The Concours of Elegance Germany wrapped up its second running this weekend at Gut Kaltenbrunn, on the shores of Lake Tegernsee in the Bavarian Alps, with a 1939 Horch 855 Special Roadster by Gläser taking the top prize. Best of Show is decided by the assembled owners themselves, and their vote went to chassis 855007, believed to be the only surviving production example from a run of just five to seven cars.
The Gläser-bodied Horch spent its early years in the Netherlands before making its way to Germany after the Second World War and then on to the United States, where it passed through a string of notable collections. It appeared in Road & Track in 1954 and was later driven on screen by Rock Hudson. Restored in Germany in the early 1990s, it went on display at Audi's museum in Ingolstadt before changing hands at RM Sotheby's in 2024 and settling into its current private collection. Its long bonnet, pontoon-style wings and low, dramatic stance remain one of the most striking designs to come out of 1930s coachbuilding.
Other top honors went to a 1933 Armstrong Siddeley Special Six, which took the Chairman's Award, and a 1955 Maserati 150S/200S Prototype, chosen for the Patron's Award by Prince Leopold Prinz von Bayern. Maserati's centenary was very much the theme of the weekend, with the Trident marque claiming both the 1950s decade prize, for the ex-Stirling Moss works 1957 300S, and the 1960s prize, for a 1960 5000GT. A separate Maserati Award went to a 1959 3500 GT Convertible Prototype by Michelotti for Vignale, whose owner brought the car all the way from Texas.
The rest of the decade awards spanned nine decades of design, from a 1928 Bentley 4½ Litre Open Tourer by VDP and a 1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport Spyder through to a 1947 Delahaye 135 MS Roadster, a 1971 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona, an Elton John-ordered 1985 Aston Martin V8 Vantage, and a 1995 Lamborghini Diablo SE30 marking the Future Classics category.
The show also ran alongside RM Sotheby's second Tegernsee sale, which found new homes for 91 percent of its lots, and follows last year's Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court, where a one-of-a-kind Rolls-Royce Phantom I took the top prize. Concours of Elegance Germany is organized by Thorough Events, which also runs the Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace, The London Concours and The Royal Bahrain Concours.
Photography and event details courtesy of Concours of Elegance Germany.
