Community Corner

Celebrating Speed & Style — The Greenwich Concours d'Elegance

Hundreds of collector cars from the early 1900s to the most recent automotive models are on display at the 19th Annual Greenwich Concours d'Elegance this weekend.


The occasional spritzes of rain amidst a mix of sun and clouds didn't deter legions of car enthusiasts from descending upon central Greenwich Saturday — the opening day of the weekend-long Greenwich Concours d'Elegance.
 
The 19th annual 'Festival of Speed and Style' featured American cars on Saturday, with the international concours featuring foreign sports, touring and competition cars from the 1900s to the present, on exhibit Sunday at Roger Sherman Baldwin Park on Arch Street.

The concours is the dream child of Greenwich car collector Bruce Wennerstrom and his late wife Genia, and is held the first weekend after Memorial Day each year and since its inception, is a benefit for the international relief agency AmeriCares.

On Saturday, young and old alike ogled and photographed automotive American history with brass era cars including a 1909 REO Model A Touring car and a 1911 Cadillac to the gas-guzzling land cruisers of the 1950s and '60s to more modern examples of supercars illustrated by a 2005 Ford GT.

As intermittent light showers passed overhead, hundreds in the crowd headed for cover in the two white auction tents where Bonhams will conduct auctions of automobilia — including a large number of the every collectible pedal cars, and cars on Sunday, beginning at 9:30 a.m. 

This year's car auction features fresh barn finds — complete with dust, cobwebs and dried leaves, as evidenced in the 1952 Jaguar XK120 two-seater and 1958 Alfa Romeo Giuiletta Spider, to a number of Corvettes, Ferraris, Porsches, Jaguars and Volkswagens.

Among the auction highlights will be the one-off 1966 Fitch Phoenix sportscar designed by the late John Fitch of Lime Rock, CT (pre-auction estimate $150,000 to $200,000); a 1975 Lamborghini Countach LP 400 Periscopica (pre-auction estimate: $450,000 to $550,000); 2 1957 Ford Thunderbird convertibles (pre-auction estimates: ($32,000 to $45,000); a 1925 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost Piccadilly Roadster ( $250,000 to $350,000), and a 'Mary Kay' pink 1955 Messerschmitt KR 200 Kabinenroller Kabrio ($40,000 to $60,000.)

There are more than 100 cars scheduled for the auction block, according to auction publicist Maria Writesel. 

Location: Roger Sherman Baldwin Park, 100 Arch St., Greenwich, just off Exit 3 of I095.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission: $30; free for children 12 and under who are accompanied by an adult.
For information: greenwichconcours.com.


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