EyesOn Design has become known for its annual Father’s Day car show, staged at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford home outside Detroit and hosted by working automotive designers and benefiting the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology. But EyesOn also stages seminar-style events and has announced a pair to be held June 18 at the General Motors Design Dome on the GM engineering campus in north-suburban Warren.
From 9 a.m. until 11 a.m., the subject will be “The Influence of Strother MacMinn,” with a special look at his Le Mans Coupe.
MacMinn was a famed instructor at the ArtCenter College of Design in Southern California, and as former GM design chief Chuck Jordan once said, “If you are in a car today, Mac probably influenced its design.”
Speakers at the event include Stu Reed, ArtCenter head of transportation design; Steve Pasteiner, an ArcCenter alumnus and founder of Advanced Automotive Technologies; Peter Brock, former Shelby vehicles designer; and Dennis Kazmerowski, builder of the Le Mans Coupe.
From 1 p.m. until 4 p.m., Brock will be joined by automotive designers Randy Wittine, John Cafaro, Tom Peters and Kirk Bennion sharing behind-the-scenes information about designing Chevrolet Corvettes through the years.
The program ends that evening with a “meet & greet” at the General Motors Heritage Center in Troy.
For additional details and ticket information, visit the event website.
Audrain is overseas at Goodwood Members’ meet
Rhode Island-based Audrain Motorsport begins its role as presenting partner for the Goodwood Members’ Meeting this week in England. Events include a track experience April 6, a private tour of the palace on Thursday, a driving tour to visit the McLaren Technology Center on April 8, and special viewing of the Members’ Meeting races April 9-10.
As automotive partner for the event, Bentley will stage a special display of 10 vehicles from its Heritage collection.
Five F1 teams joining Goodwood Festival
Five current Formula 1 racing teams will send their cars and drivers to participate in the Goodwood Festival of Speed, scheduled for June 23-26, the Duke of Richmond has announced. The teams are McLaren, Mercedes-AMG Petronas, Scuderia Ferrari, Williams, and another yet to be identified.
Hagerty sets 4-day British driving tour
Hagerty will work with Scenic Car Tours to present its first UK driving tour, scheduled for October 14-17. The event will be based in the Brecon Beacons area of Wales.
“Hagerty has long encouraged classic car owners to get out and enjoy their vehicles, and what better reason than to join the Hagerty team on a wonderful driving tour on beautiful Welsh roads,” noted Mark Roper, managing director of British-based Hagerty International, who added that the event will welcome cars of all types, “fast or slow, vintage, or modern classic.”
Quail offers driving tour
From August 15-17, The Quail Rally will stage its 24th annual driving tour starting and ending in Carmel, California. The 500-mile “motoring adventure” is part of the Monterey Car Week activities hosted by The Peninsula Hotels’ Signature Events. Also part of those events are the “Best of the Best” event August 14 and The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering August 19.
One of the highlight vehicles expected for the Motorsports Gathering is the 1956 Porsche 356A that Renee Brinkerhoff drove in Antartica to complete an every-continent adventure.
Forest Grove readies its 48th concours
The 48th annual Forest Grove Concours d’Elegance is scheduled for July 17 on the campus of Pacific University in Oregon. The theme for the concours this year is “A Salute to British Elegance” and will feature these classes: Classic Jaguar Pre-XK Engine 1927-1951, Jaguar post-war sports cars 1952-1975, Jaguar post-war saloons 1952-1975, British Elegance: Bentley & Rolls-Royce, and British Performance: All other British marques.
There also will be non-judged car club corrals for Jaguar, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Alfa Romeo, Triumph, BMW, Packards and for the Classic Car Club of America.
Indy Memorabilia event set
Billed as “the largest racing memorabilia show in the world,” the Indy Memorabilia event is scheduled for May 27-28 at Plainfield, Indiana.
Carlisle reveals Ford Nationals specials
The 60th anniversary of Shelby, a reunion of 1960s racing Lightweights, 40 years of police-special Mustangs, modified 6th-generation Broncos, and electric-powered Ford vehicles will be the special displays at the Carlisle Ford Nationals, scheduled for June 3-5 at the Pennsylvania fairgrounds facility.
There also will be special display of a dozen or more vehicles “unique to the history of the Ford brand,” and a parade through downtown Carlisle of nearly 400 Ford vehicles.
Concours de l’Ordinaire is July 30
Not familiar with the Concours de l’Ordinaire? Perhaps you known it by its less formally French name: the Hagerty Festival of the Unexceptional, an annual car show featuring what might be termed ordinary cars but in a royal setting.
The eighth such festival is scheduled for July 30 and again will be held on the grounds of Grimsthorpe Castle in Linconshire, UK.
Again, as well, the event will feature “much maligned and long forgotten ‘ordinary’ classic cars and commercial vehicles of the late 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s,” notes Hagerty, adding that “Festival of the Unexceptional remains the only concours to celebrate the everyday cars we all know and love.”
Unlike the Concours d’Lemons in the US, the Concours de l’Ordinaire isn’t for modified vehicles but for those have survived the decades thanks to the loving care of their owners.
