PLYMOUTH, Mich. — More than 300 historical, classic and exotic cars will be on display at the 39th annual Concours d’Elegance of America at The Inn at St. Johns on Sunday, July 30.
Arturo and Deborah Keller of Petaluma, Calif. are this year’s Collectors of the Year. They are bringing five vehicles including a 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C2300, a 1937 Duesenberg Model J, a 1939 Talbot Lago T150C, a 1938 Bentley 4 1/4 litre Embiricos Coupe and a 1938 Mercedes 540K.
“We have always been noted as the top two or three Concours in the country,” said Larry Moss, Concours chairman. “The Keller collection is one of the top collections in the world. People won’t see these cars anywhere else. A lot of people haven’t seen these cars period. Never are you going to see them like you are going to see them this July 30.”
FCA’s Ralph Gilles will serve as this year’s Enthusiast of the Year. The following vehicles will be parked within his Circle of Cars: a 1957 Alfa Romeo 1900 SS Zagato, a 1969 Alfa Romeo GTV, a 2011 Ferrari Italia 458, a 1989 Dodge Viper Concept, a 2000 Dodge Viper GTS-R ALMS, a 1998 Chrysler Chronos Concept and a 2004 Chrysler ME412 Concept, among many other fine vehicles.
“Ralph and Doris Gilles are phenomenal supporters of this event,” Moss added. “They’ve been around for many years. They’ve helped us. We didn’t have to do much to corral them. We’re thrilled to have them as our Enthusiast of the Year.”
This year’s vehicle classes include Motorcycle: Military; Pre-War Classes: Gas Light, Jazz Age, Auburn Cord, American Popular, American Classic – Closed, American Classic – Open, European Classic; Post-War Classes: Muscle Cars, Maximum Muscle: High performance muscle machines from 1966-73,
American Post-war, European Post-war, Sports Cars, Modern Collectable 1980 to 1990; Performance: Super Cars, Racing through the ages: Drag Racing – Non-fliptop, Funny Cars, Can Am Racing; Featured Marques: Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, Cobra; Featured Coachbuilder: Murphy of Pasadena; and Featured Body Style: The Boat Tail, Hyper Cars: 0 to 60 in under 3 seconds, and Jet Age Juniors.
Here’s a full preview of 2017 Concours d’Elegance of America weekend events:
Friday, July 28: Motoring Tour to M1 Concours and the Smith Collection (8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.); RM Sotheby’s Salon Preview (1 p.m. to 5 p.m.); Invitational Art Exhibition – Meet 2017 Poster Artist Tom Hale (1 p.m. to 5 p.m.); Cars, Cocktails & Art reception (5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.); Battle of the Brands (6 p.m. to 9 p.m.); Motor City Mingle dinner to benefit JDRF (6 p.m. to midnight).
Saturday, July 29: Cars and Coffee (7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.); Concours d’Lemons (8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.); Barn Find Seminar with Wayne Carini and Tom Cotter (9 a.m. to 10 a.m.); 5 Gen Viper Seminar with Dutch Mandel, Roy Sjoberg, Herb Helbig, John Fernandez, Dick Winkles and Ralph Gilles (10:15 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.); Chef Derik Watson’s Mystery Basket Culinary Competition (11 a.m. to 2 p.m.); Amos Northrop of Graham HVA Seminar (1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.); Aerodynamic Styling Seminar with David Rand (1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.); Concorso Italian Date Night (6 p.m. to 9 p.m.).
Sunday, July 30: 26th International Automotive Media Competition (8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.); 39th Annual Concours d’Elegance of America featuring 300 historically significant, classic and exotic cars (10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.); d’Elegance on Parade awards ceremony (1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.); Afterglow by Kelly Services (5 p.m. to 7 p.m.).
Attendees will have the rare opportunity to see 300 vehicles up close and personal at the 39th annual Concours d’Elegance of America.
All events are scheduled to take place at The Inn at St. John’s in Plymouth, Mich. For more information or to purchase tickets to the 2017 Concours d’Elegance of America, visit www.concoursusa.org.
