ROCHESTER, MI – Nearly 250 cars and motorcycles, ranging from a 1956 Pontiac Bonneville Convertible to classic Alfa Romeos to vintage vehicles from the “brass era,” including a 1913 Stevens-Duryea Model “C” Touring, were displayed for the hundreds of visitors to the 2007 Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance Aug. 6.
Taking place on the well-manicured fairways and greens of the golf course surrounding the historic 110-room mansion that was once owned by the widow of automotive baron John Dodge, the theme of the exclusive car show was “The Art that Moves Us – A celebration of the power & beauty of the automobile.” Early morning rains only slightly dampened the spectacle of brass, chrome, well-polished steel and glass as the parched ground soaked up the moisture.
“What is fascinating about a concours is it is the legacy of the automotive industry,” said Wayne K. Cherry, retired General Motors vice president of Design who was one of the judges at Meadow Brook. “I think I’ve been a judge here for 12 to 14 years. The rain wasn’t too bad. Everyone looked like they were having a good time. And you could just see all the water bubble on those highly-polished cars and shimmering.”
The highlights of the show included a display of historic Alfa Romeos (the featured marque), the trio of 1950s concept B.A.T. (Berlina Aerodinanimca Technica) Alfas, and one of the world’s most expensive cars – the 1931 Bugatti Royale Type 41 Convertible that was designed for royalty in mind and worth an estimated $10 million. Women’s fashion segments and the first-time display of historic motorcycles rounded out the festivities.
The winner of the Best of Show – American was a black and chromed 1931 Chrysler GG Imperial Victoria Convertible by Waterhouse owned by Ethel Lanaux of New Orleans. The Best of Show – Foreign award went to a 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Spider with a custom body by Touring that is owned by Ray Scherr of Westlake Village, CA. And, the first-ever Meadow Brook Best of Show – Motorcycle award went to a 1938 Indian Four owned by Edward Bortner of Troy, MI.
“A lot of things catch my eye,” noted Robert A. Lutz, General Motors vice chairman of Global Product Development, who was the chief judge of the concours. “There are a lot of wonderful cars around. I think these aerodynamic, prewar Alfa Romeos are hard to beat. The big 2550 and 2800 coupes and convertibles are just the epitomes of automotive excellence.”
“Most concours are about the beauty of the car – the aesthetics and proportions, how graceful are they, and which ones have stood the test of time,” Cherry added. “From a designer’s perspective, it’s just exciting to get out at least a few times during the year to refresh your mind and your mind’s eye to real vehicles out in the open under the sky and the sunlight and everything moving. To see the people clapping for the 2900 Alfa coupe was sensational.”
The vehicles at the Meadow Brook Concours were judged on a very high level of style, noted Lindsay Brooke, senior editor of the Society of Automotive Engineer’s Automotive International magazine, who served as one of the judges. An author of three motorcycle history books, and who is finishing a book on the Ford Model T for its centennial 2008, he added that the judges also had to keep in mind how stylish vehicles looked like versus cars of its era.
One of the blue ribbon winners from the pre-1920s – the so-called “brass era” of automobiles when brass was extensively used instead of chrome for fittings and accents – was a 1913 Stevens-Duryea Model “C” Touring that was owned by Gil Mack of Higgins Lake, MI. It is now one of only 10 of the antique cars still known to be in existence.
“I bought this in 1997 as a retirement project after finding it in Hershey, Pennsylvania,” said Mack, who had once owned a truck and trailer business. “It was a high-powered car and it had a good reputation. These cars ran from $4,800 to $5,800 in 1915 – you could have bought 10 Model Ts for that price.”
Just restored to running condition this year, the blue-colored car with its brass fittings was equipped with a six cylinder, 50 hp engine and a three-speed transmission. Among the repairs, Mack had new front and rear fenders fabricated along with finding headlamps to replace the ones that were missing on the car.
One of the blue ribbon winners (a runner-up) in its class was a maroon red 1931 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 body by Zagato that was owned by the North Collections, a private collector from Easton, Maryland.
“There were only two body builders for the 8C 2300 – Touring and Zagato,” explained David North, son of the owner. “There are fewer Zagato body cars than Touring ones. This particular car is of a series where the radiator is about three inches lower than the others, so it looks longer. It’s all in the eye.”
