Louis Vuitton is dusting off the trunks and putting them back in vintage cars, quite literally, this September. The house has confirmed the return of its classic car rally, now rebranded as the Dolomites Classic Run, this September, just ahead of the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix. It’s the first edition since the Serenissima Run wrapped up back in 2012, so this is more of a comeback tour than a fresh idea.
And the idea itself isn’t new either. LV’s love affair with old metal goes back to 1993, when the maison sent vintage cars trundling through Malaysian rubber plantations for the Vintage Equator Run. Since then there’s been a Tuscan edition, a China Run that snaked from Dalian to Beijing, and a Bohemian jaunt through Budapest, Vienna and Prague. Basically, if there’s a scenic backdrop and a fleet of pre-war metal, Louis Vuitton has probably already rallied through it.
This time the setting is proper postcard territory. The route kicks off near Venice, with cars gathering at Villa Pisani in Stra along the Brenta Riviera, before the competitive regularity rally itself begins and climbs up into the Dolomites, a UNESCO-listed and utterly breathtaking mountain range. Around 370-miles later, the procession rolls into Monza on September 4, timed to coincide with the Italian Grand Prix.
The classic cars will parade around the Autodromo Nazionale during the race weekend’s opening ceremony, which is a fairly spectacular way to remind everyone that LV also happens to be F1’s official partner these days. An exhibition of the participating cars will run at Villa Reale in Monza Park, and the actual prize giving happens at Castello Sforzesco in Milan.
The connection to motoring isn’t just marketing either. Georges Vuitton, son of the founder, designed the house’s first flat car trunk in 1897, solving the very real problem of bulky luggage falling off early automobiles. In 1905 came the round Sacs Chauffeurs, shaped to slot neatly into a car’s spare wheel well. So long before Louis Vuitton was slapping logos on sneakers, it was quietly solving practical problems for people driving very impractical machines. Pietro Beccari, LV’s chairman, called the house’s history an inexhaustible source of ideas, and on this occasion it’s hard to argue. Old cars, older craftsmanship, and one very good excuse for a road trip through the Alps.
