“Simply say ‘Hershey’ to an antique car hobbyist and they’ll know exactly what you are talking about.”
So says the Antique Automobile Club of America, which holds its 65th annual Eastern Fall Nationals today through October 12 at the Hersheypark/Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
The mammoth collector car show, swap meet and car corral attracts more than 250,000 people each year, with about 1,200 vintage vehicles on display, about 9,000 swap meet vendor spaces and around 1,000 cars, trucks and motorcycles for sale.
As well as being an iconic showcase of antique vehicles, it’s also a gathering place for collector car enthusiasts of every sort, and from all over the world, who revel in what is known as the largest antique car show and flea market on earth.
Other events include the Ladies Luncheon, High Wheeler Contest, Race Car Condition Run, Judging School, AACA Juniors, Talent Show and Old Time Movie Night.
The Hershey Region of AACA began hosting the Eastern Division AACA National Meet in 1955, and has held it every year since.
For more information, visit the event website.
Atlanta Concours set for Tyler Perry Studios
The 4th annual Atlanta Concours d’Elegance moves to a new location for the October 19-20 event, which will be held at the sprawling Tyler Perry Studios on the historic, decommissioned Fort McPherson Army Base in downtown Atlanta.
The 100th anniversary of Bentley will be honored, along the famed 1907 Thomas Flyer that won the first around-the-world race, the resurrected Bugatti Aerolithe Type 57, the Astrovette from the National Corvette Museum and a 1956 Lotus Eleven (XI), one of the British brand’s most successful racecar designs, from the Barber Museum in Alabama.
A special featured class will honor Cars of Iconic Black Americans with a collection that includes vehicles owned by BB King, Muhammad Ali, Sammy Davis, Jr., Sam Cooke and Bojangles in a group of automobiles as diverse as their owners’ backgrounds.
“The beauty of these cars is in the blending of musicians, entertainers, and athletes – all through a love of automobiles,” said Concours Advisory Board member Aaron Spaulding, who curated the collection that includes cars from Duesenberg, Rolls-Royce and Ferrari.
The Bugatti Aerolithe is a re-creation of one of Bugatti’s most-famous pre-war designs, a car shown in 1935 at the Paris Motor Show and a few other showings, then was never seen again. The groundbreaking styling became the basis for Bugatti’s Atlantics and Atalantes, and adopted by other European automakers for their own sport-luxury cars.
The body of the remade Aerolithe was built by David Grainger, Bugatti expert and owner of The Guild of Automotive Restoration in Bradford, Ontario, Canada, using 11 factory photographs of the original car built onto the original chassis and drivetrain, with its 3.3-liter DOHC straight-8 engine.
Tyler Perry Studios is one of the biggest filmmaking companies in the world, providing Hollywood-style production in Georgia. It is also the first major movie studio created by an African-American.
The Atlanta Concours will host a Cars and Coffee cruise-in on Saturday, October 19, with the main concours held on Sunday, October 20.
Fore more information, visit the event website.
Chattanooga hosts its first MotorCar Festival
The inaugural Chattanooga MotorCar Festival sails into downtown Chattanooga’s Tennessee Riverfront from October 11-13 with a host of events, celebrities and spectacular automobiles
“The Festival resembles its European counterparts by incorporating unique classic car events tailored to the vintage/historic car collector and racer, and the welcoming hospitality that is the trademark of the American South,” according to a Festival news release. “It includes Time Trials Between the Bridges, Rendezvous of the Greats Concours d’Elegance and a High Jinks Rallye.”
One of the more-unusual vintage vehicles at the festival is the 1932 Helicron, a propeller-driven car discovered in a French barn in 2000 and rebuilt by the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville.
The MotorCar fest expects a number of classic car and motorsports celebrities to attend the events, with racing legend Brian Redman serving as Grand Marshal. IMSA champ Jim Pace, overall winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring, is chairman of the Time Trials, with Alain de Cadenet, racer and TV commentator, serving as announcer.
Tanner Foust, three-time U.S. Rallycross champion, winner of four X Games gold medals and two Formula Drift championships, will be a featured celebrity driver, and on October 12 will perform drift demonstrations on the 1.5-mile Time Trials circuit in a custom 900-horsepower, V8-powered Volkswagen Passat. Volkswagen is a major sponsor of the Festival.
To help launch the inaugural MotorCar Festival, the DeFoor Brothers development company, presenting sponsor of the event, is donating 1,000 two-day complimentary admission tickets to the Fifty Plus Racing Foundation, the Festival’s charity presenter, which benefits the Erlanger Neuroscience Institute.
Customers must register for the complimentary $55 multi-day tickets, two maximum, at the event website, using code 50PLUS.
For more information, visit the event website.
First Best of Show winner
A 1927 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A S Fleetwood owned by Joseph and Margie Cassini was named Best of Show of the inaugural Audrain’s Concours d’Elegance, held at The Breakers estate in Newport, Rhode Island. The mansion is the former home of the Vanderbilt family.
RADwood launches Boston show
The car show for collector vehicles from 1980 to 1999, RADwood starts up in Boston on Saturday, October 12, with its first show at the Larz Anderson Auto Museum.
“RADwood is a celebration of ’80s and ’90s automotive lifestyle, the car show that blends period-correct dress with automotive awesomeness,” according to the event website. “A period-correct event for cars, trucks and bikes from 1980-1999 that captures the essence of a bodacious era.”
For more information, visit the event website.
Inaugural Las Vegas Concours tees off
The Las Vegas Concours d’Elegance gets started on Saturday, October 27, at the DragonRidge Country Club with a view of The Vegas Strip.
The following day, the concours cars will take a Sunday drive in the Tour d’Elegance that will include a cruise down The Strip, which will be closed off to regular traffic for a 2-hour tour that is free and open to spectators.
The show begins Friday, October 26, with a gala banquet at the Frank Gehry-designed Keep Memory Alive Event Center, with food by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck and presentation of the first Helene Awards for innovation and contributions to the auto industry.
After the weekend’s show and tour, a celebrity golf tournament will be held Monday, October 28, at the Dragon Ridge course, with proceeds benefitting the ArtCenter College of Design.
For more information, visit the event website.
More concours and events
The Newport Car Museum hosts Euro Car Day on Sunday, October 20, with owners of any type of European car invited to participate in the free Portsmouth, Rhode Island, show. The event is held in conjunction with the New England Wrapup for German collector cars. For more information, visit the event website.
The Goodguys Rod and Custom Association holds its second Kentucky Nationals street rod and custom car show on October 111-13 at Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. AutoCross competition, swap meet, burnout competition with selection of the first finalist for 2020 Muscle Car of the Year. For more information, visit the event website.
Was there a 56 Chevy at the Las Vegas Show ? if so , how much did it sell for ?
Thank you