Greenwich Means Showtime
Perennial favorites join a couple of oddballs for some automotive exhibitionism at the 1998 Greenwich Concours.
W
e may have seen some of these classics before, but that shouldn't imply that overexposure has rendered them trite. Historic vehicles like Sam and Emily Mann's spectacular Delage and Lawrence Auriana's OSCA #1101 are trophy winners today, just as they were yesterday and will be tomorrow. Both have museum-worthy provenances and both have garnered major awards at Pebble Beach, which remains America's premier concours venue. The same can be said for Jerome Saul's stylishly aristocratic Hibbard & Darrin-bodied 1938 Buick town car, another of the more than 200 classic, sports and special interest vehicles that competed in late May for honors at the 1998 Greenwich Concours D'Elegance and companion Concours Europa.
Best in Show went to the Mann's silver and black Delage D 8-120 speedster when Saturday's votes were tallied. Auriana's seminal OSCA was the overwhelming choice when the panel of judges completed their scrutinizing on Sunday. And Saul's French-bodied Buick took the Best American Classic (19341942) trophy. But first it had to beat Lee and Joan Herrington's just-purchased 1940 Duesenberg SJ town-car...the "Duesy" had set them back over $1,000,000 at a Christie's auction less than one month earlier.
To define the Greenwich Concours D'Elegance as eclectic is over-simplification. The event is broad enough in scope to allow muscle cars, open-wheel formula racers and brass-era antiques to be judged in company with exotic, custom-bodied classics, affordable MGs, Triumphs and Austin-Healeys and world championship calibre Le Mans machines like Jaguar D-Types and Ford GT40s. In three short years, this concours has become one of a handful of important events east of the Mississippi River and has gained active support from a growing number of automobile manufacturers and aftermarket suppliers.
In fact, several car-makers chose this year's event for the debut of important new models like the Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph, Volvo C70 convertible and Lincoln LS6/LS8 that will appear in 1999 as a 2000 model. Mercedes-Benz, a Greenwich concours sponsor since its inception in 1996, combined some of its latest offerings with earlier models, including a 1952 220A cabriolet on loan from the factory museum. Jaguar served high tea to invitees who stopped by for a look at its current line of V8 powered offerings, with a late-arriving 1960 Mark II as an added attraction. This more than somewhat gaudy rendition of the sedan was identical to another gold-trimmed showcar that graced the marque's New York Auto Show exhibit in 1960. Its owners, Robert and Paula Alexander, went home with the trophy for Best Post War European Closed Car.
Audi, another sponsor since day one, had a large display with professional demonstrators to provide responses to questions from spectators. Greenwich dealer Malcolm Pray, who operates the company's largest outlet in terms of US sales, served some 6000 picnic lunches to exhibitors, officials and viewers over the two day period. His Allard J2X was the 1998 poster car, and two cars from the Pray stable went home with trophies: a very tidy Porsche 356 convertible and a truly spectacular V12 Auburn Boattail Speedster.
A nice aspect of the Greenwich concours is that one doesn't need a "killer" car to please either the spectators or the judges. Case-in-point is John Friedler's 1950 MG Y Tourer, a car whose character and charm placed it ahead of some much quicker cars vying for Best Pre-1956 English Sports Car. Another car that captured the judges' fancy was an absolutely original, unrestored 1959 SAAB 93B. Its owners, Lance and Melissa Levethan, took home two trophies, one for the Saab, the other for their 1973 BMW 3.0 CSL alloy coupe. Among all the Duesenbergs, Packards, Rolls-Royces and Ferraris, another rarity found its way into the winners circle, and actually received consideration for Best in Show: A near perfect 1926 AC Royal roadster, which, like the MG Y tourer, made up in appeal what it may have lacked in sleekness.
With backing from non-automotive sponsors like SONY, Perrier and Girard-Perregaux, the Greenwich Concours D'Elegance weekend has acquired a professional panache that is found at few such events. At a pre-concours dinner at the Greenwich Country Club, hosted by organizers Bruce and Genia Wennerstrom, the guest speaker was Janet Guthrie, who is remembered as the first woman to race in the Indy 500, where she finished a creditable 9th in 1978. Her lively reminiscences were primarily an assessment of how the anatomical differences between the sexes effect one's perceived ability to compete in CART or in NASCAR (another racing series in which Ms. Guthrie also enjoyed some success).
Other cars that captured our fancy at the 1998 Greenwich Concours were Myron Shuster's Jam~es Young-bodied 1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 roadster, Michael Graham's supercharged 1933 MG L Magna, Bob Bahre's 1934 Hispano-Suiza cabriolet and Manny Dragone's jaunty 1934 Riley MPH roadster. In the post-WW II group, Marcel and Renee Perlman were responsible for two splendid vehicles: a 1946 Allard K1 and a very original 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 coupe. Ray Heppenstall, an SCCA racer of note in the 1950s, brought a rare 1949 Crosley Hot Shot, and SCl's own Rich Taylor drove his 1951 Allard P1 Monte Carlo coupe down from his home in Sharon, Connecticut.
Also impressive were Lawrence Auriana's 1952 Siata berlinetta, Daniel Gardner's 1958 Ferrari 250 GT, and a trio of Lister Knobbly racers, two of which were Jaguar powered, while the third had a big-block Chevrolet V8 under its bonnet. Another old-time east coast sports car enthusiast, Walter Eisenstark, delighted the crowd with his pristine AC Bristol roadster. Whether one's tastes tend toward MG, Jaguar or Rolls-Royce, or to Ferrari, Lancia or Fiat Abarth, the Greenwich concours had more to offer this year than ever before. We can hardly wait to see what the Wennerstroms have in store for 1999.
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