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.
Wayne Carini’s Studebaker
AMERICAN MUSCLE
One class consisted of “American muscle cars in high-impact colors”, some of which you see here:
Pontiac Grand PrixCadillac EldoradoOlds Toronado1969 Buick Riviera1971 Buick Riviera boattail
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.
The Greenwich Concours d’Elegance is more than just the cars; it’s the people, of course: fellow car owners, judges, spectators, and really anyone who wants to chat about interesting cars. Below are capsule summaries of a few of my encounters.
Ed Welburn
I had seen in the program that an honorary judge for the event was Ed Welburn, who recently retired as GM’s Vice President of Global Design (a position previously held by a couple of gents named Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell). As I strolled among the show cars, there was Ed, walking along by himself, so I stopped and asked “are you Ed Welburn?” When he replied in the affirmative, I shook his hand and told him it was an honor to meet him. You can read about his professional life here.
Fellow AROC members
It was nice to catch up with several AROC (Alfa Romeo Owners Club) members, especially those from the NJ Chapter whom I recently met on a Zoom call and had never met in person. Thanks for stopping by, Lambert and Vic!
Ian Kelleher from Broad Arrow Auctions
In 2013, when I finally decided to go with RM/Sotheby’s Auctions to sell my Isetta, I still had a bit of trepidation about the particular arrangements. My RM ‘rep’ was a fellow named Ian Kelleher, and I have not forgotten about his patience and graciousness as he walked me through the particulars. Ian now works for Broad Arrow Auctions (owned by Hagerty), and when I saw him on Sunday, I took advantage of the opportunity to again thank him for his help. BTW, Bonhams Auctions used to be the in-house auction company at Greenwich, but since Hagerty bought Greenwich, they won’t allow an ‘outside’ auction company to operate there. The same thing happened at Ameilia Island, as RM was told “you’re out” and Broad Arrow was told “you’re in”. So it goes….
Richard with the Riviera
I’ve seen this same green ’64 Buick Riviera so often that I’ve gotten to know the owner. Rich drives his car up and down the East Coast attending car shows. I featured him and his car in this blog post about the 2021 AACA Nationals in Saratoga Springs NY.
Erich from the Boca Raton Concours
The gentleman patiently stood there waiting while I finished up speaking to a spectator. He quickly introduced himself and handed me his business card. He said, “I see that this Alfa is all original. Because it has been so well kept, I want to formally invite you to enter your car in the Preservation Class at next year’s Boca Raton Concours d’Elegance, in February 2024. Besides, it’s a nice time of year to be in Florida!” I thanked him for the invite and told him I was honored that he would consider my car for it. Of course, getting the car there and back is on me, which makes it very unlikely, but it was still very nice to be recognized in this way.
Rich Taylor
On occasion, I will pull random copies of old Car & Driver magazines from my library and leaf through them. About two weeks ago, the July ’73 issue ended up in my hands, and lo and behold, the cover told me that there was a review of the “new” Alfa Romeo GTV. I sat down to read it, and as I turned the page to the full-page photo, I immediately said to myself, “that guy looks familiar”. I scanned the page, printed out an 8×10 glossy, put a Post-It note on the pic which said “guess who?” and at the show on Sunday, placed the photo on top of the Alfa’s dash.
When judging started, who came around to judge my car (actually, the entire class of Alfas) but Rich Taylor himself. After we exchanged pleasantries, I directed him to check out the photo. He grabbed it and said “let me pose like this again!”. I got into the shot holding up the glossy (which he signed for me). Anything for a chance to have a little fun with that “famous automotive journalist Rich Taylor”.
BRITISH & ITALIAN CARS
Below is a sampling of the European cars which I found to be photo-worthy.
