Though many have their attentions turned to the Monterey peninsula for the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, there’s another world-class automotive event taking place in America’s Motor City. Formerly the Meadow Brook Concours, a move to the Inn at St. John’s brought with it the new title Concours d’Elegance of America.
Every year since 1991, Concorso Italiano has provided a stage for contemporary Italian exotics to meet their svelte forebears. While the event has certainly burgeoned, the formula remains the same; multi-colored lines of Lamborghinis with doors held aloft sidled up next to rows of vintage Ferrari clothed in racing red.
We attracted a spectacular group of rare cars this year, cars that you’d be fortunate to see at an international concours, let alone driving 1100 miles in four days. Among the stand-outs were the 1952 Cunningham C3 Coupe of Chuck Schoendorf & Pat Lee and the 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing of Robert & Beryle Slayden.
The Going-To-The-Sun Road is a 50-mile stretch of alpine pavement that traverses Glacier National Park in Montana. Named after the park’s Going-To-The-Sun Mountain, sections of the road are cut into the mountainsides, featuring tunnels and craggy overhangs.
Nestled between Detroit and Chicago, in America’s car manufacturing heartland, the Gilmore displays a massive assortment of predominantly post-war racing, sports, and consumer automobiles. Since 1966, this museum has been displaying historic automobiles, from the unparalleled luxury of Pierce Arrow, to the the elegance and reliability of the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost.
Every year since 1964, the Ferrari Club of America has held a multi-day event for members and owners from around the world. The meet, always in or around a major North American city within spitting distance of a race track, amounts to one of the world’s largest gatherings of Ferraristi and their prancing horses.
Continued family ownership and management, even now that founders Bruce and Genia Wennerstrom have passed away, has kept the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance at the very top of the east coast’s show circuit. The format of year’s concours, the first with the younger generation of Wennerstroms at the helm, will be the same as it has in the past.
With a number of major events scheduled for the coming month – the Monaco auctions, Pennsylvania Ferrari Concours, and Greenwich Concours, to name a few – this weekend is a perfect opportunity to take the edge off your automotive anticipation.
A move back to Connecticut preceded my furthest relocation at the time, 2,824 miles to Southern California where I currently hang my hat when not bouncing around the world for work. That work most recently led me to establish a part-time residence in Northern Italy, and had me reflecting on the cars I’ve owned and how my place of residence may have influenced my choices.
