The ICE in St. Moritz is the coolest car event of the year

Standing during blue hour on an ice lake with the mercury hovering around -13 degrees Celsius, you’d expect the Classic Driver team to be a mixture of miserable and frozen, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. After all, with a Maserati MC12 chilling on the 60cm thick ice sheet covering lake Sankt Moritz’s surface, you barely feel the cold. If you had the pleasure of attending The ICE this year, I’m sure you’ll agree cars look much better on the blank canvas of St. Moritz’s frozen lake.

Before we managed to soak up even half the gorgeous details of Frank Stephenson’s masterpiece, the rest of The International Concourse of Elegance’s automotive guests began to crunch their way onto the ice. It was an electric mix of automobiles for sure, but one whose caliber will be nigh on unbeatable in 2022. After all, where else will you see the ex-works 1967 Mini Cooper S that won the Coupe des Alpes Rally parked up against perhaps the most driven Ferrari 250 GTO in the world?

A few four-wheeled movie stars also made an appearance, such as Bond’s 1965 Aston Martin DB5, complete with bullet holes, and the 1969 Mercury Cougar XR-7, which we’d wager would be the best car to take up the slopes. Also in the ‘Stars on Wheels’ class was the 1964 Fiat 500 Jolly Ghia, which must be one of only a handful of spiaggine to ever come in contact with snow. However, beating out all of the above to win the ‘Stars on Wheels’ class was the 1968 Lamborghini Miura from The Italian Job, which looked as though it had never seen a tunnel in its life.

Above all, though, what wowed us the most was the 1956 XKSS completing near full-laps at a 45 degree angle with the event’s undisputed and anonymous Drift King behind the wheel, within the set speed limit of course. Also frequently sideways was IWC Racing’s 1956 Mercedes 300SL Porter Special, which looked like a UFO hovering above the ice as it emitted arguably the best engine note of the event.

Joining the Merc and XKSS in the fabulous ‘Barchettas on the Lake’ class were the 1955 Aston Martin DB3S, supplied by our palls at Drivershall, in a stunning shade of Aston Racing Green, and the class-winning 1953 Jaguar C Type. The latter has been in the Finburgh family for over 50 years now, so it was fantastic to see them take the win, especially as they were all in attendance to accept their prize.

Between all the frosty automotive treasures were plenty of furry four legged friends, accompanied by equally fuzzy owners. Despite the plethora of fur coats, though, Mai Ikuzawa emerged victorious in the fashion department with her fabulous ankle-length Moncler coat that perfectly matched the tangerine hue of the McQueen Meyers Manx, which we were pleased to see looking as fantastic as ever after our shoot earlier in the week.

Amidst the excitement it was easy to forget that the ICE is in fact a concours, especially considering how close attendees were able to get to all the cars, but there was an overall winner: the jaw-dropping 1933 Alfa Romeo Tipo B P3. Equally coveted is the Classic Driver Spirit of St. Moritz award, which were honoured to give to the Lopresto family's 1971 Fiat 130 “Villa d’Este” Introzzi.

The one-off was formerly owned by “L’Avvocato” himself, Gianni Agnelli, who used it to commute from their family home in Suvretta to the Cresta Run or the Dracula Club in St. Moritz.

All in all, it was a truly special event to attend, and one we were incredibly fortunate to help organise with Ronnie Kessel, Marco Makaus, and everyone wearing a blue jacket at The ICE. The quality of cars, the location, and the atmosphere was simply second to none, and we can’t wait to do it all again next year.