The original European Concours of the 1920s were fashion shows with the cars as a side highlight. At Meadow Brook, which was celebrating its 29th year, the tradition of the “Mode du Concours” was kept intact. During the fashion segments, models wore sleek outfits that color coordinated with the vehicles including a woman named “Tika” who wore a $50 Gucci-inspired print dress while parading around a rare, fuel-injected 1957 Pontiac Bonneville.
Concept and show cars also served as the backdrop for the models during other fashion segments including the Nardi Blue Ray 3 concept car that was built in 1992 by Jim Simpson, owner of the Nardi Blue Ray and Blue Ray 2 show cars from the 1950s. Created to look like a continuation of the design, giving it a 1960s look, it was based on a shortened pre-production Mazda 929 with a V6 engine, 5-speed manual transmission, modified suspension and all-steel body.
The spaceship-like Alfa Romeo B.A.T. cars were another crowd favorite and were used in one of the fashion segments. These cars were small, two-door aerodynamic studies that were created in Italy following World War II.
Combining the skills of Alfa’s chief engineer Orazio Satta and Bertone designer Franco Scaglione, the first of the series of three cars was the B.A.T. 5 in 1953 with a wrap-around windshield, tailfins, and split-rear window. It had a very low co-efficient drag of 0.21.
The B.A.T. 7 was unveiled in 1954 and featured inward-curving rear wings. Finally, there was the 1955 B.A.T. 9d that had a traditional Alfa Romeo grille and unskirted wheelhouses. The three cars are now owned by the Blackhawk Collection of Danville, CA.
“Most of the cars in the concours are the best examples of the industry,” Cherry said. “You are seeing the cream of the auto industry.”
One automotive story was mentioned as James Kinsler accepted a blue ribbon for his red 1966 Ford GT-40 Coupe. He said that he had been working at GM when they bought the GT-40 while they were researching ways to develop a mid-engine Corvette. However, the project was killed when GM executives determined that the standard ‘Vette was selling fine. “That’s when I decided to quit,” Kinsler told the crowd.
A notable attraction was the approximately $10 million 1931 Bugatti Royale that is owned by The Henry Ford (museum and Greenfield Village) of Dearborn, MI. It is the second of only six models that were ever built and the first time in about 17 years that the car was in running condition.
Its original owner, Dr. Joseph Fuchs, a German physician and amateur race driver, took ownership of the Bugatti Royale in 1931. After Adolf Hitler came to power in 1932, the doctor left Germany, taking the car with him with the excuse that its 12.7-liter straight-eight engine needed work. He went to live in Shanghai, China, but was forced to leave in 1937 due to advancing Japanese troops.
The doctor and car traveled to Canada and then to New York where the water in the engine block froze, cracking the block, during the cold 1937-1938 winter. Unable to find anyone who could repair its massive engine, the Bugatti ended up in a junkyard before a General Motors executive rescued it. The car was overhauled – the engine was fixed by having steel plates welded over the cracks -- and later donated to the Henry Ford Museum in 1958.
Italian automaker Fiat used the Meadow Brook Concours to display the limited-edition 2008 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, a $200,000-$220,000 two-seat super car that is equipped with a 4.7-liter, 450 horsepower V-8, a racing-style suspension and transmission, and carbon-fiber body for lightweight. The car will go on sale in the U.S. next year, marking the brand’s return to America since 1995.
“The Alfa Romeo owners at the show loved the 8C; it was real special for them to see something like this especially with it being the featured marque with a lot of cars out on the lawns,” said Maserati North America President and Chief Executive Officer James Selwa.
The Meadow Brook Concours organizers had lobbied Fiat to bring the 2008 8C Competizione to the show. The super car was flown to the U.S. after a nearly last minute OK from Fiat and was flown back to Europe the night after the concours concluded on Sunday, Aug. 5.
Also displayed for the crowds was the new 2008 Maserati GranTurismo for its first-ever North American public showing. With a sticker price of $120,000, the four-seat coupe is powered by a 4.2-liter, V-8 with 405 horsepower and can accelerate from 0-60 mph in about 5.2 seconds.
“We got a lot of orders on (the GranTurismo) over the weekend,” Selwa added, who also was one of the judges for the show. “All of our cars in our judging were beautiful. The selection committee picked some real tough cars to choose from.”
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