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INTRODUCTION / TABLE OF CONTENTS It’s Show-Off Time elcome to our second annual Insider’s Guide to Con- Wcours d’Elegance. It provides a comprehensive road- map to the significant 2015 concours in the United States. At their heart, concours are simply car shows that have a more formal organization than a show-and-shine. But whether at Amelia Island or a local cars and coffee, any gathering of enthusiasts and their cars is really a celebra- tion of great design, innovative engineering and meticulous preparation. Car show or concours, at their core both are about the same thing: a love of the automobile. One of the hallmarks of a top-flight concours is the way the classes are curated and displayed. There will be a logic that links one class to the next, and the overall vision of the event will be clear. I especially enjoy seeing a class that has multiple examples of the same model. Look- ing at several of the same cars — from the Ferrari 250 TRs at Pebble to the Datsun 240Zs at Forest Grove — and noticing how each has become different over the years — is like being involved in an archaeological dig. Enjoy this guide, and let it help you create dreams for new adventures. Make your plans now to attend shows you are familiar with — and some that are new to you. Adventure awaits. — Keith Martin ■ FEATURES ADVERTISERS INDEX 10 Preserve or Restore? — Donald Osborne Ability Connection Colorado Concours. ........................................... 22 20 Why Are Concours Important? — Bill Warner Amelia Island Concours ................... 54 Art of the Car Concours ...................... 5 52 10 Years of Pebble Beach Winners Cincinnati Concours Foundation .... 13 Classic Assets Motor Sports Center . 23 FEATURED CONCOURS Classic Showcase ............................. 16 26 2015 Amelia Island 34 Hillsborough Concours Cobble Beach Concours ................. 17 Columbia River Concours ................ 48 Concours d’Elegance d’Elegance Concours d’Elegance of Texas ....... 31 26 La Jolla Concours 34 2015 Misselwood D. L. George Coachworks ................ 21 d’Elegance Concours d’Elegance Forest Grove Concours ..................... 18 French Lick Resort Concours ........... 41 28 The Concours d’Elegance 36 Columbia River Concours Greystone Mansion Concours......... 45 of Texas d’Elegance & Car Show Gullwing Motor Cars, Inc. ................. 50 Hagerty Insurance Agency, Inc. ..... 35 28 2015 Pinehurst Concours 36 Pebble Beach Concours Hahn and Vorbach ........................... 11 d’Elegance d’Elegance Heacock Classic .............................. 43 29 Keels & Wheels 37 2015 Crescent Beach Hillsborough Concours ....................... 7 Hilton Head Island Concours ............. 9 Concours d’Elegance 29 Greystone Mansion Hyman, LTD ......................................... 15 Concours d’Elegance 37 Lime Rock Historic JR-Auctions........................................... 4 Festival Concours Keels and Wheels Concours ............ 47 30 San Luis Obispo Concours d’Elegance Keeneland Concour D’Elegance ... 49 30 Colorado Concours Kevin Kay Restorations ....................... 8 38 2015 Vail Automotive La Jolla Concours D’ Elegance ....... 27 32 2015 Ault Park Concours Classic LeMay - America’s Car Museum .... 42 Lime Rock Park Historic Festival ...... 25 32 Art of the Car Concours 38 The Cobble Beach Misselwood Concours d’Elegance . 51 Concours d’Elegance Pebble Beach Concours .................. 24 33 Keeneland Concours Pinehurst Concours D’ Elegance ..... 39 40 Concours d’Elegance d’Elegance Premier Financial Services ............... 55 at French Lick 33 2015 Forest Grove Putnam Leasing ................................... 3 Reliable Carriers ................................ 56 Concours d’Elegance 40 Hilton Head Island Rick Cole Auctions .............................. 2 Concours d’Elegance Sports Car Market .............................. 46 SCHEDULE Vail Automotive Classic ................... 19 44 Complete 2015 Concours Listing Cover photo by David Tomaro 6 INSIder’s GuIDE TO CONCOURS d’eleGANCE www.sportscarmarket.com INSIDER INFORMATION Preserve or Restore? A decayed barn find is probably a better restoration car than preservation car By Donald Osborne “Dirt is a distraction ... though it must be conceded that concours guests often like it” t may be difficult to believe, but 2015 will are available for future generations.” Imark the 14th year that the Pebble Beach FIVA first presented a trophy to an un- Concours d’Elegance has featured separate restored, preserved vehicle on display at classes for Preservation vehicles. Pebble Beach in 1999 — a 1933 Marmon Visitors to Pebble Beach 2001 stumbled V16 Le Baron Victoria. upon a small atoll of cars with dull paint, The 2001 Preservation Class showed cracked upholstery and deteriorated bright cars that were all pre-war, a classification trim in the center of a vast sea of more- referring to vehicles predating World War perfect-than-new automotive jewels on the II, and the winner that year was a 1919 Lo- 18th Fairway alongside Stillwater Cove. comobile. In the years