all the world concours, plus a few unrestored marvels invited to play with many others whose paint has only just dried. With 53 entrants competing, you can learn everything you want about each single treasure parked around the grounds on the western shore of Lake Como.

Anniversaries marked this year included Rolls-Royce's 100th, Zagato's 85th, BMW's 75th and the 75th of the concours itself. On display at the foot of the famed central walkway of the gardens was the $2 million Rolls-Royce 100EX prototype. Next door at neighboring Villa Erba sat 40 Zagato-bodied cars from various years. BMW, the event's major supporter, had several key models scattered about, among the most attractive were many variations of late-1930s Type 328 and 329 roadsters.

Trophy winners included: