Sweden’s The Aurora celebrates the latest and greatest, new and old

The original Concours d’Élegance was a case of one-upmanship of French aristocracy in the 1600s. Noblemen and those who aspired to be seen as such congregated in Paris’ city parks to parade their ornate carriages drawn by one, two or more horses around to display their wealth and establish their standing in society.

In the age of the automobile, the Italians picked up this tradition at the storied Concorso d’Eleganze Villa d’Este at the shores of Lake Comoe in 1929. Pebble Beach in the U.S. followed in 1950 with its inaugural event.

What separated those events from those we know today was the fact that these were never about “classic” cars or carriages. They were not about nostalgia, forlorn times and old style anything. Those events were displays of current trends, of the owner’s wealth and the builder’s ingenuity, perhaps they can best be seen as the precursors of modern-day motor shows and manufacturers’ concept cars.

As a matter of fact, the winner of the first Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Sterling Ewards, was awarded the trophy for his 1950 “Edwards Special,” a brand-new one-off. This history is often forgotten when looking at the seemingly never-ending line of pre-war winners in Pebble Beach or at Villa d’Este.

Which is why it was most refreshing to attend the newest addition to the concours circle, the second running of The Aurora–Scandinavian Concours in the southern Swedish holiday town Båstad more or less between Copenhagen and Göteborg.

And again, the Scandinavians do it differently. Sweden has a long love affair with the automobile, on the one hand for their vast spaces and long roads needed to connect towns and cities more than 1500 km away from each other. On the other, this abundance of space has made Sweden a superb place to drive and play with (often American) cars.

With “southern” events in Germany, France and Italy often being hundreds and thousand of kilometers away from collectors, the team around founder Filip Larsson, Christian von Koenigsegg (of supercar fame) and Marcus Berggren have created a wonderful new event called the Aurora Concours in Båstad, just an hour north of Danish capital Copenhagen.

Building on last years’ successful event, the last weekend in June saw no less than 400 cars assemble for a festival like no other. The concours itself contained more than 60 vehicles, not just from the automotive past, but also more current super and hypercars. The proximity and involvement of Swedish manufacturer Koenigsegg with their HQ near Båstad sure was a deciding factor.

Entering Norrviken Gardens, the visitor is greeted with displays by clubs and private cars, vendors and a show area, followed by a similar-sized second field with a larger presence of select supercars and manufacturer and dealer pavilions.

The third and most important area is located around a beautiful pond leading up to the mansion where 62 cars placed under tent-type roofs were vying for awards in their respective classes. We spoke to owner Kjell Ståhl, who had brought his 1939 Horch 853A. The collector most like that “there are no barriers or lines keeping people from getting a close look of the cars and the insides”.

Apart from the weather–sunny for all but one day–it was the event’s 15,000 visitors, a record for an event of this type in Scandinavia, that made the biggest difference. While there is of course no detailed reckoning, it appeared to the naked eye that about half of the spectators were young people and children under the age of 18.

Literally hundreds of kids followed McLarens, Ferraris and Maseratis along the parade route with their iPhones and often spectacular video equipment. It appeared about half of the cars on display in the concours itself for were hypercars which would explain for the high portion of youngsters.

Did they come to see the fabulous 1938 Lancia Astura Gran Lusso by Pininfarina (the jury’s choice by the way)? No. Had they ever heard of 1957 Talbot-Lago? No.

But the nature of this event gave them an opportunity to watch, listen and learn about automotive history leading back further than the first-ever Koenigsegg CC8S in 2002. This event creates an opportunity for parents to take the whole family (not just dads) to see and experience automotive history. It was fun seeing so many kids interested and learning about cars, style, design and engineering. The Aurora facilitated this by pricing of €80-€90 ($95-$105) for weekend days and only €26 ($31) for kids 10-17, while under 10 are free. A family package was also available for €188 ($220) for a family of two adults and up to three kids.

Jury member and Zagato CEO Andrea Zagato said: “For only the second year, I thought this event was very well organized and already very professional, it’s a great addition.” For Danish collector Torben Østergaard-Nielsen “it was about time we got a high-end event like this in Scandinavia. I was very impressed with the location and the unique mix of classic cars and modern hypercars”.

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