Concours d'Elegance of America at St. John's (Formerly Meadow Brook) and RM Auction's Michigan Sale

What's in a Name?
By Steve Purdy
TheAutoChannel.com
Detroit Bureau

Concours d’Elegance of America at St. John’s – Friday through Sunday, July 29-31, 2011

Plymouth, MI - July 20, 2011 - Two years ago one of the finest concours d’elegance events in the country changed its name from the Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance to the Concours d’Elegance of America at Meadow Brook. Only insiders knew what that was all about. It has now become clear to all – the venue changed from the Meadow Brook Hall mansion and adjoining golf course to new digs at the Inn at St John’s in Plymouth, Michigan.

The politics of the move could be the subject of an extensive article here. I’ll write that another time. But for now we need only know that continuing at the beautiful Meadow Brook Hall was no longer possible in terms of both costs and logistics. The organizers, it is obvious, continue their commitment to assembling the finest antiques, classics, race cars and collector cars in the Midwest.

St. Johns is a former Catholic Seminary, located between Detroit and Ann Arbor, that has been adapted to become a luxurious convention center with on-site hotel and generous meeting space. Like Meadow Brook, it too is surrounded by a golf course, upon which the featured cars will be displayed. We’ll see this weekend how that new venue works out. We’ll see a great variety of unusual, interesting and historic automobiles, and even some motor scooters.

Events begin Friday, July 29th with an opportunity to watch historic race cars run for fun on the 2-mile, high-speed oval at Michigan International Speedway in nearby Brooklyn, a motoring tour around the Plymouth, Michigan countryside, a VIP tour of the new automotive exhibit at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn and a Welcome Reception for the RM Auction that also features Automotive Fine Art Preview.

Saturday events include an open house at nearby American Speed Company, a Car Valuation Seminar presented by the Hagerty Insurance Company staff, a Design Seminar focused on Chuck Jordon’s influence on GM, a tour of Roger Penske’s Ilmor Engineering race car shop, the RM Auction and a luxurious Gala dinner with a live auction of the original poster art by Jay Koka.

The Concours d’Elegance show runs from 10AM to 4PM on Sunday, July 31st. General admission is $25, which includes parking nearby, shuttle to the site and a beautiful, glossy program.

You’ll see about 300 very special automobiles populating more than 30 classes, from the traditional recognized classics, to Ridler Trophy winners. The Ridler Trophy is one of the most prestigious awards in the county for custom cars.

Drag racing cars are featured along side Indy racers and a Sport Racing class. Muscle cars will have their own circle along with special presentations titled Chevrolet 100 Years and Mercedes-Benz: The first 125 Years. Other featured marques include Lincoln, Auburn and Continental.

One of the unusual displays this year will feature the early Duesenbergs. We’re used to seeing the later, sophisticated and refined Model J cars of the 1930s. Here we’ll also see the earlier, more rare, Model A Duesenbergs alongside their brethren.

Brian Joseph, chairman of the car selection committee, and his team have assembled the first ever Designer Tribute Class. This inaugural class will honor the late Chuck Jordon who came to GM Design through the Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild competition and designed cars throughout the later years of Harley Earl then presided over American GM designs himself from 1962 as chief designer. He then relocated to Germany to direct European design. Returning to the US in 1986 he succeeded the famous Bill Mitchell as VP of GM Design. Jordon passed away last year at the age of 83.

One other big change will make the show feel different. Ed Lucas, master of ceremonies for all but perhaps two of the Meadow Brook shows, will no longer be the voice of the show. Bob Joint, another well-known, experienced collector car guy, will take his place, narrate the awards and preside over the presentations.

Margery Krevsky, author of the popular book about the history of auto show models called Sirens of Chrome, will again present the Mode du Concours, a fashion show featuring period clothing to go with the classic cars. The fashions will be integrated into the awards presentation.

Another RM Auction will be part of the weekend’s activities with an emphasis on American classics and high-value collectible cars with a few special European collectibles as well. The auction will offer about 80 automobiles. A reception previewing the cars will be Friday evening and the auction will begin at 11AM Saturday.

Perhaps the most unusual car in the RM Auction is the transparent 1939 Pontiac Deluxe Six known as the “Ghost Car.” Built at a cost of around $25,000, it was a demonstration of Rohm & Haas’ new acrylic material – Plexiglas. The see-through body shows the plated, polished and enhanced guts of the Pontiac sedan.

Another special car is a rare Dietrich-bodied 1932 Packard Twin Six delivered new to entertainer Al Jolson, a passionate automobile enthusiast who could afford whatever he wanted. This loaded custom convertible sedan with dual sidemounts and every imaginable accessory is expected to bring about $1 million.

Other auction cars include: a 1929 Murphy-bodied Duesenberg Model J Convertible Berline, a 1941 Packard Super Eight 180 Convertible Victoria, a beautiful 1942 Ford Super Deluxe V8 Woodie Station Wagon, a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe, a sleek 1967 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Roaster, a cute little 1951 Crosley Hot Shot and an exotic 1958 Facel Vega FV4 Typhoon Coupe.

Bring your checkbook and line of credit. We guarantee there will be something to lust over at the RM Auction.

For all the details on the Concours d’Elegance of America at St. John’s go to: www.concoursusa.org, and for information on the auction go to: www.rmauctions.com.

I’ll be there early, stay late and probably shoot about 800 to 1,000 frames of digital photos.

Hope to see you there.