Octane was on the ground for the third edition of Villa La Massa Excellence, a glamorous concours d’élégance staged in the grounds of Villa La Massa – a 1000-year-old Medici villa on the banks of the River Arno, which meanders through the romantic Italian city of Florence.
Held from 17-19 October and organised with Canossa Events – the team behind Florida’s world-renowned Cavallino Classic – Villa La Massa Excellence celebrates supercars, hypercars, restomods and modern classics built from 1990 onwards. Judging is by a jury drawn from the worlds of automotive, art, design and lifestyle.
First staged in 2023, the event takes inspiration from Italy’s legendary Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, held annually at Villa La Massa’s sister hotel on Lake Como.
As a venue, Villa La Massa delivers comparable grandeur and polish to Villa d’Este, but with a more intimate, relaxed feel and on a smaller scale. It boasts 54 rooms and suites spread across six villas, alongside Michelin-starred restaurants managed by Italian chef Stefano Bellarino.
This is mirrored by the concours itself, with a 23-car field that’s far smaller than Villa d’Este and a clear emphasis on modern icons and supercars rather than the pre-war mainstay of major concours, yet the quality and polish remain top-class.
The event kicked off on Friday evening with a welcome Aperitif before dinner at Villa La Massa’s Il Verrocchio restaurant, served in the stunning vaulted Florentine salon, its pietra serena columns, groin vaults, fireplace and terracotta floor lending providing a refined yet convivial ambience.
Saturday, Villa La Massa Excellence’s public day, saw judging take place ahead of a relaxed poolside brunch and the afternoon car parade. It also gave attendees the chance to explore the nearby Renaissance city of Florence, with a complementary shuttle running to and from the centre throughout the day. Blessed with warm autumn weather, the cars looked superb – perfectly complemented by the villa’s manicured lawns, cypress-lined paths and the River Arno as a backdrop.
This year’s Best of Show – or Coppa d’Oro award in official parlance – was awarded to a 1987 Lamborghini Countach LP5000 Quattrovalvole – one of just 676 examples built. Emblematic of the show’s quality, this year’s winner follows a Ferrari F40 in 2023 and last year’s winner, Fritz Burkard’s Bugatti Centodieci.
Often cited as Marcello Gandini’s seminal design, the Countach is dramatic in any guise – and the Villa La Massa winner was no exception. Restored and certified by Lamborghini Polo Storico in 2016, this striking white car is the only factory-built example with its badges and exposed interior metalwork – including the sills and instrument binnacle – finished in gold.
The Best of Show winner was revealed on Saturday evening, at an exclusive gala dinner at Florence’s Michelin-starred Atto by Vito Mollica, in Palazzo Portinari Salviati, a short stroll from the stunning marble-faced Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.
Another car bringing home silverware – and Octane’s personal favourite – was the 1995 Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion. This dramatic homologation special – one of just 25 built – claimed Villa La Massa’s Choice award. Based on the chassis of Porsche’s legendary 962 Le Mans racer, this incredibly rare and special machine was one of the most popular entries and was surrounded by smartphone-wielding admirers for much of the day.
After lively deliberation, the junior jury – a panel of children – awarded the Junior Supercar Trophy to the 2019 Pagani Huayra Roadster BC. They treated the task with admirable seriousness with pens and notebooks in hand, and certainly selected a deserving winner.
The 2000 Bugatti EB110 GT was the crowd favourite, duly taking the People’s Choice prize. This example – chassis 60 – is one of just 139 built and is totemic of Bugatti’s 1990s revival under Romano Artioli. Its provenance is underlined by the autographs it carries from Artioli himself, designer Gianpaolo Benedini and test driver Loris Bicocchi.
The final major award winner was the 2025 Ferrari 12 Cilindri Spider, which bagged the Innovation Award. As the newest car in the concours, this V12-powered Prancing Horse brings the classic 1960s GT recipe into the 21st century, combining its fearsome 830bhp powertrain with Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona-inspired styling.
There were a handful of cars that would have won prizes at other concours events, such was the quality of the field. Restomod fans were delighted by the presence of the Alfa Giulia GT-inspired 2025 Totem Automobili GT Super and the 2025 Eccentrica V12, a carbonfibre-bodied reimagining of the Lamborghini Diablo.
Other Octane favourites included a Ferrari triptych – the track-honed 2025 SF90 XX Stradale, the 2008 F430 Scuderia and windscreen-less 2020 Monza SP2. Britain weighed in with a 2009 Aston Martin One-77, an Aston Martin V8 Vantage, an open-top 1995 Rolls-Royce Corniche S and a 1992 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit II.
The concours entries took part in Sunday’s driving tour through the verdant Tuscan hills of the Chianti region that wrapped up this year’s event ahead of the farewell lunch in Monteriggioni.
Canossa Events and Villa d’Este S.p.A. have confirmed that Villa La Massa Excellence will return in 2026, with dates and further details to follow in the coming months.
Villa d’Este CEO Davide Bertilaccio says 2026 will be “even more spectacular”. Having seen this year’s edition first-hand, we can’t wait to find out what’s in store.
