Greenwich Concours, 2016

By Brandes Elitch
Photos by John Lloyd

The Greenwich Concours d’Elegance celebrated its twentieth anniversary on June 4th and 5th. The event is held in a park bordered on three sides by water and boats of every variety. The show was originated by the Wennerstrom family to benefit the AmeriCares charity, located in nearby Stamford. The charity operates four free clinics in Connecticut for low income uninsured. It is also the leading nonprofit for delivering donated medicine and medical supplies to health programs around the world. Since 1979, it has delivered more than $12 billion in aid to 164 countries. I can scarcely think of a worthier cause.

Bruce and Genia Wennerstrom were heavily involved in automobiles (he presided over the monthly meeting of the Madison Avenue Sports Car Driving and Chowder Society, a media-based group that met at Sardi’s restaurant since 1957). They thought their hometown of Greenwich was ideally suited for a car show. Although they have passed away, their children have taken over the ownership and management of the event.

This is a two day show. Saturday is devoted to American cars, and Sunday to foreign cars. There are about 250 cars in total being displayed, in addition to a few manufacturer and vendor displays. The cars are arranged in a “corral” setting, inside a circle of cars with a similar theme. Although virtually all cars are quite interesting (it is an invitational show) there are invariably one of two spectacular cars in each circle, which is the way it should be. I have chosen a few to profile here which I think are representative of the display.

1946 Lancia Aprilia Pagani

First is the 1946 Lancia Aprilia Pagani Riva Barchetta Corsa, owned by Charles Schoendorf. This car was originally built in 1942 as a standard sedan, but in 1946 Luigi Beretta, the Lancia dealer in Lecco, north of Milano, converted the car to go racing. Riva of Merate built a one-off aluminum body. The 1486 ohc narrow V4 was modified for racing by engine builder Luigi Pagani of Milano, who used a proprietary cylinder head with twin Weber tipo DR36 carbs, each one cross-feeding the opposite two cylinders. This boosted the horsepower from 45 to 85! Beretta ran the car in hill climbs for a while, and then the car disappeared, but in the 1970’s, his sons found it and had it restored by Giancarlo Cappa, of KCA, a Lancia facility outside of Milano. Since then it has competed in the Mille Miglia Historique and other vintage car events. Recently, it has had an engine rebuild, a new interior and new paint, and looks today just as it did back in 1946 when it was completed.
Three spectacular cars were brought by Michael Schudroff, who is the proprietor of a nearby dealership (www.carriagehousemotorcars.com). Each is so important historically that it is impossible to choose a favorite.

1952 Chrysler SWB Ghia Prototype

Being a Chrysler guy, I was drawn to the 1952 Chrysler SWB Ghia Prototype coupe, which was originally exhibited on the Chrysler stand at the 1953 Paris Auto Salon. As is well known, Chrysler usually as a matter of cost had their idea cars built by Ghia in the early fifties, and they generally ran and thus were saved, unlike the dream cars from Ford and GM, which were typically destroyed. It was built on a shortened New Yorker chassis with the 331 CID hemi and the PowerFlite transmission. This car was commissioned for C.B. Thomas, president of the Export Division. This car has won many awards, including “Most Significant Design” at the 2010 Pebble Beach show.

1963 Corvette Pininfarina “Rondine”

The third car was the 1963 Corvette Pininfarina “Rondine, also first shown at the Paris Auto Salon. It was stored at the Pininfarina museum for 45 years. It was designed by Tom Tjaarda, and originally had a steel body with a solid upper roofline with a reverse angle stainless steel targa bar housing retractable rear glass. In 1964 it was rebuilt with the present roofline. Tom Tjaarda’s designs would over time impact all of the Italian manufacturers, although the Rondine had no impact on Corvette design. It is certainly one of the most important Corvettes.

1953 Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone

Everyone loved the 1953 Aston Martin DB 2/4 cabriolet bodied by Bertone. It was designed by Giovanni Michelotti at Bertone for Charles Ward of the Brown and Bigelow company: the sales managers all contributed their share to have the car built for their boss! It is one of two cars constructed to this specification. Noteworthy is the fitted monogrammed luggage and picnic hamper, on display with the car. This is certainly one of the most desirable Aston Martins ever built.