Jaguar XK-150Jaguar E-Type Series 1 FHCPre-war MG (one of Wayne Carini’s cars)MG-TFMorgan
Fiat JollysIso GrifoMaserati 3500GTMaserati GhibliLamborghini MiuraLambo 12-cylinder engine with 6 Weber carbs
As I mentioned in Part 1 of this blog series, the Greenwich Concours is an invitation-only event, so it is an honor to show a car there. My Alfa was there in 2013 and again in 2017; however, the Wennerstrom family was still running the show in those years. Bruce Wennerstrom knew of me because I had shown the BMW Isetta at Greenwich 4 times (2001, 2004, 2007, and 2010), and he had always been gracious and welcoming to me and my little bubble car, surrounded as it was by machinery worth 5 or 10 times its value. Hagerty bought the Greenwich Concours a few years ago (and I will elaborate on my impressions of Hagerty in a later post). For 2023, Greenwich was not necessarily on my radar until an email arrived in March from Rich Taylor.
I know Rich from the New England 1000 rallies. He knows of my Alfa because I drove it in 4 of those rallies (2013, 2014, 2015, and 2018). He wrote to tell me that Alfa Romeo would be a featured marque at Greenwich this year, and he was “in charge” of assembling both pre-war and post-war classes. He continued “I would like to include your rare GT Junior”. Of course, I replied in the affirmative. (There’s lots more to the Rich Taylor story from Sunday. Stay tuned.)
A few weeks later, an email arrived from Hagerty confirming my acceptance at the show. That set off a slew of follow-up emails from the show sponsors about what was expected of me. My wife decided to accompany me, and although we had originally planned to depart very early Sunday morning (show cars were required to be on the field no later than 8 a.m., and it’s a one hour, forty-five minute drive from our house), we made a very late decision on Friday to head up during the day on Saturday. I’m glad we did because we got to the hotel early Saturday evening, had a relaxing dinner, and had a simple 3.5 mile drive on Sunday morning.
When I wasn’t busy hanging around my car to field questions (there is certainly something about the “Giulia coupe” which draws people; let’s acknowledge that it is a near-universally-loved design), I managed to walk the field several times to photograph the rest of the show. It was a wildly varied mix, with plenty of domestic and European brands (but no Asian brands), pre-war and post-war generations, and production and concept cars. For this post, I will feature 3 classes: The Ghia concept cars; the Woodies; and the “Class of 1963”.
THE GHIA CONCEPT CARS
I didn’t have time to read all the explanatory signs around these gorgeous concept cars which Ghia built for Chrysler in the early-to-mid ‘50s. One or two I’ve seen before, and others I’ve only seen in photographs. To see them in person was breathtaking.
THE WOODIES
Wood was originally used as a vehicle body material out of necessity. Station wagons up through the first half of the 20th century used wood because there weren’t yet presses large enough to stamp the big sheets of steel needed for the wagon’s body panels. Once domestic station wagons switched to all-steel, which happened by the end of the 1940s, there was some nostalgia for woodies, so Detroit continued to trim their wagons with wood. Eventually, as a cost savings, vinyl sheets with woodgrain patterns were used. The 1961 Ford was the newest woody wagon on display. The Nash Rambler, with its minimal fake wood treatment, was a vehicle I can’t recall ever seeing before.
THE CLASS OF 1963
I’ve often fantasized what it must have been like to have been a young person of driving age in 1963, with money in one’s pocket to buy almost any new car available. It was a banner year for new vehicle introductions, which included the Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray in both split-window coupe and roadster forms; the Buick Riviera, GM’s first real competition against the Ford Thunderbird in the personal luxury coupe class; and the Studebaker Avanti, an all-fiberglass coupe which, in a last-ditch effort by Studebaker to stay alive, was radically designed by Raymond Loewy. Other choice offerings included the Chrysler 300J, the Lincoln Continental 4-door convertible, and the Pontiac Grand Prix. If you were willing to consider “foreign cars”, you could check out the Jaguar XKE, the Austin-Healey 3000, the Fiat 1200 Spider, the Iso Rivolta, the MGB, the Porsche 356, the Triumph TR4, and the Volvo P1800, among others.
I don’t know if Hagerty chose “The Class of 1963” because it was an iconic year or because it was 60 years ago. Either way, there was a delightful and eclectic variety of 1963 model year vehicles lined up, ranging from Volkswagen to Cadillac, and some interesting things in between. .
AN ALFA ADDENDUM
Thanks to my new buddy Lambert from the NJ Alfa Club who took this shot and gave me permission to use it, here is that class-winning 1900:
For Part 3 I will have plenty more photos plus more stories about some of the personalities I met.
