The Concorso d’Eleganza Japan made a highly anticipated return this past weekend after a six-year hiatus. Previously known as Concorso d’Eleganza Kyoto, for 2025 the event has found a new home in the magnificent Yakushi-ji Temple complex – the centre of Hossō Buddhism – in the old imperial capital, Nara.
This year’s Concorso d’Eleganza Japan programme kicked off early on the morning of Saturday March 15 with around 60 cars flanking the large stone block walkways – driveways for a weekend – of the vast complex’s administrative HQ, its sutra-copying hall and Genjyoto pagoda. Despite this particular section being open to the public from 9:00am to 5:00pm, the flow of intrigued spectators remained a trickle throughout. The welcome upside to smaller concours crowds is a super-relaxed, leisurely atmosphere.
Unfortunately the weather did not play along, with viewing and jury-evaluation sessions conducted largely in soft drizzle accompanied by a biting chill in the air. For lovers of classic and collectable cars, though, this year’s line-up was great compensation for that slight discomfort, reaffirming Japan’s deep appreciation for Italian cars (especially Zagato-bodied examples), British marques and Porsches.
Entered cars at the Concorso d’Eleganza Japan 2025 ranged from the docile and the dainty – Austin Seven Type B Coupé and aero-inspired 1948 Fiat 500B Zagato Panoramica respectively – to the most imposing 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental DHC by Carlton and the ballistic aggression of the Lamborghini Sián FKP 37, whose very name sounds like a firearm.
A special evening-into-night celebration in and around the majestic Kondo and Daikodo halls would ideally have offered a fabulous opportunity to see the cars draped in ‘magic hour’ light – but for the gloomy skies and persistent rain. For VIP guests, though, the Pommery still flowed while collector car connections both new and old were made or strengthened among the mostly Japanese attendees.
For insomniacs and serious enthusiasts, a morning celebration offered a 5:30am start in the sacred temple grounds. Sadly, more precipitation kept many of the roofless wonders from removing their plastic raincoats. For those of us who stuck around, the reward was hearing cars such as an initially defiant 1991 Schuppan Porsche 962LM fire into life with the ferocity of a methanol-fuelled chainsaw.
A formal awards ceremony held in the Jikido dining hall opened with a visually and aurally powerful, and quite primal, rendition of a traditional Japanese play. Concorso d’Eleganza Japan founder and CEO Hidetomo Kimura’s equally traditional attire again underlined the distinctly Japanese flavour of the event – a unique and vital differentiator in an increasingly crowded concours world.
Character, culture, heritage and luxury are all desirable concours attributes, but they mean very little without great automobiles. Fortunately, in the land of the rising sun, great cars – while often hidden in very private collections – are not in short supply.
Personal standouts in the two Post-War Elegant classes were a 1951 Maserati A6G Vignale (winner of class A), an Aston Martin DB2/4 Mk3 Drophead Coupé, a handsome 1951 Siata Daina Sport Coupé Stabilimenti Farina and a 1963 Maserati 3500 Sebring Coupé. In the end, the honours in the second Post-War Elegant class went to an immaculate 1965 Maserati Mistral Spyder.
Competition treats included a perfectly patinaed, mostly bare-metal 1949 Bandini 750 Sport, a 1939 Fiat Siata 500 Pescara, the fearsome 1988 Ferrari F40 ‘Taisan’ Star Card JGTC race car and a barking-mad Abarth OT 1300 Periscopio, among others. The F40 won the Supercar Owners Circle Award and the Periscopio claimed victory in the Post-War Competition class, while the adorably dinky 1965 Toyota Sports 800 was named the winner of the Mid-Century Jewel Award.
As ever, tough choices had to be made. That task fell to a highly accomplished group of judges which included such luminaries as globally acclaimed car designers Shiro Nakamura and Ken Okuyama, Andrea Zagato, Duccio Lopresto and Classic Driver CEO JP Rathgen. The Jury Special Award went to a 1947 Cisitalia 202 SC, with Rathgen praising owner Akira Sugahara for driving the car on a regular basis in Tokyo – brave man!
Two absolute unicorns, the Lexus LFA Spyder and the Toyota 2000GT convertible from the film You Only Live Twice, played the perfect hometown heroes, with the ‘Bond’ car taking the Pommery Award.
