Beauty Contest

The French have a name for it: concours d'elegance. Loosely translated it means beauty contest, a competition of elegance. This contrasts with most old car shows,which are concours e'tat, contests of condition or state. In true concours d'elegance judging, cars are judged on their overall appearance, condition being one of several contributing factors. And so it is with Connecticut's Greenwich Concours d'Elegance.

Last weekend was the fourteenth annual concours at Greenwich, founded and run by Bruce and Genia Wennerstrom. It's a two-day event, Saturday devoted to American antique and classic cars, Sunday designated Concours International, featuring sports, touring and competition cars from Europe and beyond.

Saturday's field included such notables as a 1912 Speedwell formerly owned by the late renowned tenor and car collector James Melton; two Detroit Electric cars, 1914 and 1918; a gorgeous 1934 Packard LeBaron phaeton owned by Greenwich collector Malcolm Pray; a 1930 L29 Cord with Murphy body designed by Frank Hershey and a rare Marmon Roosevelt, named after our 26th President. Less exotic but equally as interesting were Model T and Model A Fords, a 1939 Ford Standard station wagon, and a 1939 "Spirit of Motion" supercharged Graham in the seldom-seen coupe body style. These gents won Best Combination of Car and Costume, along with Michael Krieger's Pierce-Arrow coupe, and Mr. Wennerstrom gave his Chairman's Award to this 1931 Duesenberg J convertible victoria. At the other end of the time scale were a mint 1973 AMC Matador and a newly-collectible 1984 Cadillac Seville. Selected Best of Show was a 1932 Auburn V-12 boat-tail speedster owned by Joseph and Margie Cassini; Malcolm Pray's 1954 Kaiser Darrin was voted People's Choice.

The international auction house Bonhams held a sale of motor cars and memorabilia on Sunday, offering such treasures as the 1922 GN racer "Akela" once owned by Ron Godfrey, a rare Allard K3, and a 1913 Hudson Mile-a-Minute speedster.

Centerpiece of the concours both days was the innovative Terrafugia flying car (actually a "roadable airplane"), a revival of a concept that many inventors tested after World War II. A notable Concours sponsor was Tesla Motors, makers of the high performance Tesla sports car.

Sunday's show included such European thoroughbreds as a Rolls-Royce Phantom II drophead coupe by Barker, MG J1, Triumph Gloria Southern Cross, Sunbeam Alpine and a circle full of Ferraris. An unusual entrant was the 1937 Volvo PV52 owned by Bob and Linda Pellerin; nearly as remarkable was the Israeli-built 1962 Sabra sports car. Michael Schudroff's 1962 Dual-Ghia is an Italian-American grand tourer; Lance and Melissa Levethan's Fiat 500 Jolly was judged "Most Fun." A portent of the future was a Fiat Cinquecento, soon to come to these shores but perhaps not as an Abarth version.

This year is the centenary of the Morgan Motor Company, so Morgan was featured marque, with entrants as varied as 1928 Aero and 1948 F4 trikes, and four-wheelers of "flat radiator," cowled-radiator Triumph-engined Plus Four and Rover-engined Plus Eight models.

Sunday also saw a rich complement of European motorcycles on show. The weather for both days was excellent, just warm enough that ice cream from an authentic Good Humor truck was a real treat.

Grand Marshal Don Peterson, Chief Judge David E. Davis, Jr., and Deputy Chief Judge Jed Rapoport delivered drive-by commentary as the awards were announced. The Competition Class was won by Brock Yates' 1956 Novi Indy roadster. People's Choice went to John Rich's 1914 Renault EF Victoria, while Best of Show was awarded to Ed and Carroll Windfelder for their 1948 Delahaye M135.

The Greenwich Concours d'Elegance benefits Americares, the international relief organization. Next year's Concours will be held June 5th and 6th, 2010.