In the United States, driving on a frozen lake in winter usually means hopping in a truck or SUV and meandering out to an ice house. If you’ve got a bit more in the bank, maybe you’ll upgrade to an amphibious Sherp. But in St. Moritz, that Swiss haven for jet-setters (and train riders), car collectors are apparently happy to risk life, limb and $28 million vintage Ferraris to experience the wintertime treat of driving on ice.
At this year’s edition of The I.C.E. (International Concours of Elegance), an eccentric event that started in 2019, the owner of a 1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa took to the frozen track erected on Lake St. Moritz and drifted the eight-figure classic car around corners with absolute abandon, as captured by YouTuber Automotive Mike.
Winterace, Italy’s Hottest Car Event, Takes Place in the Snow-Covered Dolomites
100-year-old Bugattis race alongside modern Ferraris at this annual rally, which celebrated its 10th anniversary earlier this month in the town of Cortina d’AmpezzoThis curvaceous car is truly an icon of Italian racing, one that, by Hagerty’s estimate, is valued anywhere between $25.8 million and $34 million depending on the condition. And yet, the devil-may-care driver whips this thing through the snow and ice with less hesitation than my high school self pulling the e-brake in my Hyundai Sonata during winters in Minnesota. Go ahead, grab yourself a coffee and spend the full five minutes watching this moment of automotive zen:
When videos of wealthy adrenaline junkies pushing their classic cars to the limit surface, the general consensus seems to be a nod of approval around the internet. This is how it should be, the commenters type, race cars like this are meant to be raced, not locked away in a garage. And we completely understand that sentiment, but then there’s the flip side of the coin.
On one side, you have the owner waving to the assembled spectators while holding the pedal to the floor, then driving off into the sunset. On the other, you can have a situation like this:
That’s taken from the Le Mans Classic last summer, when a one-off Ferrari 250 GT SWB nicknamed “the Breadvan,” which had an estimated value of $30 million as the Drive wrote at the time, crashed the car hard enough that the passenger door fell off. Most importantly, the driver of the Breadvan came out unscathed (physically that is, monetarily I’m not so sure). But these are the risks and rewards of breaking absurdly-priced historic vehicles out of their hermetic seals and putting rubber to road.
Our hats go off to those who drive away from these events in their cars, and those who tow away their banged-up classics alike.
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