My wife and I just got back from a whirlwind 25-hour up-and-back trip to Greenwich CT for the 2023 Greenwich Concours. My Alfa was on the lawn again this year, and given that this is an invitation-only event, it was a high honor indeed. Alfa Romeo was a featured marque on Sunday, divided into pre-war and post-war classes. My ’67 was in the post-war class, of course, and although we didn’t win anything, it was an exciting and event-filled day. This first post about the show will focus only on the Alfa Romeos. There is much else to cover, and I will put up additional stories about the rest of the show during the week.
THE POST-WAR CLASS
There were 8 vehicles; in model year order, they were a ’56 1900, a ’59 Giulietta Spider, a ’63 Giulia Spider, a ’67 4R Zagato, my ’67 GT 1300 Jr., a ’71 Montreal, a ’78 Series 2 Spider, and a ’93 RZ Zagato. Right off the bat, note the strong representation from THREE iconic Italian design houses: Pininfarina, Bertone, and Zagato.
THE MONTREAL
This car is so-named because Alfa Romeo exhibited a concept car at the 1967 Montreal Expo. That design study went into production and was therefore named after the city where it was first displayed. It remains Alfa’s only road-going V8-powered automobile.
THE 4R ZAGATO
I’ve read about this car but never saw one in the metal before today. The woman representing the car (she’s wearing the scarf in the first photo) told me that only 92 were ever produced, only 3 are in the U.S., and the other two are on the west coast. That kinda explains why I haven’t seen one before this. The chassis and all mechanicals are 1967 Alfa. The factory commissioned Zagato to build a “pre-war style body” on top of the Guilia chassis. Viola!
RZ ZAGATO
Another Zagato oddball (is that redundant? 😉 ). I know very little about these except that the Italians nick-named it “The Monster”, which in Italian is “Il Mostro”. Ergo the license plate.
THE EARLY SPIDERS
I think that the ’63 Giulia is the blue car and the ’59 Giulietta is the red car, but I’m not certain. Someone will correct me if I got that backwards.
MY GT 1300 JUNIOR
Spending the week prior to the show detailing it did it wonders. We drove it 192 miles round-trip, mostly at 65-70 mph, and it performed flawlessly. Interestingly, it was the only Giulia coupe in the show.
’78 SERIES 2 SPIDER NIKI LAUDA EDITION
I have no recollection of being aware of this special model before. Phil, the owner of the car, parked next to me so we spent a bit of time chatting. He said that in 1978, when Lauda left Ferrari and joined the Alfa racing team, Alfa created this special model. Included were the headlight covers, body-painted rear spoiler, pin striping, and fender badges. Phil said that the Turbina wheels would be correct for this model, not the 5-star ones on it now. Here, Phil clowns with a leather racing helmet on his head.
MEA CULPA
Each car in our class was judged, and the winning car was the 1900. Unbelievably, of the 8 Alfa Romeos in the class, it is the one car I did not photograph. although you can get slight glimpses of it in the background of some of the photos above. My excuse is that as class winner, the car spent a good part of the day on display elsewhere on the show field. That’s the best I can do.
THE PRE-WAR CLASS
For whatever reason, the 3 Alfa Romeos in the pre-war class were arranged in a different area of the showfield, nowhere near us. I managed to get only one photo of the group of cars. When I went back to take additional photos, I couldn’t get near them as the area was roped off in preparation for the awards ceremony.
Future posts will cover many of the remaining show cars; there were about 140 vehicles on the showfield, and a nice variety it was. I also met some amazing people and I have stories to tell about those encounters.
Richard’s Car Blog’s first post was February 13, 2015. My Alfa Romeo had already been in my possession for almost two years, and I wasted no time in creating posts about my adventures with the car, including my participation in that’s year’s New England 1000. (The Alfa was also driven in the 2013, 2014, and 2018 versions of that classic car rally).
Perusing photos taken before this blog’s launch, I’ve come to realize that many of the events I’ve attended or participated in prior to 2015 have never been covered here. So I am dutifully making amends, and enjoying the glances in the rear-view mirror.
