ICE St. Moritz 2025

Absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder. After the weather took a turn for the biblical this time last year and the ICE St. Moritz was cancelled as a result, it was both fitting and fulfilling for 2025’s event to begin under a cloudless sky and with the sun breathing down upon a blanket of pristine snow. It certainly was great to see one of the most original events on the classic car calendar firing on all cylinders once again.

It was a sentiment shared by punter and patron alike, with local hero Fritz Burkard (considered as such well before his ex-King Leopold Bugatti Type 59 won Pebble Beach last summer) declaring St. Moritz to be the best city in the world during an interview held by Classic Driver in the town’s centre on the Thursday – which has now become an unofficial ‘pre’ day as this event continues to grow. Also included within the off-piste itinerary was a second running of the Top Down competition, where concours entrants can test their mettle down the mountain on the Olympia Bobsleigh Run and then exercise their metal on a hill climb back up to the top.

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1971 Porsche 908/03 — The ICE St. Moritz

The Top Down was 2024’s consolation prize for those who’d beaten the snowstorm to arrive in St. Moritz, only to find the event had been cancelled, and had been concocted by Burkard who is president of the Olympia Bob’ Run. It’s a fixture that looks set to stay. As per 2024, no results of the ‘competition’ were published as everyone brave enough to participate is automatically declared a winner.

On the Friday, the event’s first official day, the Concours cars assemble in a generously laid out and spectacular grid formation allowing visitors to enjoy them in close quarters before the Judges’ results for the class winners are announced. Each of the five class winners has the chance to take Best of Show on Saturday. Corrado Lopresto’s 1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS ‘Aprile’ took the Concepts and One-Offs award, the two-tone two-seater looking even more elegant against the snow. The 1957 Ferrari 500TRC of Andrew Pisker claimed the Barchettas on the Lake award, beating several other significant sports-racing Ferraris among others in a competitive class. The jewel-like Rosso Rubino 1966 Ferrari 275GTB/4 won the Icons on Wheels class and was already deemed interesting enough for being the first production example built and featuring many unique details (gold Delta-Mics four-spoke, split-rim wheels anyone?), even before it was announced as being owned by none other than Horacio Pagani.

1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS Aprile — The ICE St. Moritz

Although an award for ‘Most out of Place’ doesn’t exist at the ICE, if it did the winner would have to have been Ernst Schuster’s 1971 Porsche 908/03. With its Gulf orange-arrows livery, twin-fin kurzheck rear clam and gigantic (un-studded) rear tyres, the Porsche deservedly took the Racing Legends award instead. Marc Newson’s 1934 Bugatti Type 59 had held court among the cars of the Open Wheels class from the off, with the grandest of Grand Prix Bugatti’s surely never in doubt of being a finalist for Best in Show.

Elsewhere Fritz Burkard’s 1960 Fiat Abarth 1000 Monosposto streamliner by Pininfarina was a favourite among the public. Not only did this mid-century record breaker look like a sleek UFO among the monochrome mountains, but its generous owner spent much of the weekend inspiring the next generation of enthusiasts by actively encouraging spellbound children to climb aboard and imagine themselves as Umberto Maglioli on the Monza banking.

The ICE, for all its intrinsic glamour, appeals to the most basic of senses when the Concours ‘grid’ takes to the wintery oval track on Saturday. There is nothing quite like seeing and hearing a car perform the perfect lap, defined as being one where the front wheels are at no point aimed in the intended direction of travel. In this regard, full marks must be awarded to the 1950 Ferrari 166 Inter by Stabilimenti Farina which, with a complete set of Louis Vuitton luggage strapped to the rack on the back, was seen at angles of attack that it had likely not experienced since its first owner Baron ‘Toulo’ de Graffenried was at the helm.

1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 — The ICE St. Moritz

It must be said that if there is one criticism of the ICE it is Saturday’s Parc Fermé set-up. This sees the cars parked around the perimeter of a large roped-off paddock, facing into the centre and away from the visitors who’ve travelled from far and wide to see them. Heavily policed, only the correct wristband permits entry. While this is undoubtedly a concession for the safety of visitors while the cars are moving between paddock and track, it does seem a shame to restrict access to these extraordinary cars for the whole day. Especially so for those visitors unable to visit on the Friday, when the cars were more beautifully and openly arranged. In this aspect, the ICE could perhaps take inspiration from the Goodwood events, which successfully manage to balance close access and crowd control.

In the build-up to the Best of Show announcement on Saturday afternoon, as the sun began its retreat behind the mountains, two special awards were given. The Spirit of St. Moritz trophy, designed by Rolf Sachs, was awarded to Diego Meier and his 1961 Ferrari 250GT SWB Competizione “SEFAC”. It was a popular choice after the Swiss enthusiast had spent the weekend ensuring that as many people as possible could have the once-in-lifetime experience of an ex-Le Mans V12 Ferrari. Awarded by public vote, the Hero Below Zero trophy was presented to the 1972 Lamborghini Miura SV of Stéphane Ratel, who may be more familiar to motorsports fans as co-founder of the BPR Endurance Series.

1961 Ferrari 250 SWB SEFAC — The ICE St. Moritz

For 2025’s running of the ICE, the Best of Show trophy had been designed by architectural behemoth and St. Moritz local Lord Norman Foster. While most collectors come to the ICE for the fun of it, this was a prize worth fighting for as Foster confirmed that, among his highly coveted designs, this is the only trophy he has ever penned. In the end overall honours were awarded to Marc Newson’s 1934 Bugatti Type 59. As Foster presented his trophy to Newson, the Australian design guru, it was special to witness two of the world’s greatest living creatives in complete awe of the sensational Bugatti.

Anyone who regularly skis, snowboards or tunes in to Ski Sunday will be acutely aware of how fickle the alpine climate has become and its increasing unpredictably makes the hosting of any event at altitude even more challenging. And so, with the weather on side for 2025, it was a joy to welcome the ICE St. Moritz back into the concours fray once more. Any large scale motoring event is hard graft and there would have been many reasons to have thrown in the towel after 2024’s disappointment. In that regard, our hats are duly doffed to Ronnie Kessel and Marco Makaus for enduring, prevailing and improving an event that is now firmly established as one of the world’s best.