Greenwich Concours putting pedal to the metal

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Arnolts featured at the Greenwich Concours d'Elegance in 2019 | BeardedMugMedia.com photo

A year ago, the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance featured the largest gathering of Cunningham cars most of us had ever seen, and we remarked about how the Connecticut concours, which seemed to be establishing itself as a very special event, could continue its momentum.

Well, we’re just back from the 2019 edition and I will say quite definitely that momentum has continued and Greenwich has secured its place among the country’s best concours.

This past weekend, Greenwich celebrated the cars of Iso, Zagato, Arnolt, as well as 100 years of Bentley. 

Of all these classes, the single most difficult to put together had to be gathering no less than 20 Arnolt cars. They were gathered by enlisting the help of Arnolt collector and super fan Chuck Schoendorf., who called every owner he knew. The result was an amazing gathering of Arnolts, including Arnolt Bristols, Arnold MGs and even an extremely rare Arnold Aston Martin.

Then there were the cars of Iso, which featured a pair of Iso Rivoltas, a pair of Iso Griffos, and even one of the forgotten Iso Leles.

Finally, there were the Bentley cars, including a number of 4 ½ Liters, a pair of Blower Bentleys, an elegant Graber Bodied Bentley convertible, and an absolutely stunning Bentley Continental R Fastback among the various Bentleys in attendance.

A unique feature of Greenwich is that it is a two-day event with American cars featured Saturday and European cars featured Sunday. Being both American and European cars, the Arnolt cars were featured both days, with judging of them taking place Sunday.

Stanley Howard “Wacky” Arnolt provided marine engines to the U.S. Navy during World War II and after the war imported British sports cars to Chicago and started his own car company based on British cars, often with Italian coachwork, with final assembly in the U.S.

Despite the forecast, the weather cooperated both days the crowds at the event were substantial.

In addition to the cars, there were the various automotive celebrities in attendance, including race car driver and F1 commentator David Hobbs, who was present to help judge the racing car classes and to sign his book Hobbo. Noted photographer Michael Furman also was  signing his many books, as was Rule Britannia author John Nikas.

Is David Hobbs eager to sign his books, or is he simply trying to hide from our camera? | Andy Reid photo

The overall winners of the concours were American Best in Show – Elegance, a 1938 Packard 1604 Super Eight Mayfair Coupe and American Best in Show – Sport, 1912 National Speed Car.

Winners Sunday were International Best in Show – Sport, 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Corto Spider and International Best in Show – Elegance, 1936 Delahaye Competition Disappearing Top.

And now we’re already counting down the days to the 2020 Greenwich Concours d’Elegance to see how the organizers top this year’s.

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Andy Reid
Andy Reid's first car, purchased at age 15, was a 1968 Fiat 124 coupe. His second, obtained by spending his college savings fund, was a 1966 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2. Since then, he has owned more than 150 cars—none of them normal or reasonable—as well as numerous classic motorcycles and scooters. A veteran of film, television, advertising and helping to launch a few Internet-based companies, Reid was a columnist for Classic Motorsports magazine for 12 years and has written for several other publications. He is considered an expert in European sports and luxury cars and is a respected concours judge. He lives in Canton, Connecticut.

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