In June of 2013, having owned the Alfa for a grand total of 3 months, I entered it in that year’s Greenwich (CT) Concours D’Elegance. Bruce Wennerstrom, founder and chairperson of the show, knew me well, as my Isetta had been at this same event in 2001, 2004, 2007, and 2010. For 2013, I was grouped with a variety of other beautiful Italian machinery. The weather was gorgeous, and so were all the other show cars. While no trophy came my way that day, my wife and I enjoyed the drive to and from CT, and also enjoyed taking in the sights within Roger Sherman Park, the verdant location of the Greenwich show each year.
My 1967 Alfa GT 1300 Jr
Rolls-Royce
Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing
Aston Martin
Ferrari 330 GTC (my ATF)
Alfa Romeo Sprint Speciale
Jaguar XK-150
The other Italians in my circle (with one French interloper)
Bugatti
Fiat Dino Spider
Isetta police car (to catch jaywalkers)
Lancia
Lancia interior
Bruce Wennerstrom (right, white hat) prepares to present another award
The Greenwich Concours d’Elegance has a very strict rule: a vehicle can be shown at one of its events only every three years. As Bruce Wennerstrom himself told me, this ensured that repeat audiences would see different cars the following year. I had shown my 1957 BMW Isetta in 2001, 2004, and 2007, and when 2010 rolled around, I didn’t hesitate to apply again. The Wennerstroms welcomed me back for a fourth, and what would turn out to be, final time with the Isetta.
My dear friend Richard Sweeney, NJIT Library Head and non-car person extraordinaire, jumped at the chance to accompany me, which also meant that my long-suffering wife was off the hook this time, although I didn’t hear too many complaints from her about it. Richard was of great help from the get-go, and as we got the car positioned as instructed by the field organizers, Richard wanted to play an active role in standing near the car, chatting it up with attendees. I could tell he loved every minute of it.
Richard Sweeney stands at the ready next to the Isetta
The crowd is starting to heat up
To my eye, 2010 had significantly more spectators than I had noticed during my previous outings. Perhaps it was the beautiful weather; certainly, a major factor was the increasing recognition that Greenwich was getting, with some press calling it “The East Coast version of Pebble Beach” – high praise indeed. The caliber of vehicles, always high, seemed to create even more oohs and ahhs among show-goers.
Instead of other BMWs, my car was with similar small cars such as the VW Karmann Ghia and this prewar Fiat
Bugatti
Triumph TR-3
Early Saab
What can I say? I talk with my hands
At awards announcement time, the Bubble made the cut yet again, winning “Most Fun Car” for the Sunday Europa show. Well, 3 out of 4 ain’t bad at all. I think Bruce had a soft spot for my little car, as we won in 2001 and 2007 too. Once we reached the awards table, Bruce presented my trophy and again asked me if my Isetta has the ‘big block’. Microphone in hand, I again told the assembly that European cars got 12hp, but we in the states got the 13hp version. Bruce again chuckled; he never tired of that story.
In the queue on our way to the viewing stand
My friend Richard was overjoyed at the prospect of riding in the car past the viewing stand. He couldn’t stop talking about peoples’ reactions, because his interest was completely enveloped in the sociological and cultural impacts of this car on an audience. It wasn’t the car per se; it was how people reacted to the car, whether they were seeing an Isetta for the first time, or reliving memories of one from long ago. He never let go of his idea of making a documentary about the car and the public’s responses to it.
Seated spectators on left, awards tent on right
We got the car loaded onto the trailer and got back on the road just as a major late spring storm hit. We made it back safely, though, and I thanked Richard profusely for all his help. All he could say was that he’d gladly do it again.
The Romans knew it all too well: “Tempus fugit”, Latin for “time flies”. But I don’t think the Romans were thinking of the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance when uttering those words. I certainly was saying “time flies” to myself when I looked at the calendar, saw that it was 2007, and realized that the Isetta would again be eligible to be shown at this favorite car show of mine. So I sent in my registration form, got my acceptance letter, and off we went!
