One of the nice things about Sunday’s show (and I presume Saturday’s as well although I wasn’t there) was the variety of cars. Perhaps it was too varied, but more words about that below. I have so far posted photos of Italian and British cars, as well as cars from classes not dependent on country of origin. To finish this off, here are photos of some of the American cars on display that day, primarily consisting of personal luxury cars and muscle cars.

 

AMERICAN MUSCLE

One class consisted of “American muscle cars in high-impact colors”, some of which you see here:

 

 

PERSONAL LUXURY 2-DOOR COUPES:

HAGERTY, THE SHOW OWNERS AND HOSTS

The Greenwich Concours d’Elegance began in 1996, when husband-and-wife team Bruce and Genia Wennerstrom decided to host a true Concours in the area. When Bruce and Genia passed away, their children continued the tradition. It was always a two-day event, with domestic cars on Saturday and import vehicles on Sunday. When it was a family affair, I showed cars there 6 times, an honor which I don’t take lightly. Attending the show was always an easygoing and relaxed day.

Hagerty bought the Greenwich Concours from the Wennerstroms a few years back. My 2023 participation was the first time under the Hagerty umbrella. Overall, Hagerty puts a tremendous amount of effort into organizing, arranging, and hosting an event like this. It’s still a two-day show, but now the classes are more varied. This year the Saturday show was billed as “Concours de Sport” and Sunday was the “Concours d’Elegance”. Sunday’s show consisted of a total of 19 different classes! From my observation, there was no overriding theme or sense of unity to the displays.

As a participant, I felt that Hagerty crossed the line from “organization” to “control”. Innumerable emails told me everything from what time I must load in on Sunday (“6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., and we reserve the right to turn away entrants who arrive later”), to how I should park (“place the left front tire of your vehicle on top of disc hammered into the ground at your parking spot”), to what time I could leave (“show gates will be locked until 4:30 p.m., and no one will be permitted to exit before then”). I was told that absolutely no signage of my own was permitted on, in, or around my car, which didn’t stop me from putting informational posters I had created on top of my dash and rear parcel shelf. We had passes for an included lunch, which was nice, but were sternly told that “you may only enter once; once you leave you cannot reenter the luncheon area”. It was difficult to converse with showgoers at times because the MC blared incessantly through the too-loud PA all day long.

What was a relaxed, low-key, fashionable, reasonably-sized and well laid-out classic car show set in a verdant water-lined park has been turned into a mega-event. The communal spirit which flowed through every aspect of what the Wennerstroms had created has been displaced by a big-business approach as would be taken by a major corporation. It’s still a great show; it’s just not as great as it once was.

All photographs copyright © 2023 Richard A. Reina. Photos may not be copied or reproduced without express written permission.