Grand Basel to be the ultimate show for automotive masterpieces.
MCH Group, the parent company of Art Basel, confirmed it will launch Grand Basel as its second American event, to take place in Miami Beach in February of 2019. According to the Art Basel, the organizers want to reach an extensive audience of discerning car collectors and enthusiasts who are eager for a show like no other.
In advance of Grand Basel Miami Beach, the inaugural show will take place in Basel, Switzerland from 6 to 9 September 2018. Then, from 22 to 24 February 2019, Beach will become home to the world’s most outstanding automobiles.
Both events will bring a different collection of the top vehicular examples of sophisticated design to each venue in a beautifully constructed, pioneering setting. With an expected 200 remarkable vehicles from the past, present and future to be on display in February, Grand Basel Miami Beach promises to offer an unparalleled view of the automobile as an aesthetic, technological and cultural icon.
The event will offer collectors, restoration and conservation experts, dealers, manufacturers and connoisseurs a global platform for exchange. The show will welcome automotive masterpieces, and will create a venue for the international community who share the same passion for the automobile and view it as a multi-dimensional cultural asset.
“Grand Basel is not just another car salon or concours,” says Global Director Mark Backé, who conceived the show concept. “It is the first global show for the world’s most important and valuable automobiles of the past, present and future. Grand Basel presents international connoisseurs, experts and collectors with the epitome of automotive culture, and will appeal to a broader enthusiast audience interested in automobile aesthetics, technological sophistication, art and culture.”
Preview event sets the tone
The ‘avant premiere’ preview and media presentation of Grand Basel’s concept took place at Messe Basel in August 2017, attended by renowned international representatives of the world of automobiles. Together with Global Director Mark Backé and Prof. Paolo Tumminelli, they presented the show’s concept based on four exceptional designs – some of which had never before been shown to the public.
The ‘Car Designer of the Century’, Giorgetto Giugiaro, brought his legendary 1963 Chevrolet Corvair Testudo to Basel. Andrea Zagato announced a tribute to the legendary Iso Rivolta brand: the Zagato Iso Rivolta Vision Gran Turismo concept, which features as a drivable vehicle in the Sony Playstation video game, Gran Turismo Sport, will be one of the highlights of Grand Basel 2018. Designer Rem D. Koolhaas showed a new Lo Res car inspired by the concepts of his fashion brand, United Nude, for which he abstracted the polygonal design of a Lamborghini Countach into the most minimalist wedge shape.
Finally, as the favorite brand of Swiss architect, Le Corbusier, whose patron Gabriel Voisin provided the inspiration for his radical design ideas for a car centered urban redevelopment of Paris, the 1935 Avions Voisin C25 Aérodyne was also shown – it is a perfect manifestation of the multitude of correlations between architecture, the car and urban development.
Idris Elba celebrates automotive masterpieces with Grand Basel
Automotive aficionado and multi-award winning actor Idris Elba explores his “lifelong obsession” for cars in a new film for Grand Basel, the ultimate show for automotive masterpieces. Grand Basel will commence a global tour starting this September, and the movie provides an exclusive visual preview.
In the film, Idris explores the characteristics of a car that make it a masterpiece and searches for an answer as to what gives a car its soul. The setting of the movie is highly significant, as it was shot inside the iconic Lingotto automobile factory in Turin.
Viewers are reminded of the connection between the automobile and art, design, architecture and lifestyle. Idris explores the emotional impact of the automobile, including his earliest motoring memories of pretending to drivein the back seat of his parents’ car.
