20 classic aero greats in Italy this weekend

Smooth operators

The Fuori Concorso event returned for 2023 on 20-21 May with a focus on how aerodynamics has shaped motoring, presenting a selection of cars that pushed the envelope through competition and via the road – from the ’50s up to the modern day.

Held over two days at Villa Del Grumello, Villa Sucota and Villa Olmo along the shores of Lake Como, it adds something different to the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este and its partner event at Villa Erba, held nearby over the same weekend.

This year the main focus was on aerodynamics, but Fuori Concorso also hosted displays dedicated to the Ferrari 512BB and 75 years of Porsche, and these showcased the brilliance of aerodynamics, too.

Here are 25 of our favourite wind-cheating wonders from Fuori Concorso from the aerodynamics display itself, and from the Porsche and Ferrari selections.

1. Fiat-Abarth 1000 Monoposto Record Pininfarina

This swoopy, Pinin Farina-styled shape covers a Fiat 500 chassis, albeit one tuned by Carlo Abarth.

In 1960, this single seater set eight records around Monza’s high-speed ring, such as 72 hours at an average speed of 186kph, 2000 miles at an average of 201.115kph and 10,000km at an average speed of 191.376kmph.

It’s currently part of the FCA Heritage collection.

2. Bentley R-type Continental

The Bentley R-type Continental blended lightweight building techniques with a sleek body and an uprated drivetrain.

The engine benefited from a higher compression ratio and uprated carburettors, induction system and exhaust manifolds, while the final gear ratio was lowered.

The chassis was based on the R-type, but the styling was inspired by testing done at Rolls-Royce’s wind tunnel.

Most cars were completed by HJ Mulliner, but the chassis was also clothed by Graber, Pininfarina, James Young, Park Ward and Franay.

3. Pontiac One

This unique creation was built for 1970’s show season, based on Pontiac’s second-generation Firebird.

It was the brainchild of General Motors designer Harry Bentley Bradley and built by GM engineer Dave Crook.

The entire roof section lifts up and forwards so you can climb into the cabin, and once there you sit behind a centre-mounted steering wheel, with the gauges integrated into the windscreen.

The glassfibre body encases fully independent suspension all round – novel for an American car of the era – and, at launch, it was powered by 455cu in V8.

4. Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ

Zagato made its name building lightweight, wind-cleaving bodies for racers, forming an early alliance with nearby neighbours Alfa Romeo and a young Enzo Ferrari.

Fast forward to 1962, and the TZ used cutting-edge design techniques, including the ‘Kamm’ tail.

Dr Wunibald Kamm believed that unless a vehicle had an elongated rear-end like an aircraft fuselage, it was best to simply slice the back of the car off, as there would be little increase in lift and it might add downforce.

This model’s competition career got off to the best start, taking the top four places in the prototype category on its debut at Monza in 1963.

5. Ferrari 512BB LM

The organisers of this Fuori Concorso event have produced a lavish book based on the Ferrari 512BB and arranged a stunning collection of cars in a wide variety of colours, as well as two competition versions, showing the power of aerodynamics.

The ultimate competition version was the 512BB LM, thrust into life in late 1978 after the earlier 512s had struggled to make their mark in competition.

Pininfarina developed a special body that was 16in longer and 6in wider, with fixed headlamps rather than pop-up items.

Further developments came in 1980, with vertical side skirts to help with ground effect, and the use of glassfibre panels that shaved 100kg from the car’s weight.

6. BMW 328 Kamm Coupé

BMW Classic brought along its 328 Kamm Coupé, a recreation of the original car that won the 1940 Mille Miglia.

The original car was hidden by BMW employees during World War Two, but was briefly seized by Allied forces before being hidden away again.

After the war, the car was used by former BMW Director of Racing Ernst Loof as his daily car, but fading finances meant he had to sell it. It was then written off in a crash and scrapped in the ’50s.

