September 16, 2007 Barrington, IL http://wwww.barringtonconcours.org
Here's a hacked-together panorama of the group winners at the conclusion of the show
A Show of Shows, Automotively Speaking
Yeah, I've been to cruise nights, club meets, car shows, town festivals, club concours, and open concours in the Midwest. A very few strive to be upscale, and the rest are general interest. The Masterpiece in Veteran's Park on Milwaukee's Lakefront is one upscale concours which has made a fine start and then suffered from local flooding for 2007, confining the vehicles to one long strip at water's edge. In my own limited interests, vehicles at that event fall into the "20% Interesting" category, which is quite high. At most shows, I'll concentrate on three or maybe four vehicles which are notable.
Let me take a moment to explain something. What's the difference between this type of concours and the usual "street machine" weekend car show? Worlds. The latter generally attracts rodders and '40's-'60's cars and trucks that show off their owner's talents in salvaging and modifying mass-produced American cars to their own tastes. Some are saved from destruction, being reassembled from the parts of multiple vehicles. Some are simply old cars that were taken care of and have now been altered. A few are created solely from specialty suppliers and parts catalogs, and only loosely mimic production cars. Few of these folks are what I would call working class in practice. A few are working class or were once, being retired now. Regardless, the mentality and style is mostly working class. The younger ones tend to make a good living, and the older ones are mostly trade or professional people and small business owners who are in a position to sink between $15,000-$100,000 into a vehicle they can freely drive. It's not unusual at all to find some of these guys owning 3-6 assorted vehicles. The people who attend these affairs are street car enthusiasts and performance addicts.
The name "Barrington Concours D'Elegance" can evoke a perception of Buffy and Forest slurping champagne and trying to outdo each other in how expensive their cars are. Such an assumption is incorrect. True, the owners of these vehicles are usually (but not always) on a higher economic plane than street car owners They are generally men who have built successful businesses, usually having started as a schmoe and leveraging opportunities with high ambitions. They are at least as enthusiastic about their cars as the first group. What they care about isn't how zoomy or quick a car is, but its history and what it represents of its time. The vehicles that they particularly appreciate lean more toward the unique: mass-produced vehicles which have been winnowed to small numbers by time, orphans (brands that died off long ago), true limited production cars that are icons of the genre that they either began or now best represent, and historic competition cars. It takes considerable resources to correctly restore vehicles whose design information and parts supplies disappeared many, many decades ago, and they are generally not squeamish about investing the resources that these cars require. They almost overwhelmingly view themselves not as owners that can operate upon whim, but as caretakers of a legacy that they will one day have to pass on responsibly. To them, owning such a car is not a right so much as a privilege. So, a high-end concours is not a status affair, but a celebration of automotive history that takes serious effort to pull off properly. It's a history show, like an outdoor museum that lasts one day before its contents disperse back to hidden garages and storerooms all over the country. Once you see the vehicles, it is quite possible that you will never see them or others like them again.
One side of the clubhouse at the Makray Memorial Golf Course
The inaugural year for the new Barrington Concours D'Elegance had a weather break, with sunny skies at 70 degrees, and it proved to be a solid "80%+ Interesting" show to me, which is a mighty impressive level to be on. At that level, you can spend the allowed six hours setting up and clicking away with a full-manual camera, and never come remotely near capturing what you'd like, in the way you'd like, if you had twice the time. I missed a few fabulous cars I may never have the chance to see again, but you get what you can. If you really appreciate seeing unusual and rare cars in pristine condition, you have your plate full at this show. The Barrington Concours is at its core a fundraiser for three charitable organizations: the Barrington Hills Conservation Trust, Cowboy Dreams of Illinois, and Hospice of Northeastern Illinois. 100% of the show's proceeds go to these charities.
The Concours is the inspiration of three outstanding local women who latched onto the concept of supporting area charities by harnessing the public's interest in rare and historic vehicles. They somehow managed to hornswoggle noted collector Malcolm Pray into making some calls to get worthy cars, and got a few major sponsors to help the thing go. The final result was impressive. In the photo to the right, Mr. Pray, dubbed by the Concours as the "Founding Exhibitor," was kind enough to pose for a moment by his 1937 Delahaye 135M on display. Stunning vehicle, affable guy.