This view highlights the attractive and verdant setting
Compared to 2004, the weather was much more cooperative, if still a bit warm and muggy for early June. My wife Margaretanne, for the third and final time, accompanied me to the show. The show organizers, Bruce and Genia Wennerstrom, have always made it a point to recognize all the hard work and effort that goes into bringing a car to an event. As such, Greenwich is one of the few car shows where vehicle owners do NOT pay an entrance fee; instead, catered breakfast and lunch are provided, plus this year, we took advantage of a cruise boat ride into Long Island Sound, a non-automotive diversion which my wife appreciated.
As happened in 2004, the Isetta was wisely placed among other BMWs, with some Porsches on the other side of it. And in another echo of 2004, there was another Isetta, this time, a European-spec 300 which had been beautifully restored. I enjoyed my time chatting it up with attendees about my car, and Bruce most generously awarded me with a Concours Europa – Most Fun Car trophy. During the ceremonial drive-by, he chuckled once again when I told him about my US-spec car having the “larger and more powerful 13 horsepower engine”!
Euro-spec Isetta: note smaller headlights, lack of bumpers, and amber sidelight
This is what 13-hp can get you
At the end of the show, we drove the Isetta back to the parking lot, about a half-mile away, and began the process of loading the car onto the trailer once again. Several yards from me, I noticed an elderly man, who looked to be at least 90, struggling to roll his own open trailer into position. He was a dapper dresser in his plaid sport coat and tweed cap. A woman who may have been his daughter was scolding him that he shouldn’t be pushing the trailer on his own, which didn’t phase him one bit. He looked familiar to me, so I took a chance and approached him.
“Excuse me, are you John Fitch?”
“Why, yes I am!”
“It’s a real pleasure to meet you.”
“Thank you very much!”
With that, I shook the hand of 90-year-old John Fitch, race car driver, inventor, and on this day, just another participant at the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance.
After two consecutive years of successfully showing the Isetta at several shows, two of which involved a lengthy drive to Connecticut, I was ready to take some time off from the circuit. A glance through my photo archives reveals little participation in automotive events of any kind for the years 2002 and 2003. In the autumn of ’03, I purchased the 1968 Mustang California Special, which made me feel like I was cheating on the Isetta. Now I had to divide my attention between two cars, and the Mustang beckoned, not only because it was newer, but also because a trailer was not required. The medium-term plan was to drive the Mustang in an upcoming New England 1000 rally, a task that the Isetta was sadly not up to.
Before I knew it, it was 2004, and three years had passed since showing the little red car at Greenwich in 2001. Concours rules said “a vehicle displayed at Greenwich is eligible for showing every three years”, so I applied and was accepted.
Rain or shine, it was car show time
My Isetta with its BMW brethren
This time, my BMW was correctly placed in the same display circle as the other BMWs. But that was about the only happy element of the event. It was a day of miserable weather, with a steady cool rain which kept spectators away. My wife and I were dressed for the occasion, and worked to make the best of it.
My wife Margaretanne was a trooper for tolerating the weather
Parked directly next to my car was a BMW 600 (often incorrectly referred to as an “Isetta 600” –its officially name is “BMW 600 Limousine”). From the front, most people mistake it for an Isetta. It does share its front-hinged door and pivoting steering column with its little brother. Built on a slightly longer wheelbase, the 600 included a 2nd row of seats, one side door for access to that row, and most importantly, a two-cylinder boxer engine displacing about 600 cc.
The differences between the 600 (L) and 300 (R) are obvious here
The 600 is an interesting vehicle in BMW’s history. With the runaway success of the Isetta on a global scale (ultimately, 160,000 units produced, which made it BMW’s largest-volume model to date), company management wanted that success to be a springboard to a larger model, presumably to attract a bigger audience. Unlike the Isetta which was designed by the Italian firm Iso, the BMW 600 was designed in-house. Complaints that the Isetta was too small, underpowered, and lacked passenger room were all addressed in this larger model. Alas, the public did not respond in kind. Produced from 1957 to 1959, only 35,000 units were sold. The silver lining is that the 600 begat the “normal looking” BMW 700, which begat the Neue Klasse cars, and the rest, as several million people before me have said, is history.
The BMW 600, which some feel is less cute than the 300
Back to the car at the show: the young woman who piloted the 600 there was not the owner. She claimed that the car was owned by her boss, and he asked her to bring it to the show. Yet she seemed to be well-versed in its history. She had no issue with the idea that she would be driving her boss’s 600 back in the rain!