1967 Frua bodied Maserati

Another spectacular one of a kind car is Blake Stevenson’s 1967 Frua bodied Maserati. Blake bought it at an auction in 2004. When the auction company was off-loading the car, the driver lifted the tailgate, which then smashed upwards into the subfloor of the transporter, exploding the rear glass. It took Blake four years to find someone to make the totally unique rear window! The car was the result of a collaboration between Frua and Maserati and was ordered by one Franco Rol, an independent racer who raced from the thirties through the sixties. Frua understood it to be the prototype for the next Maserati road car, the Mexico, but it remained a one off. It as the 4.2 litre V8 from the Quattroporte I. Rol kept it for eight years and then the history is lost until it was bought by Alfredo Brenner around the mid-90’s. Brenner did a cursory restoration and repaint, but Blake has restored the car as new. He commissioned a total mechanical rebuild in 2010 by Kiwi Engineering, of Old Saybrook, CT. Two years later he had Redline Restorations in Bridgeport, CT, begin a total restoration. This took four years; the entire rear end had to be recreated to factory specs, in addition to rust repair, new wiring, new panels, etc.. Congratulations to Blake for a spectacular restoration, which must have involved a lot of blood, sweat, and tears (he is also restoring the prototype Sebring!).

1969 ISO Grifo Series I

Then there is Glenn Simon’s 1969 ISO Grifo Series I 7 liter coupe. This car is based on a shortened ISO Rivolta GT chassis and was introduced at the 1963 Torino show. It was styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Bertone. It uses the Corvette 427, and was considered the fastest production car in the world at the time. This car was restored by David Grant restorations, and was a class winner at the 1999 Pebble Beach show. It has only 35,000 miles from new. It is said to be one of 43 produced in this model year. It is certainly one of the most spectacular ISO’s.

Those are some of the most interesting cars from the foreign car show, although there were some pretty interesting cars in the American car show, including Lancia owner Charles Schoendorff’s 1952 Carrera Panamerica replica Chrysler Saratoga.

While VeloceToday readers undoubtedly know that Greenwich is one of the wealthiest towns in the country, you might not know that Greenwich is such an iconic town that the Chinese government is building their own version of Greenwich in Hangzhou, outside of Shanghai (where the stock exchange is located). Regional planners are developing an Asian themed version, called Yuhuang Shannon Fund Town, which they hope will become a hub for hedge funds and boutique brokerages, just like Greenwich. Before the dot com bust, Greenwich had about 4000 hedge funds there; today there are around 300, with about $350 billion under management. Hangzhou is about the same distance from the stock exchange as Greenwich is from Manhattan. I don’t doubt that the Chinese government can build their own city that attempts to replicate the success of Greenwich – this has to be one of the greatest ironies of my generation. But will they ever have a Fund Town Concours? Not bloody likely!

Check one off the Bucket List

My photographer for this show was John Lloyd. John worked for Phil Hill at Hill and Vaughn Restorations, and eventually bought a house a block away on the same street. He is generally credited with inventing the car detailing business in Los Angeles. He came up with the idea of going to a client’s house to detail their cars, and for over twenty years he visited many major Hollywood stars at their residence to detail the cars in their collection. John and I both collected Imperial limousines, and other Imperials as well.

One of our mutual goals was to visit the cemetery where Walter Chrysler is buried, and to lay flowers on the grave. We had this opportunity because it started raining in the afternoon at the Greenwich show, making it impossible to view the cars. After attending car shows in California for the last thirty years, the idea of being rained out never occurred to me. When it rained, we drove a short distance to the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Tarrytown where Chrysler is buried. The family mausoleum has a commanding view of the Hudson River, which Chrysler loved, having been raised in Kansas. When the Chrysler building was built, he commuted from his house (now the Kings Point Military Academy) to Manhattan by speedboat. This was a fitting conclusion to a wonderful weekend in Greenwich.

Notable entries from this year’s Greenwich