Here are pictures Mike Ferring took of two of the world's greatest car events: the start of the Mille Miglia and the Concorso d'Eleganza at the Villa d'Este on Lake Como in Italy. He and Maryellen visited both events in May of 2017. Some 450 amazing cars were entered in the Mille Miglia, including 23 Jaguars. The pictures are of the beginning of the 1,000 mile event in Brescia.

The Concorso (the Italian word for the French "Concours") is another astonishing event held on a Saturday at the historic Villa d'Este hotel on the shore of Lake Como. It's as much about the people as the cars, limited in attendance to the entrants, oodles of press, VIPs, and those who were willing to spend a lot of money to be there. That night there was an auction presented by RM Sotheby (also in the photos), that included a 1961 E-Type that went for a world record price. And the next day, the Concorso cars moved to the nearby Villa Erbe, where they were shown to anyone who would pay a little less to stroll among the mechanical beauties.