Autech - Blog Posts

Japan's first Concorso d'Eleganza

A Concorso d'Eleganza is basically a beauty pageant for historic cars. Based on similar contests for horse-drawn carriages, called Concours d'Élégance, the Italian name references the fact that the most famous competition in the genre for cars has taken place in Italy since 1929.

The Japanese version was launched in 2016, with the amusingly-named "Artistic Cars at the World Heritage, since 2016" exhibit at Nijô-jô, Kyôto. I say amusing, because they were using the "since 2016" tag in 2016, and... it hasn't used that name since! Nonetheless, the sight of these immaculately preserved cars in the lovely palace gardens was impressive.

Among the cars built between the 1950s and 1990s, there was an exhibit with rare Zagato specials. Particularly obscure is the Autech Zagato Stelvio, shown above and below. Of the three names, Zagato is the best known: they are an Italian coachbuilder, who make unique bodywork. Autech is a Japanese tuner, working most closely with Nissan. And the Stelvio is a late-80s mix of all that: a modified Nissan Leopard with very unique design choices, such as the wing mirrors in the fenders.

The Concorso d'Eleganza Kyoto is set to resume this year, having been put off due to the pandemic and the restrictions surrounding it since 2020. The principle hasn't changed: they're going to show some remarkable historic cars in a historic Japanese setting - at Nara this time.