Preview: Fairfield County Concours

The theme of last year’s event was 100 Years of Significant Motor Vehicles and the organizers delivered on that promise. A comprehensive array of cars was on display. In fact, within just a few years, this concours has risen to an esteemed position within car collector circles as evidenced by the high quality cars the show has been able to attract.

This concours was originally started a few years ago in Westport’s Veteran’s Green on Main Street. It quickly outgrew that venue and was moved to the Fairfield County Hunt Club in 2007. Ironically, that was also the 50th anniversary of the very first concours which began at the famous Hunt Club.

The mission of its founders, John Shuck and Bill Scheffler has always been to entertain as well as to educate concours attendees. To that end there were three special exhibits at the 2008 show. The first contained previous winners of the prestigious Amelia Island Concours. Second, there was a celebration of 60 years of racing at Watkins Glen, the renowned race course in New York State’s Finger Lakes Region. Several race cars which have competed on this circuit were displayed. The third exhibit was entitled, “Artful Dodgers” taking its name from Charles Dickens’ novel, “Oliver Twist” and it was presented to illustrate how modern technology has been used to perfectly replicate famous cars from the past.

Almost 5,000 auto enthusiasts visited the show to see more than 200 rare and unique automobiles. Seeing so many special cars in one place was truly a fantastic feast for the eyes. However, the aural senses were not neglected, as attendees were also treated to an incredible audible experience at exactly twelve o’clock. At that time every car in the show was started and then revved up to add its voice to a thunderous “Noon Roar”.

The Best of Show-Domestic distinction was given to a one-off Chevrolet Corvette built in 1963 by the famous Italian design house Pininfarina. We learned that it was displayed at the Paris Motor Show right after its completion. Since then it has been on exhibit for the past 45 years in Pininfarina’s Torino, Italy based museum from where it was recently purchased.

The Best of Show-Foreign winner was a 1938 Tatra T 77A. This is a Czechoslovakian automobile which we were told was built by the third oldest automobile manufacturer in the world. This particular model has a unique advanced aerodynamic design which is incredible when one considers it was penned more than 70 years ago. It was recently featured in a modern art exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Stamford resident, Chuck Queener was the featured artist of the concours. Chuck studied illustration at the famous Art Center School in California and has designed or contributed to countless magazines and automotive books. For this event, Chuck displayed several of his works which included posters and program covers from the Amelia Island Concours, the Rolex Monterey Historic Races and the Fall Vintage Festival at Lime Rock.

The beneficiaries of this concours were AIND/Giant Steps and Hall-Brooke Behavioral Health Services which are local autism service providers that do great work in the community.