Another Lovely Concours of Elegance GermanyMiriam MayerLast weekend was the third year of the Concours of Elegance Germany, held on the shores of the beautiful Tegernsee high in the Bavarian Alps. This year 42 cars took the grounds of the "glorious" Gut Kaltenbrunn, a gravel courtyard on the shores of the lake. There's rolling green pastureland surrounding the buildings that make up the courtyard, but not every concours has to be held on a golf course, does it?The Concours of Germany is put on by a company called Thorough Events, founded in 2012 "to organize a Concours to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 60th accession to the throne," according to its website. Thorough Events has gone on to organize four such big events that happen every year: the London Concours, Concours of Elegance Hampton Court Palace, Royal Bahrain Concours, and this one in Germany. With an office in Munich 30 miles north, it seemed only natural. Thorough is looking to expand, so if you want to put something on in your neck of the woods, give them a ring.Cynics would say these concours are not organic, that they weren't founded and organized by local enthusiasts who wanted to clean out the barn and put on a show. Others could say that Thorough Events manages its concours with professionalism and offers outlets for car enthusiasm where they didn't always exist. Take your pick. Whichever you choose, Thorough Events does provide a good selection of photographs, all of which are on display below for your enjoyment.1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Open Tourer by BarkerThe 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Open Tourer by Barker is an apex of 1920s British bespoke motoring. Featuring Barker's signature flowing lines and often a barrel-sided design, the vehicle is powered by a massive 7.7-liter pushrod-overhead-valve inline-six engine mated to a four-speed manual transmission.Miriam Mayer1928 Bentley 4½ Litre Open Tourer by VDPThe winner in the 1920s category was a British icon: the Bentley 4½ Litre. Developed by WO Bentley as a powerful successor to the ageing 3 Litre, the 4,398cc OHC engine—four valves per cylinder, twin SU carburetors, exceptionally robust and torque-rich—the model secured overall victory at the 1928 24 Hours of Le Mans. The example on show at Tegernsee was presented in Open Tourer form, with coachwork by Van den Plas.Miriam Mayer1933 Armstrong Siddeley Special SixThe Siddeley Special Six was produced between 1933 and 1937, with a total production of 253 vehicles, according to the Armstrong Siddeley Club. The 30HP was the company's first model, and it had been in continuous production for 14 years since the first cars left the factory in 1919. The Siddeley Special Six was its replacement and it was truly a "car of aircraft quality".Miriam Mayer1939 Horch 855 Special Roadster by GläserThe Best of Show prize—uniquely chosen by the Concours car owners themselves—went to this magnificent 1939 Horch 855 Special Roadster by Gläser. Regarded as one of the most significant pre-war German luxury automobiles, it represents the pinnacle of the marque's engineering and design. It is thought that only five to seven were ever produced, and chassis 855007 is the sole known surviving production example.Miriam MayerAdvertisementAdvertisement1939 Horch 855 Special Roadster by GläserOriginally delivered to the Netherlands, the car was acquired in Germany shortly after the Second World War and brought to the United States, where it passed through some of the most celebrated automotive collections in the world. It featured in Road & Track in 1954 and was driven by Rock Hudson in The World Is Ours.From 1992, following a restoration in Germany, it spent years on display at Audi's museum in Ingolstadt, and was acquired at RM Sotheby's in 2024. Today it resides in a private collection. Its Gläser coachwork—an exceptionally long bonnet, sweeping pontoon-style wings, and a low, dramatic silhouette—is among the 1930s most elegant and arresting designs.Miriam Mayer1955 Maserati 150S/200S PrototypeThe Maserati 150S is a racing car made alongside the Maserati 200S, to take over for the aging but still beautiful Maserati A6GCS. Depending on the source, between 24 and 27 examples were built, and one additional street-going car, called the Maserati 150 GT.Miriam Mayer1955 Maserati 300 SThe winner in the 1950s category was one of the most celebrated sports-racing cars of the post-war era: the Maserati 300 S chassis 3051. Completed with Fantuzzi short-nose coachwork, the 300 S carries the pure, compact proportions of the early cars. Beneath the curvaceous Fantuzzi bodywork lies a 3.0-liter inline-six—developed directly from Maserati's legendary 250F Formula 1 powerplant—enlarged and optimized for endurance competition.AdvertisementAdvertisementIn period, chassis 3051 was a competitive presence in American sports-car racing through the mid-1950s. Its most celebrated result came at the Nassau Trophy in December 1956, where Stirling Moss took overall victory at the wheel. A full restoration later reinstated the correct short-nose configuration, reversing a long-nose conversion carried out in 1957; a conservation-minded approach subsequently saw the original engine and transaxle removed and preserved, with service units installed for running use—protecting its matching-numbers integrity while allowing the car to be enjoyed today.Miriam Mayer1959 Maserati 3500 GT Convertible Prototype by Michelotti for VignaleThe winner in the 1960s category was one of the most exclusive and technically advanced