Words by Cécile Christmann / Photography by Rodrigo Egea for Bonnet Magazine - Feb 15 2026

For your eyes only: report from the I.C.E. 2026

When comes the deep winter season and ice and snow start to settle in St. Moritz, it can only mean one thing: the roaring engines of some of the most incredible vehicles on earth are not far away anymore. If traditionally the alpine city’s frozen lake sees activities like skijoring, sledge riding or snow polo (which are also rather uncommon activities for most places), it has started to see an increasingly wide array of incredible cars gathering together since 2022 and at the occasion of the I.C.E. (International Concours of Elegance) — subsequent to a 2019 inaugural version followed by a 2 years COVID hiatus.

Now in its 5th year running, the eloquently and wittily named festival has taken the city’s center stage as well as worldwide proportions, and somehow feels as if it has always been there despite its relative newcomer status. It gathers collectors and car lovers from the world over, whether they are used to the yearly automotive circuit (St. Moritz has, after all, always been an automotive enthusiasts destination) or as ecstatic first-timers.

It also caters to the local crowd, who are precisely used to seeing all kinds of visitors and eccentricities. The festival, strategically unfolding in between the long-established Snow Polo and the cinematographic White Turf (thrilling horse races that have been going around the lake since the early twentieth century), is also an occasion for a fraction of the fur-lined and mink-covered so-called jet set to find in St. Moritz a haven for socialisation.

_{Photography by Riccardo Ruatasio during the 2026 Snow Polo St. Moritz}

The days of the I.C.E. are also a much-welcomed rendez-vous for some key art world actors, their gallerists and collectors — who most often than not are merging with the car industry specialists as well, and sometimes the jet set too. Historically a city oriented towards arts and culture (with the iconoclast Segantini Museum but also galleries such as Vito Schnabel or Hauser & Wirth in the city center), St. Moritz have seen plenty of new initiatives, exhibitions, talks or programs revolving around the I.C.E., decidedly making those two days in the city extremely eclectic, intense and creative.

At any time on one of those special days, one might wonder with febrile anticipation where best to go in order to catch the most exciting live action. If the lake gathers all the official program and a never-failing ambiance, there is also an undeniable amount of spectacle happening live on St. Moritz’s winding and uphill streets.

At any point can the latest Koenigsegg or Bugatti pop out of a garage, a Porsche 959 pull up for checking at a Grand Hotel, or a flock of Kimera parade around the city noisily, creating all the more opportunities for on-the-spot photography.

The glittering vitrines of Cartier or Miu Miu lining Badrutts Palace’s facade, or more contemporary Norman Foster-designed buildings such as the Kulm Eispavillon or the Murezzan offer plenty of pristine and instantly recognisable backgrounds. This is without forgetting all the wonderful (and probably best) views you can get from high up, looking down onto the lake and hearing the engines in action echoing through the valley.

A favorite of author @rivieiraa is skiing down the Corviglia olympic red run while getting glimpses of the expanding race track a few hundred meters below, or to witness the action from the comfort of a room or the Renzo Mongiardino-designed lobby at the Kulm Hotel, with either a hot chocolate, daytime champagne or a Pisco sour comes night time.

Another favorite is sitting down to the single wooden bench available on the tiny but oh-so-lovely terrasse of Monocle’s outpost, down at Hotel Steffani and where St. Moritz’s main roundabout is turning heads as the ever-great stage for unique 4-wheels machines to meet up.

Down at the lake, where a flock of workers, organisers, collectors and drivers are at work to make the magic happen over those two icy days — the thrill kicks in when supercars enter the city’s white stage, escorted by what seems to be a big public’s favorite: either a Volvo P1800 or a Citroën 2CV as safety cars.

This year, a trilogy of Bugatti Bolides are setting the tone, their sharp and dark appearance cutting a clean figure on sun-lit snow powder. A few icons of design dot the monochrome landscape with colour: a Giallo Miura SV, a red F50, and the first-ever Pagani (a Zonda C12) in yellow move around like in a fantasy.

Other rarities complete the hit list, such as a McLaren F1, a Porsche GT1 or a Bugatti EB110.

The 1990s rallye cars are competing in the new “Best Sound” category — an actual and apparently well coveted prize for these colourful, exuberant cars that seem to get the most love from the younger generation around: joyous crowds indeed gather around very special a Lancia Delta and Stratos, and Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2, or the mighty Citroën ZX Rallye Raid.

Mixed with those bright and colourful pieces of rallye history are also older racing legends, such as the Alfa Romeo 179 B, or racing Porsches like the purple and green “psychedelic” long tail 917, or @orca.restoration’s white 910, who also hit St. Moritz’s roads at last year’s Passione Engadine with other Le Mans cars.

They are guided through the white tracks by @Kessel_ch’s Fiat Panda 4x4, incongruously painted in a “Cricketball” Bentley shade, which still proves to be the best adapted car for the city of St. Moritz under any circumstances.

Then, in a class of their own (although all drivers and cars mix in an über-enthusiastic atmosphere), the pre-war beauties, masterworks of French or English coach builders, stand out from the crowd.

This year, and after the wonderful Delage D8-1205 who took the Best in Show distinction in 2024, @therealpearlcollection takes the highest win one more time with a spectacular bicolour Talbot-Lago T150C SS “Teardrop” from 1937, both cars (with Graubünden plates!) testifying of an âge d’or of French coach building and true pieces of history on wheels in pristine conditions.

After two days of intensely mesmerising laps in the snow, the blue Talbot climbed up via Serlas for a well deserved spot of choice under the @badruttspalace monumental columns, and before the celebrations de circonstance.