{"id":85550,"date":"2026-05-18T05:06:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T09:06:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=85550"},"modified":"2026-05-18T05:06:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T09:06:50","slug":"bmw-328-best-of-show-concorso-eleganza-villa-este-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=85550","title":{"rendered":"The 1937 BMW That Just Won the World’s Most Prestigious Car Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

The BMW 328 turns 90 this year<\/a>, and it just beat everything else on the shores of Lake Como. The Concorso d\u2019Eleganza Villa d\u2019Este 2026 named a 1937 BMW 328 \u201cB\u00fcgelfalte\u201d its Best of Show, making owner Stefano Martinoli the recipient of the Trofeo BMW Group on Sunday evening.<\/p>\n

The \u201cB\u00fcgelfalte\u201d \u2014 a nickname that translates roughly to \u201ctrouser crease,\u201d a reference to the metal edging running along the tops of its front wings \u2014 is a one-off. It\u2019s the only special roadster built at BMW\u2019s Munich plant, which makes the win feel appropriate for an event whose motto this year was \u201cFuture needs Heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trophy came with a custom A. Lange & Sohne 1815 Chronograph in 18-carat white gold with a solid pink-gold dial, hand-engraved with the Concorso crest on the cuvette. Helmut Kas, Head of BMW Group Classic and President of the Concorso, presented the award alongside Wilhelm Schmid, CEO of A. Lange and Sohne, and jury president Lorenzo Ramaciotti.<\/p>\n

The public had its own say. The Trofeo Coppa d\u2019Oro Villa d\u2019Este, voted on by attendees, went to a 1963 Mercedes-Benz SL 300 Roadster owned by Eric Blumencranz of the USA \u2014 one of the last examples off the production line that year.<\/p>\n

In total, 54 cars from 13 countries competed across eight classes: some organized by era, others by theme, including a class dedicated to spectacular Ferraris from the 1950s and 60s, and another for cars of particular significance in their original, unrestored condition.<\/p>\n

The BMW 328 at 90<\/h2>\n

\"BMW<\/a><\/p>\n

Both grand parades \u2014 Saturday\u2019s outside Villa d\u2019Este, Sunday\u2019s through the grounds of Villa Erba \u2014 were led by a BMW 328. The 328 was built from 1936 to 1940 and is widely considered the most successful sports car of the 1930s. Its 2.0-liter inline-six was a technical statement for the era. Ninety years later it still looks right.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The BMW 328 turns 90 this year, and it just beat everything else on the shores of Lake Como. The Concorso d\u2019Eleganza Villa d\u2019Este 2026 named a 1937 BMW 328 \u201cB\u00fcgelfalte\u201d its Best of Show, making owner Stefano Martinoli the recipient of the Trofeo BMW Group on Sunday evening. The \u201cB\u00fcgelfalte\u201d \u2014 a nickname that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":85551,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=85550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/85551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=85550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=85550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}