Detroit — The Detroit Concours d’Elegance press conference and car community preview event was held at the beautiful Detroit Institute of Arts Crystal ballroom. The 2023 Detroit Concours will be held on Sept. 22-23 on the grounds of the DIA.
McKeel Hagerty, CEO Hagerty & Chairman of the Detroit Concours, asks “Do people still love cars? The reality is everyone in this room, I imagine, has a little bit of an emotional attachment to certain series of cars; I know I do and have had all my life. It’s just there. I love cars and the car world because of the people.”
“Some stats I want to share is the number of people in the world who consider themselves enthusiasts. There are 67 million U.S. enthusiasts, not 6.7 million but 67 million. It’s a significant number. Five hundred million global car fans and 45 million U.S. Collector cars.”
Is the next generation still interested in cars? “They say they don’t care about cars, but I know that’s not true. They still want to own them and still want to drive them. The purpose of Concours d’Elegance is that we exist to save driving and fuel car culture for future generations. We think driving needs to be defended. We think it does need to be saved, it won’t save itself.”
“We love our purpose of saving driving. The car world is evolving. You need to go buy one and try it. The quality and content and quality of production is remarkable, and it’s not something we should dislike, it’s something we should embrace.”
“The unique feature of the car world is that car people gather. Our business is actually made up of events. These are some events: The Festival of the Unexceptional in the United Kingdom which was on July 29; the MotorLux held in Monterey, CA on August 16; Concours d’Lemons held in Seaside, CA on August 19; RADwood Detroit on September 16 and the Detroit Concours on the DIA campus on September 22 & 23. We do these things to fuel car culture. We are trying to celebrate this in Detroit, the Motor City.”
Why Detroit matters? “If you appreciate American muscle cars, make no mistake about it, that car was tested right out here in front of this building at some point. Every engineer and every designer and everybody who worked on the powertrain of those cars, they dreamed of driving a car on Woodward Avenue.”
“The Concours d’Elegance is a Concours d’Elegance and it has a kind of language to it. It tends to take place at lovely places like where we are here at the Detroit Institute of Arts. We are carrying on that tradition to celebrate the best of the best. The part of the Motor City that we are going to continue to celebrate in 2023 is about the elegance of Detroit, the car design and not only cars built in Detroit. This event is powered by Detroit, celebrating people who put the world on wheels. Please tell everyone you know about it,” added Hagerty.
Matt Orendac, Vice Chairman, Concours Group, Hagerty announced we couldn’t do this event without the brands which include: Alfa Romeo, McLaren, Fiat, WSU and many others. Friday morning, September 22 is media morning titled “Cars and Community” featuring product news and updates. In early afternoon, there is a festival entirely for the family. Parking is at WSU. Car clubs from around the region will feature 100 cars. Future drivers club is designed for kids. Complimentary Hagerty ride & drives will also be featured.
“Concours d’Elegance is on Saturday September 23. It will be on a Saturday this year not Sunday. There will be 150 cars, 21 classics, 19 will be judged. It will be the most diverse group of cars you will ever see. Ride & drive opportunities for everyone. Food and beverages will be high class and of course, the food trucks are good too,” added Orendac.
“Gordon Buehrig will feature his 1948 Tasco Prototype and you will have an opportunity to see it on Saturday. There will be 57 heaven (cars from 1957), Mopar Magic fits Detroit like a glove and Ferrari’s from the 60’s. You are also going to see some iconic cars such as American Sports cars from the 50’s and 60’s, The Concours of American All Stars (best in class from 1979-2021).”
It would not be a Concours without anniversaries: 120th anniversary of the Buick, 75th anniversary of Porsche, 60th anniversary of Lamborghini, 60th anniversary of McLaren, 120th anniversary of Harley Davidson.
The footprint has changed with more opportunities for cars and concessions. There are some adjustments this year.
The Featured Student was Siddharth Camarushy from CCS who designed the poster for this year. “The love of people here has inspired me to make this poster,” says Camarushy.
Also was announced is the Chief Judge: Ed Welburn, Retired, GM VP of Global Design. A Q&A followed the presentation. The emcee for this preview event was Chris Brewer/Hagerty.
For tickets and more info about the Detroit Concours d’Elegance, visit: https://www.detroitconcours.com
Rolls-Royce 
Chris Brewer from Hagerty 
1953 Buick Skylark 
McKeel Hagerty, CEO/Chairman of Detroit Concours 
Bentley 
Matt Orendac, vice chairman of Concours Group, Hagerty 
Chevy Camaro 
Siddharth Camarushy from CCS designed the poster 
Ferrari 
Porsche