2005 Concours d'Elegance at Cranbrook

Rain, Rain Go Away
By Steve Purdy
Detroit Bureau

Rain, rain go away. Come again some other day.

That was the lament Sunday morning on the beautiful campus of the Cranbrook Educational Community, one of the nation’s premier art and educational institutions, about 25 miles north of Detroit. Anxious collectors and organizers were poised to present the third Cranbrook Concours d’Elegance with General Motors sponsorship, but Mother Nature was not in a cooperative mood.

There are few things more pleasing to the senses (mine anyway) than a warm summer rain. But not on car show day. Heavy rains overnight continued intermittently throughout the morning and weather maps showed more to come. Word circulated that nothing would happen until at least noon, though judging had been scheduled to start at 11 o’clock. Optimistic owners were moving their cars onto the field all morning between downpours but many of the trailer queens stayed in their trailers. Then, about twelve-thirty, the sky suddenly brightened and the rain was gone. Cars and people appeared seemingly from nowhere and the show was on full tilt.

Seventeen classes were judged under the aegis of chief judge Bob Lutz, GM’s vice chairman and world-renowned car guy who has championed this show. “This is not a GM event and we do no marketing with this show,” said Lutz. “We want this show to help bring new folks to the hobby, more than just middle-aged and elderly white guys.”

“Judging criteria reflects that of the historic French Concours events in that cars are judged for style and design,” Frank Markus of Motor Trend magazine, who judged at the show, told me. In fact, hoods are not allowed to be open during judging. “We’re not looking for whether the font on the spark plug wires is correct, like they do at Pebble Beach” Markus said.

The “Wood Body” class was spectacular featuring a 1914 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, two Hispano-Suizas – a 1925 skiff bodied and a 1937 shooting brake - and even a Duesenburg Northport. Two wood-sided Chrysler Town and Country sedans, a Packard station wagon and a Plymouth P15 Special rounded out the class.

An unusual display of fire trucks, including a huge 1928 Studebaker, some amazing race cars, both European and American, a Bugatti class, a Ferrari class plus the European and American Classics comprised just some of the 175 cars displayed along the green space from the world-class Cranbrook Art Museum to the Cranbrook High School Science Lab building.

Some other exceptional cars included: Roger Penski’s striking red Mercedes 300SL Gull Wing; a pair of raucous red Marmon race cars; an elegant green and black 1930 Willis-Knight Model 66B roadster powered by “The Great 6” engine; a sleek black 1932 Auburn Boat Tail Speedster; Bob Lutz’ own Monteverdi with sexy Italian-style, Swiss-made body powered by a grumbling 380-hp Chrysler V-8 engine; a Porsche 917/10 LeMans race car from legendary Brumos of Jacksonville, Florida; a 1939 Lagonda V12 Rapide with a tulipwood body and dual overhead-cam V12 engine; a unique 1938 Dubonnet Hispano-Suiza Xenia prototype with aeronautic look; and a heavily chromed 1953 Buick Skylark. Many of the cars at the Cranbrook show are ones rarely seen by the public except at shows like Meadow Brook, Pebble Beach or Paris.

Behind the Art Museum, along each side of the classical Nemo’s Fountain, GM had on display some of the best cars from the corporate collections, like the famous Buick Y-Job that was Harley Earl’s first real concept car, three turbine-powered Firebirds from the 50s and a magnificent maroon V-16 Cadillac making its debut fresh from the restoration shop.

Even though the sun came out and a nice breeze mitigated the steaming heat all would not be smooth for the afternoon. We were sitting in the VIP tent beside Nemo’s Fountain cooling off with a cold glass of Chardonnay. Gary Cowger, GM Group VP and honorary chairman for the Concours was sitting in the corner awaiting a call from Jay Leno regarding the display of some of the latter’s cars when a loud crackling noise, almost like rapid gun fire, split the air grabbing our attention. We quickly looked across the fountain from where the sound came and saw the lesser half of a large silver maple tree break away and come down squarely on top of a new Chevy HHR concept car in the GM display. A fellow attending the car suffered a glancing blow from part of the large limb and he went down. The ambulance came and hauled him away. We understand he’s OK. But the poor HHR will need some major repair. When I went over to photograph the mess I thought about ‘loading’ a car’s suspension when we’re photographing cornering action. The HHR’s suspension was fully loaded standing still under the weight of that mighty maple.

Marvin Towns, Jr., a serious collector and gentleman of color, founded the Concours d’Elegance at Cranbrook and has created this show to be one that “celebrates and promotes diversity and inclusion.” Towns believes “the collector car hobby [is] desperately in need of an infusion of new blood and energy . . .” He asks rhetorically “where [will] the hobby be in ten years . . . considering the median age of collectors and attendees . . .” That concern is heard over and over again throughout the hobby and we agree.

With a show the quality of this one a big step forward has been taken toward that goal. In spite of the threatening weather thousands of folks came out to this beautiful campus and saw classics, exotics, hot rods, muscle cars, race cars and motorcycles, pedal cars, fire engines and a smashed HHR. Who could resist the charm of such a hobby.?

Best of Show Award went to Arturo Keller for his stunning 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Viotti, which was praised for its flowing, dynamic lines and visual balance. Keller was also inducted into the newly formed Cranbrook Concours Car Collector Hall of Fame.