Founding Exhibitor Malcolm Pray and his 1937 Delahaye 135M
Normally even concours events can be inconvenient, hot, and wearing. With this sizable event being held at the Makray Memorial Golf Course, truly remote parking was the order of the day and I was psyched for an endurance contest of long waits and long walks. Not so here. I parked at the village's huge high school lot, one of several listed possibilities, and a tram was waiting with another pulling up behind. We passed eight more on the mile-long trip to the course. Debark at the course's small parking lot, and a Disney-like mass of friendly volunteers guided us past a bright yellow 1972 McLaren M20-1 Roadster to ticket booths and entrance gates. Their enthusiasm was infectious. Then, nirvana. Three long spans of cars were arranged like spokes on a wheel down three different fairways for our viewing pleasure.
Several groups of ancients and American production cars
To my great relief, I found that cars were not packed together like cordwood, and that guardrails or taping were not used to keep the riff-raff distanced from the vehicles. This is a pet peeve of mine that not only discourages taking photographs, but lends a poor ambiance to a display. In front of each car was a plexi-mounted plaque identifying the car and its features, as well as information unique to the example you were looking at. Two rules for exhibitors made life good, and most exhibitors were willing to follow them. It made a big difference in display quality and atmosphere. First, the owner was supposed to stick around their car. This many did, and I've never experienced a bunch so delighted to tell you anything you wanted to know, as well as a few things you didn't. They clearly enjoyed being there to get the word out on what they felt was special, and happily offered to close hoods to allow me to get shots.
The second rule prohibited canopies and the miscellaneous flotsam that many owners like to pile around their cars. Basically, the Concours wanted a clean display of the vehicle without big homemade info boards, personal badges plastered over the car, and personal comfort items other than chairs. Keep everything else locked away in the trunk. Again, the great majority of exhibitors were willing. The few that weren't stood out like sore thumbs. Example: a wonderful and historic balloon tire 1915 Duesenberg Board Track Racer was prime material for photo exploration, but an old tarp was rolled up underneath the car, the hood was up, and the owner was nowhere to be found. There wasn't even a detail shot I could salvage on it, and it got less viewer attention that it merited. The owner of a 1932 Miller V-16 Indianapolis Racer next to it had a big honking battery and a special pair of jumper cables beside his car, but he at least put them to work starting the impressive-sounding engine now and then for us. Nice! A few minutes later at 11o'clock, the owner of a 1972 All American Racers Eagle Indy car started his Offy engine on schedule back at the tram drop-off, and its tearing-cloth, rapid whoop-whoop-whoop revving was familiar and satisfying to listen to. Had I bothered to read the schedule in the thick and interesting program guide, I could have been closer to record it and put it on the website!
Several groups of iconic and notable European cars
A surprising selection of competition cars!
Overall, the Barrington Concours was a smashing and smartly executed success, with no apologies needed for a first-year event. Exhibitors enjoyed it, the many attendees appreciated what they were seeing, and problems appeared to be utterly absent. A huge tent with gobs of chairs offered rest, decent food and drink was available, waste containers and lavatories were clean and plentiful, and the volunteers working within each group of cars were eager to help with any need. Usually treated like Weird Uncle Fred at car shows, I was offered unsolicited rides on golf carts and the movement of plaques for cleaner photos. All of the photos on this page were taken just a half hour after the event first opened its gates, and the day's attendance was good. Tickets to get into the event were $25 in advance and $30 at the door. I'm cheap enough to become a legend, yet I had no problem with $30 to get in on this gig. Very worth it. Thankfully, the ticket fee also kept out the "free Town Festival" crowd that slide their children over paint and behind steering wheels, thinking that "they're just old cars, aren't they?" Additional info and photos of this year's event will probably be posted on their website. Want to see a real factory Ford Shelby Cobra with a racing history, signed by Mr. Shelby? A real Ford GT-40 Mark I? Endearing European cars smaller than golf carts, and others faster or more beautiful than you knew existed in their time? Some real landmarks were there. I recommend that you bookmark the Barrington Concours website and seriously consider attending in 2008. It's an automotive rush.
To see some of the individual vehicle photographs from this event pulled into one location, simply click on this link. Production photographs and artwork will eventually work their way into the usual galleries sorted by brands.
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