Inside the World's Greatest Classic Car Collections – Part 9: Fritz Burkard

Within the landscape of international automotive collecting, Fritz Burkard has made his mark through an approach that does not chase quantity, but rather selects motor cars that are unrepeatable in history, authenticity and character. The Swiss entrepreneur, founder of the Pearl Collection, has assembled in just a few years a series of examples capable of spanning more than a century of automotive history: from the 1903 Mercedes-Simplex 60 HP to the great Bugattis — classic and contemporary alike, such as the Centodieci — all while remaining faithful to a very precise philosophy: continuing to let them live on the road, on the track and at the most important international events.
Fritz Burkard at the wheel of the Bugatti Type 59 at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, where in 2024 it accomplished a historic feat, becoming the first preserved and unrestored car ever to win the Best of Show award.
A passion he shares with his two beloved daughters, who are seen ever more frequently at his side between international Concours and major events. Among his cars — all of them extraordinary — there is one that deserves particular attention: the 1934 Bugatti Type 59, raced in Grand Prix events by René Dreyfus, which even came to belong to the select collection of King Leopold III of Belgium. The car, having remained perfectly original — almost as though it had completed its last Grand Prix only yesterday — had barely entered Burkard's collection when, alongside its victory at Villa d'Este, in 2024 it was presented at the renowned and prestigious Pebble Beach Concours in California. And there, the unimaginable happened: not only did it win the Preservation Class for its originality, but it also took home Best of Show — something never before achieved, and indeed unthinkable, for a preserved, non-restored car, as is otherwise the rule.
The Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza that Tazio Nuvolari once drove through the streets of Monte Carlo continues to race today with Fritz Burkard, who took centre stage at the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique at the wheel of this extraordinary motorsport icon.
The Pearl Collection lives, above all, in motion. Fritz Burkard personally drives many of his cars at the most important international historic events, treating them as machines born to race and not as static works of art. At the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique he took to the track with his 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza, formerly of Scuderia Ferrari, in its day driven by Tazio Nuvolari on the Monegasque circuit and the winner that very same year of the Swedish Grand Prix. At Le Mans Classic 2025, by contrast, he brought along an exceptionally rare 1931 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 LM, taking victory in the opening heat of the weekend and finishing second overall in Plateau 1. And these are but two examples: whenever there is driving to be done, he throws himself into it, channelling the drivers of those eras both in attire and in style. One need only watch him at the wheel of the 1939 Maserati 4CL piloted across the frozen lake of The ICE circuit at St. Moritz.
In an age in which many collections remain invisible behind private doors, Fritz Burkard has chosen the opposite road: that of exhibiting, driving, sharing. And it is probably this combination of historical rigour, authenticity and competitive spirit that has transformed the Pearl Collection into one of the most respected and most awarded realities of contemporary collecting.
Fritz Burkard does not limit himself to collecting — he loves to drive. He shows it with the Maserati 4CL on the frozen lake of The I.C.E. St. Moritz, where he tackles the snow-covered course with the same audacious spirit of the racing of times past.