Here’s our report from this past weekend’s 2015 Concours d’Elegance of America at St. John’s, including a big photo gallery.
Another amazing St. John’s Concours is in the books. We’re truly fortunate to have one of America’s greatest collector car shows right here in the Motor City. As always, the categories on the show field were expertly conceived and curated, bringing together nearly 300 of the world’s greatest historic cars. To name but a few:
+ Nicola Bulgari’s 1934 Buick 98 Victoria, easily one of the most beautiful Buicks of America’s classic era.
+ The 1933 Dymaxion replica created by the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville—a fascinating and significant historical achievement.
+ The 1932 Ford roadster originally built by hot rodding pioneer Ray Brown, these days on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
+ Ted McIntyre’s glorious 1947 Bentley Mark VI with fantastic cabriolet bodywork by Franay, Words fail; simply refer to the lead photo above.
You’ll find all these awesome cars and many more in the gallery below. We’ll have more great stuff from the Inn at St John’s in the coming days.
This is truly one of the country’s great concours events and it is an honor to be participate. The Sprint Car class was truly something to behold; both in the cars invited and the way they were displayed. The organizers deserve special kudos for groundbreaking classes such as Eighties Dream Cars and Classic Japanese Sports Cars. The traditional Classics are amazing vehicles but we have to recognize the passion of younger enthusiasts. It was great to see this event take that first step.
The show is too much for me — sensory overload, drinking from the firehose, etc. I have to concentrate on photography or I simply get lost in the cars. I often say my cameras have a better time at St. John’s than I do. I believe this year’s show had exceptional depth. Agree?
Depth has always been one of the great attributes of this show. The organizers reached just a little further this year and, in my opinion, made it more interesting than ever.
This was our second time displaying a car at the Concours and we can’t wait to do it again. Truly a wonderful event.
Please tell us more about the Hino, Myron.
The Contessa 1300 Coupe was designed by Michelotti. It is powered by a rear mounted, liquid cooled in-line four with twin Hitachi SU carbs. It was going to be their halo car to enter the US market and they contracted with Pete Brock’s newly established BRE race team to prepare and race two examples. They placed first and second in their first race in the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix. About the same time, Toyota purchased Hino and ended passenger car production, making the Contessa 1300 Coupe a very limited final production model. Toyota still produces trucks under the Hino name to this day.