that have followed, Some of those 2001 onlookers were the field of study, discovery and discussion surprised and delighted, while others were of preservation vs. restoration has grown confused or dismayed. exponentially at the same time — and at Unrestored cars had been shown at Peb- nearly the same pace — as an almost-blind ble Beach before 2001, generally alongside frenzy in the collector car marketplace sur- a restored example of the same model as rounding the myth and magic of the “barn an educational display. FIVA, the Fédéra- find.” More on that later. tion Internationale des Véhicules Anciens, What is a preservation car? is a Paris-based international organization Since 2007, the Pre-War Preservation which promulgates a set of rules to help Class at Pebble Beach has been joined by meet its mission to “Preserve, Protect & a Post-War (World War II) class. Showing Promote” historic vehicles, “ensuring that the popularity and importance of this cat- authentic examples of our automotive past egory, the 2015 Pebble Beach Concours 10 INSIder’s GuIDE TO CONCOURS d’eleGANCE www.sportscarmarket.com INSIDER INFORMATION d’Elegance will feature yet a third Preser- more than slightly opinionated — about the vation Class — this one devoted solely to subject of preservation. His book assembles unrestored Ferraris, one of this year’s fea- a number of insightful essays from very ex- tured marques. Obviously, there is great perienced and knowledgeable people in the interest. field — in addition to studies of specific So, what makes a car worthy of preser- cars — to consider vehicles as historical vation? Looking further, what makes it an objects as well as dynamic, kinetic, living object to be admired and acknowledged on sculpture. the concours lawns of the world? Bill Scheffler was a founder and Chair- A good place to look man of the Fairfield for answers is among County Concours d’Ele- the people who put on gance, a well-re garded shows — and those show held in southern who judge them. Bill Connecticut from 2003 Warner, founder of the to 2011. Amelia Island Concours A notable feature of d’Elegance, is a man the Fairfield Concours who always gets to the for many years was a heart of the matter in a class with preservation few words. and barn-find vehicles. Warner said: “A pres- A special display in ervation car represents 2005 showed three Jag- a standard by which re- uar XK 120 OTS cars. storers can refer to ac- One was a superbly re- curately restore a similar stored car from the col- car.” It’s a vehicle that lection of the late Mal- can serve as a window A valuable resource colm Pray. Another was into the past, the inten- a very original example tions, techniques and methods of manufac- in long-term family ownership that be- ture that resulted in the car as it was deliv- longed to ex-Christie’s car department head ered new. and FIVA judge Miles Morris. The third car But, of course, cars are meant to be was completely body-stripped for restora- used, and using them as intended will con- tion and owned by Fairfield Concours co- sume some of the original components and founder John Shuck. The three cars showed create wear and loss in others. clearly the differences between the catego- So at what point do we draw the line at ries and made it clear how each could be what is useful as historic artifact and what appreciated. instead might be a really interesting resto- At the Fairfield County Concours, the ration project and not something to put on preservation/barn-find class was subject display as it exists? In addition, how are to a People’s Choice award rather than a these factors to be taken into account in points-based system. It relied on the emo- judging at events? tional connection the visitors made to the For help in determining guidelines for cars on display. Admittedly, more often preservation vs. restoration, arguably the than not, it was the dirty, dusty, cobwebbed best place to turn is Dr. Fred Simeone’s barn find that most often caught the public’s 2012 book, The Stewardship of Historically eye. Important Automobiles. “…preservation in the best case is a run- Dr. Simeone’s collection of rare and ning car, technologically equipped as new mostly unrestored competition cars forms save what has been required to make it run the heart of the Simeone Foundation Au- today, with an unaltered finish in the best tomotive Museum in Philadelphia, PA. Dr. condition it can be brought to,” Scheffler Simeone has long been passionate — and said. “Dirt is a distraction and irrelevant, 12 INSIder’s GuIDE TO CONCOURS d’eleGANCE www.sportscarmarket.com INSIDER INFORMATION The Bloomington Gold system Perhaps no one has more to say on the sub- ject of showing and judg- ing unrestored cars than David Burroughs, the powerhouse behind the ZZenith Grading System and CEO of Blooming- ton Gold. Burroughs firmly be- lieves that with formal- ized and conscientious training and guidance, judges can be developed who will be able to more accurately identify and reward those vehicles Bloomington Gold judges factor in a car’s use and wear that can be used as his- torical markers.