Three winners emerged from the strong contingent of Aston Martins on show: a 1989 Zagato Volante took the Italian Carrozzeria Award, a 1989 Lagonda Series 4 won the award for Best Neo Classic, and a stunning example of Aston’s C-type was judged best in class for Pre-War Open cars.
Further Concorso d’Eleganza Japan 2025 victors included a 1958 Fiat Abarth 750 Record Monza Zagato (Zagato class), a beautifully restored 1975 Ferrari 365 GTB4 BB (20th Century Supercar), a 2024 Ferrari Daytona SP3 (21st Century Supercar), a 1928 OM Superba (Pre-War Jewel) and a 1960 Lancia Appia Zagato GTE, which won the prize for Best Restoration.
And the big winner of the Concorso d’Eleganza Japan? Well, that turned out to be a visiting spaceship from California in the still other-worldly form of the 1970 Lancia Stratos HF Zero concept car – as featured in Magneto issue 5. The legal alien won the Special Edition class, the People’s Choice Award and, most importantly, Best of Show. Owner Phillip Sarofim said he felt “deeply honoured” and was very pleased with how “the charm of this car affects everyone wherever it goes”. This was the first time the Zero had been seen in Japan, and it was clear to all that the now 55-year-old concept has lost none of its visual impact.
Continuing to attract varying sets of world-class cars on an annual basis is key to the event’s future; that’s something the well respected and equally well connected team of Hidetomo Kimura, event chairman Corrado Lopresto and chief adviser Shiro Nakamura will no doubt already be working on for what promises to be an even better 2026 Concorso d’Eleganza Japan. Start planning your trip now; don’t forget an umbrella.
More details on the Concorso d’Eleganza Japan can be found here.
2025 Concorso d’Eleganza Japan results:
Best of Show
1970 Lancia Stratos HF Zero (Phillip Sarofim)
Also won the People’s Choice Award and the Special Edition class
Partner Awards
Autoglym Award: 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental DHC Carlton (Masahiko Sagawa)
Pommery Award: 1965 Toyota 2000GT ‘The Bond Car’ (Toyota Museum)
Supercar Owners Circle Award: 1988 Taisan Star Card F40 Street JGTC (Katsuaki Kubota)
Yakushiji Award: 1956 Lotus MK11 Series I (Takumi Toya)
FIVA Award: 1929 Austin Seven Type B Coupé (Junichi Sugimoto)
Class Awards
Pre-War Open: 1940 Aston Martin C-type (Osamu Chatani)
Pre-War Closed: 1934 Jaguar SS1 Light Saloon (Kiichi Haruyama)
Post-War Competition: 1967 Abarth OT1300 SR2 Periscopio (Yasuo Akashika)
Post-War Elegant A: 1951 Maserati A6G Vignale (Shigeru Hoshino)
Post-War Elegant B: 1965 Maserati Mistral Spyder (Kouji Fujita)
20th Century Supercar: 1974 Ferrari 365 GT4 BB (Yuichi Sato)
Porsche Museum: 1956 Porsche 356 1500GS Carrera (Takashi Nakamura)
Zagato: 1958 Fiat Abarth 750 Bialbero Record Monza Zagato (Katsushi Takahashi)
21st Century Supercar: 2024 Ferrari Daytona SP3 (Nobuaki Omori)
Featured Awards
Sophisticated Colour Coordination Award: 2017 Lamborghini Centenario (Ken Mori)
Sophisticated Interior Award: 1996 Ferrari 512M (Issei Niizeki)
Sophisticated Mechanical Award: 1987 Porsche 959 (Eizo Tomita)
Italian Carrozzeria Award: 1989 Aston Martin Zagato Volante (Masatoshi Tanifiji)
Pre-War Jewel: 1928 OM 665 Superba (Hiromichi Fukuda)
Mid-Century Jewel: 1965 Toyota Sports 800 (Yasuyuki Sugiura)
Racing History Award: 1956 Lotus Eleven Series 1 (Takumi Toya)
Jury Special Award: 1947 Cisitalia 202 SC (Akira Sugahara)
Best Restoration Award: 1960 Lancia Appia Zagato GTE (Katsumi Makino)
Best History Award: 1947 Fiat 1100 C Villa d‘Este (Kinji Tomiyasu)
Best Neo-Classic Award: 1989 Aston Martin Lagonda Series 4 (Hiroya Tanaka)