grand tourers ever produced: the 1962 Maserati 5000 GT by Allemano. Conceived at the personal request of the Shah of Iran, the 5000 GT combined motorsport-derived engineering, individually commissioned coachwork, and huge-power. Only 30 were built in total, of which just 22 were bodied by Carrozzeria Allemano.The car's refined grand tourer looks bely fire-breathing performance; it was a true hypercar of its day. Its 5.0-liter four-cam V8 was derived from the engine type used in the Maserati 450S race car—a machine campaigned as a works entry by Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss in 1957. It was the most technically formidable road car money could buy.This one was owned by rock 'n' roll singer Little Tony and later by Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh—inspiring his famous lyric 'My Maserati does 185"—a remarkable top speed for 1962.Miriam Mayer1962 Maserati 5000 GT by AllemanoThe roster of individuals who purchased a 5000 GT new was quite extraordinary and included Giovanni Agnelli, the Aga Khan, and Briggs Cunningham, in addition to the Shah of Iran, according to RM Sotheby's, which sold a car similar to this one in Monterey eight years ago. Of course, all this extravagance came at a price—nearly twice that of the 3500 GT. The 5000 GT was bodied by eight different coachbuilders; with just 34 examples produced, this was an automobile with few peers and perhaps best directly compared with Ferrari's incredible Superamerica models.Miriam Mayer1962 Maserati 5000 GT by AllemanoThanks to the commercial success of the 3500 GT, Maserati had been pulled away from death's doorstep and was beginning to get back on its feet. The 3500 GT challenged Ferrari's legendary 250 GT models and quickly became highly desirable automobiles to own, drive, and enjoy. It quickly proved to be one of the marque's most successful models. The 5000 GT only added exclusivity to that.Miriam MayerAdvertisementAdvertisement1972 Monteverdi 375 S BerlinettaThe Monteverdi High Speed is a series of sports cars with different bodies produced from 1967 to 1976 by Swiss automaker Monteverdi. The High Speed series included several coupe models, a convertible and a sedan. The engines used were V8 engines from Chrysler, with outputs of about 375 hp, hence the name.Miriam Mayer1972 Monteverdi 375 S BerlinettaThe High Speed 375 S was a two-seater coupé with a body designed by Pietro Frua in Turin, according to The Great Book of Sports Cars. Some of the Monteverdi's details continued features of Frua's earlier work, with notable similarities to the Maserati Mistral and the British AC 428. Some sources claim that the similarities go so far that individual components of these cars, such as glass sections and doors, are interchangeable.Miriam Mayer1985 Aston Martin V8 VantageThe 1985 Aston Martin V8 Vantage is an iconic, hand-built grand tourer famously dubbed "Britain's First Supercar." Powered by a potent 5.3-liter V8 engine, the car produced roughly 370 to 380 horsepower, achieving a 0-60 mph time of around 5.2 seconds and a top speed close to 170 mph.Miriam Mayer1989 Ferrari TestarossaThe 1989 Ferrari Testarossa is an iconic 1980s wedge-shaped supercar, according to RM Sotheby's, which sold one at its auction in Munich last year. It features a mid-mounted 4.9-liter flat-12 engine producing 390 horsepower and a gated five-speed manual transmission. The distinct side strakes channel air to the rear dual radiators.Miriam MayerAdvertisementAdvertisement1998 Ferrari 550 MaranelloThe 1998 Ferrari 550 Maranello is a legendary front-engined V12 grand tourer, celebrated for its Pininfarina styling and pure driving dynamics, said ClassicCars.com. Powered by a 5.5-liter engine generating 485 hp, it sprints from 0-60 mph in just 4.2 seconds with a top speed of 199 mph. It exclusively features a gated six-speed manual transmission.Miriam Mayer1998 Ferrari 550 MaranelloThe Ferrari 550 Maranello had huge shoes to fill as it entered production in 1996, said RM sotheby's, which sold one online last year. It effectively replaced the final version of the fabled Testarossa as Ferrari's flagship 12-cylinder, two-seat grand tourer—albeit with a classic front-engine, rear-wheel drive configuration in place of the prior mid-engine setup.Miriam Mayer1952 Bentley MkVI Drophead CoupeIn May of 1946, Bentley announced their first new post-war car, the Mark VI, said RM Sotheby's, which sold one at its Arizona auction in 2021. While factory bodywork was limited to the four-door sports saloon, those after something more unique could, as in years past, choose from one of the well-known coachbuilders of the era such as James Young, Freestone & Webb, Hooper, H.J. Mulliner, and Park Ward to provide custom coachwork for their Bentley-supplied chassis. Power came initially from a 4 ¼-liter straight six-cylinder engine which was later replaced in 1951 with the introduction of the "big bore" 4 ½-liter. The Mark VI remained in production through 1952 with 5,208 examples built, the large majority of which received the standard factory bodywork.Miriam MayerRM Sotheby'sRM Sotheby's returned as official auction partner. The auction resulted in 24 sales of mostly German cars, from a 1957 BMW 503 Cabriolet Series I to a 2004 Porsche Carrera GT. Highest price listed was a 2009 Ferrari 599XX Evo for $2.9 million. The hammer price of a Koenigsegg One:1 that sold at the Germany auction was "available on request."Concours of Elegance GermanyAdvertisementAdvertisementMiriam MayerMiriam MayerThe TegernseeMiriam MayerMiriam MayerAdvertisementAdvertisement