She was more than happy to display her boss’s 600
Awards were announced, and what’s this? No award for the Isetta this year? Hey Bruce, what gives? I was getting used to the accolades. Oh well, I told myself, I’m not here for the trophy, I’m here for the experience.
A few months later, I decided to bring the Isetta to the Somerville (NJ) Cruise Night, held every Friday between Memorial Day and Labor Day (and weather permitting, extended for as long as cars show up). This time, my stepson accompanied me, and assisted with trailer duties and photography. Like many cruise nights, there is no pre-registration, and parking on the street is on a first-come, first-served basis. We parked the trailer several blocks away, and got to drive the Isetta on some local streets through town. Luckily, as soon as I turned onto Main St., the show’s location, a parking spot appeared.
Stepson John takes first known photo from inside my moving Isetta
Just another red car out for a cruise
Managing to avoid Dodge Durango while turning onto Main St.
Blowby from tractor-trailer threatened to flip Isetta
It’s one thing to look at the Isetta and say “that thing is small”. It’s another thing to park it adjacent to other vehicles and see how truly tiny it is.
Isetta’s length matches hood of Torino behind it
As has been the trend, I spent much of the evening answering what seemed to be the same half-dozen questions:
Is this thing street-legal? (Sure, I drove it here)
How much horsepower does it have? (Thirteen, but a healthy 12-year-old boy on a bicycle can outdrag me)
What the top speed? (50 mph, downhill with a tailwind)
What kind of gas mileage does it get? (60 miles per gallon, so the 3-gallon tank gives me a cruising range of 180 miles)
How many people can you fit in there? (Two, but they really have to like each other)
The Isetta was proving to be a consistent attraction
The repetition was encouraging me to shoot back the same zany answers every time. By 9 p.m., it was time to get the Isetta back on the trailer. At least home was only eight miles away.
Later that year, while attending Hershey, I saw a beautiful yellow Isetta at the show. This was the germination of an idea: perhaps I could look into entering my Isetta at a future AACA event….
The Greenwich (CT) Concours d’Elegance, which began in 1996, was an almost immediate success. It is one of the few true classic concours held in the NY/NJ/CT metro area, and it has much more than that going for it. The show, traditionally held on the first weekend of June, is located in a small park bordering Long Island Sound. The park’s size limits the show’s size – visitors feel welcomed knowing that the entire show can be viewed in the course of a day with no need to rush. Clusters of trees provide shade when needed, and the grassy field is far superior to pavement. Vehicle manufacturers and dealers showcase new cars along the park’s perimeter. Perhaps best of all, each day’s lineup is unique: Saturday’s arrangement focuses on historic American vehicles, while Sunday’s participants arrive in European classics (this convention has changed somewhat in the last several years). Combined, these attributes make the Greenwich Concours one of the most unique and enjoyable car shows I’ve attended.
My relationship with the Concours, and more specifically with its chairperson Bruce Wennerstrom, began professionally. Volvo Cars of North America, my employer, was invited by Bruce to bring new cars to the show (and to monetarily contribute for the privilege of doing so), and my job was to provide the iron, which I did starting in 1997. As mentioned in Chapter 24 of the Isetta Saga, Bruce saw me and my Isetta at the 2000 Lime Rock Fall Vintage Festival, and invited me to bring my car to Greenwich in 2001, an invitation I immediately accepted.
We (Margaretanne and I) of course would be attending on Sunday, which at that time was referred to as “Concours Europa”. The date was June 3, 2001, and like every other participant, I could only hope for good weather. But Bruce’s luck had run out. After years of avoiding the wet stuff, it rained for the Saturday portion of the show. It wasn’t a total washout, though, as the skies cleared on Sunday; they just didn’t clear early enough to dry the grass.
Arriving with Isetta on trailer, I was directed to “trailer parking”, about a half mile away. I unloaded the car, we hopped in, and I drove to the park’s entrance. The routine went like this: each car and driver stopped at the registration table and was handed a packet. On the outside of the packet was a large letter indicating your ‘circle’. All the show cars were parked in circles, the cars perpendicular to the circle’s circumference, facing outward (got that, geometry majors?). Once cleared of check-in, the driver (me) held up the envelope so that volunteers could direct me to the appropriate circle, which as I understood it, was the BMW circle.