Fast forward to 2010 and BMW wanted to celebrate 70 years since its famous victory, so commissioned René Große to craft an exacting replica, using aluminium rather than the original Elektron.

7. Jaguar XK120 M

The Jaguar XK120 is a key part of the brand’s history. It set speed records on a closed stretch of road between Jabbeke and Aalter in Belgium.

It had already been a successful competition car, winning its class and finishing second overall on the 1952 Alpine Rally.

For 1953, Jaguar fitted a streamlined body and modified the drivetrain significantly for a crack at the Flying Mile in Belgium.

The first attempt resulted in 140.789mph, which was beaten a few months later by a Pegaso. Later in 1953, Norman Dewis returned with this car to smash the record at 172.412mph.

8. Mercedes-Benz 540K Stromlinienwagen

The Mercedes-Benz Museum brought along this super-slippery 540K, constructed in homage to the original car built for a Berlin to Rome endurance race that didn’t happen.

The 5.4-litre V8 engine was supercharged, while the body was given over to Mercedes’ ‘Special Car Construction’ workshop for an aircraft-inspired body, with features including flush-fitting doorhandles, a painted three-pointed star and minimised panel gaps, resulting in a drag coefficient of 0.36Cd.

The race never happened, and this car was later used by Dunlop and the US Army, before being scrapped in the 1950s.

The car’s frame and running gear were preserved, and in 2011 Mercedes-Benz Classic set about rebuilding the car from the original blueprints, which took three years.

9. Maserati MC12

After years in the doldrums, Ferrari – then owners of Maserati – knew the Trident needed some racing credibility. The result was a full-bore assault at the GT1 endurance championship.

Though the underpinnings are largely based on the Ferrari Enzo, the body – shaped by Frank Stephenson – is pure GT racing car, with minimal concessions for road practicality in the name of ultimate track domination. There’s no rear-view mirror, for example.

In all, 50 roadgoing cars were built, but this one is even rarer. It’s a Versione Corse, the track-day-only version, though some are converted for road use.

With 744bhp at 8000rpm, it’s quicker than the restricted racing cars that dominated GT racing.

10. Lancia LC2

Lancia had been very successful with its Beta Montecarlo-based GT racer, and hopes were high for its Group C challenger, new for 1983.

Powered by a twin-turbocharged Ferrari 308C V8, it combined the efforts of Abarth and Dallara, and the engineering nous of Nicola Materazzi.

The result was a car that was phenomenally quick but often fragile – the Porsche 956 and 962 combined speed and reliability to deny the Lancia team much success.

The Lancia’s aerodynamic properties were key to its speed – memorably, it was a full 11 secs faster around Le Mans in qualifying than the nearest Porsche in 1984.

11. Porsche 911 GT1 98

The Porsche 911 GT1 had been competing in endurance racing for two years with indifferent results, though the Evo version of 1997 had improved the car’s speed.

The 98 version was yet further removed from the road cars and was even slipperier through the air, though set up for extra downforce for the race.

Although Mercedes-Benz continued to dominate the world championship, for Le Mans the major challengers from BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota fell by the wayside, giving Porsche a one-two at the famous round-the-clock enduro – this is the second-placed car of Jörg Müller, Uwe Alzen and Bob Wollek.

12. Honda NSX-R NA2

The Honda NSX Type R NA2 demonstrates the power of aerodynamics on a road car.

Produced just for Japan, it was an exercise in reducing weight, with carbonfibre used throughout the body and the removal of any creature comforts on the interior – after all, who needs a radio when you have a wailing naturally aspirated V6 behind your head?

Aerodynamically it is impressive, too. There’s a more aggressive rear spoiler and a vented bonnet.

Plus, at the time, it had the largest one-piece carbonfibre bonnet on a production road car.

The weight saving worked – it’s 100kg lighter than the standard car – and it’s quicker, too, thanks also to some engine tweaks.