This shot gives you an idea of the field’s wet condition
The first hundred feet or so within the park was paved. As soon as I turned right, as directed, and hit the wet and muddy grass, all forward motion ceased. I had no traction. Weighing under 1,000 pounds with passengers, I suspect that the Isetta’s 10-inch tires didn’t have enough mass pushing downward. Show workers tried to push the car, but it was slow going, not helped by their own struggles to keep their sneakers from slipping. We made it a few yards at a time when someone in a supervisory role spoke up and said to me “look, your circle is on the other side of the park. We’re not going to get there. We’re just going to put you in this circle near to us”. Who was I to argue? I said “sure”, and we entered the circle and parked. Climbing out, I saw that I had the only BMW in a circle of … Mercedes-Benzes.
The lone Bimmer among the Benzes. At least they’re all German.
The Benzes were beautiful –exactly what you’d expect, with most of them SL models, including one 300SL Gullwing. I cleaned my car the best I could (the tires and wheel wells were quite muddy), set up our lawn chairs, and tried to relax. This was to be a judged show again (and yes, I dusted the spare!).
In the collector car hobby, it is a fact that most car owners enjoy talking about their cars. I again bore first-hand witness to the incredible reactions show-goers had to a BMW Isetta, and all the questions which were directed at me. Attendees tended to fall into one of two general camps: those who had never seen an Isetta and didn’t know the first thing about it; and those who knew something about the model yet had not seen one in years. So the time passed quickly, because everyone wanted to talk to me about my car. I also noticed that people chatting it up with me spent little or no time at the other vehicles in my circle. A friend who was at the show let it be known that he overheard two Mercedes owners complaining about “that intruder BMW” in their midst.
Taking a break from non-stop gabbing
Here’s another fun feature employed by the Greenwich staff: as class winners are announced, the winning vehicles line up and are driven at parade speed past a viewing stand. Each car stops, and the driver is handed a trophy and invited to say a few words. I had observed in previous years that Bruce and his wife Genia made it a point to have multiple classes in order to provide participants with as much recognition as possible. It was still a shock, though, when my name was called as winner of the Concours Europa “Best Special-Interest Car”. I honestly think mine was the ONLY special-interest car!
We pose by the car (photo courtesy Dennis & Ann Marie Nash)
We got in the queue (with better traction on the now-dry grass) and motored up to Bruce. He stuck a microphone through the car’s open sliding window and asked me about my car. I mumbled something about it being a U.S.-spec Isetta. This seemed to catch him by surprise, and he asked me what the difference was. I replied “The European Isettas got a 12-horsepower engine, but here in the States, we were given the bigger engine, which made 13 horsepower”. This sent Bruce into a fit of laughter, but he managed to make sure the audience understood that my Isetta had “the big block”.
Bruce Wennerstrom and his wife Genia hand me the goodies (photo courtesy Dennis & Ann Marie Nash)
Another car show, another trophy! During the entire restoration, I repeatedly told myself that I was NOT doing this in order to collect what I derisively referred to as “dust-collectors”. But again, the recognition among my peers was humbling, and certainly rewarding. We loaded the Isetta back on the trailer and headed home, with no immediate plans for any future car shows for my little red cuddle-box.
EPILOGUE
The November 2001 issue of (now defunct) European Car magazine published a story on the most recent Greenwich Concours, and even included a cover blurb: “Rarities and wonders on the lawn at one of America’s best shows”. Lo and behold, the magazine, which titled the story “Rainwich” Concours, included a small story about my small car.
With spring just around the corner (the calendar says next Tuesday, even if I spent part of this morning clearing some residual snow from last week’s double-whammy storms), I realized that I had been remiss in updating my own “Calendar of Events”.
Covers coming off soon!
We car guys and gals patiently wait for those final traces of salt to be washed away so we can unhook the Battery Tenders, check fluid levels and tire pressures, and ease our old iron out into the early spring sunshine. It’s nice to be reminded that there will be plenty to do; here’s what’s on my calendar so far (and this is just the first two months of the season):
richardscarblog 