Despite being 100bhp down on a Ferrari 360 Challenge, it set a faster time around the Nürburgring than the Maranello machine…

13. Nissan R390 GT1

The phrase ‘racing car for the road’ has often been used on all sorts of things, with varying levels of accuracy and/or hyperbole.

This actually was a racing car, one that competed at Le Mans in 1998. The programme had started the year before, but last-minute changes to meet Le Mans regulations meant the gearboxes overheated.

With some design modifications courtesy of a longer tail, which allowed for more downforce, and improved reliability, all four cars finished the 1998 race.

This particular car is owned by Erik Comas, who raced an R390 in period. It’s been restored over two years, and is now road legal.

14. Porsche 911 GT (GT2)

The Porsche 911 GT – or GT2 as it’s more widely known – was designed for the GT2 endurance-racing class.

Aerodynamically it was pretty drastic. Aside from the plastic wings to accommodate wider wheels, the enormous rear wing used what look like rocket launchers (actually air intakes) integrated into it to drive air into the engine.

In total, 57 road cars were built.

15. Porsche 956 

It is the car that dominated the early days of Group C – its turbocharged flat-six engine produced 612bhp in a vehicle that weighed just 800kg.

However, Group C was at its heart a fuel-efficiency class and aerodynamics played a huge part in that. Indeed, this was the first Porsche to use ground-effect aero.

Although most events used a high-downforce rear wing, a special low-downforce one was deployed for Le Mans to take advantage of the then four-mile long Mulsanne Straight, allowing the cars to hit 225mph. Many privateer teams developed their own bodywork, with varying levels of success.

16. Porsche 959 prototype

Contrary to popular belief, the Porsche 959 wasn’t built for Group B competition – it was originally designed to see how far the rear-engined concept could go as a replacement for the 911.

The competition aspect would have accelerated development of the road car, but in the end, Group B would be canned before the project really got anywhere, and as the world economy declined at the end of the ’80s, so did plans for a 911 replacement.

The 959 instead ended up a supercar halo, but this ‘Gruppe B’ prototype of 1983 sets out the template for the car.

The 959 developed aerodynamics with an automated ride-height adjustment that kicked in at a certain speed to aid the car’s passage through the air.

17. Volkswagen XL1

The VW XL1 was a study in ultimate efficiency: the aim was to travel 100km on one litre of diesel.

The car was powered by an 800cc turbodiesel engine that produced 47bhp, allied to a 27bhp electric motor.

This might not sound much, but the car had a carbonfibre body that encased a magnesium-alloy subframe – it’s just 795kg and seats two.

It cleaved the air with a drag coefficient of 0.189Cd – most cars are in the 0.30 to 0.40 range.

According to Volkswagen it could do 250 miles on one tank, with an electric range of 31 miles. Just 200 were sold to customers.

18. Bugatti Veyron SS

The Bugatti Veyron may have had an enormous 8-litre quad-turbocharged WR16 engine with 987bhp, but without the Veyron’s outstanding aerodynamics it would have struggled to land the fastest car in the world title.

The Veyron hydraulically deploys a lower ride height (9cm) to suck the car to the road above 137mph, while a spoiler and wing operate to add downforce. 

19. Mosler MT900 GTR

The Mosler MT900 was designed with competition in mind. As such, it blended a lightweight carbonfibre chassis with a Chevrolet V8 in either 5.7-litre or 7-litre form.

However, it scythed through the air with a drag coefficient of 0.25Cd, which helped it win races in GT competition across the world.

Just 35 road cars were built as well as 50 racing versions. Star Wars director George Lucas owned the first street-legal MT900S variant.

20. Porsche Carrera GT

The origins of the Carrera GT lie in a never-realised attempt at GT racing – the regulations changed and Porsche needed the money and engineers to work on the Cayenne SUV.

With the success of the Cayenne, Porsche found it had some spare cash to take this V10 monster into production.

The car used ground effects to suck it down, while the rear wing activates at 75mph, to keep the back end planted.