Saving the best for last
Classic car auto show has a place on enthusiasts’ calendars in its third year
OWEN SOUND— It’s only in its third year, but already the Cobble Beach Concours d’Elegance, which takes place Sept. 12-13, has become a tradition.
For Canadian car aficionados, and many from across the border as well, it brings the summertime auto show season to a spectacular conclusion.
The most prestigious classic car show in Canada — the only one to be mentioned in the same breath as such established Concours as Amelia Island, St. John’s, and Pebble Beach — promises a diverse array of some of the finest automobiles ever built.
And, just as at those other venues, they’ll be presented in a storybook setting, in this case on the shores of Georgian Bay.
On Sept. 12 and 13, more than 100 classics, handselected from private collections across North America, will take part in a tradition of excellence dating back to 17th-century French high society.
This year, in addition to the cars, there will be exhibits of vintage boats and motorcycles as well. As for the cars, they’ll cover the gamut from an 1899 Locomobile to a 2006 Ford GT, with a broad array of other vehicle types in between.
Among the Grand Classics, typically the crown jewels of such shows, will be a1938 Bugatti Type 57C coupe — one of just 17 built — designed by company founder Ettore Bugatti’s son, Jean. It will be complemented by another Type 57, rebodied in Ontario by the Guild of Automotive Restorers, with coachwork to duplicate the one-off Aerolithe Elektron prototype built for the 1935 Paris Auto Show.
Other grand marques represented will include Cadillac, Duesenberg, Rolls Royce, Packard and Pierce Arrow. And a special Museum class, introduced last year, will feature such rarities as a 1931 Alfa Romeo, a 1921Kissel Gold Bug and a Canadianbuilt 1928 McLaughlin-Buick. Among more modern machinery, showgoers will find a unique early-production Austin-Healey100 Roadster, a big-finned ’58 Studebaker Golden Hawk and a ’72 Ferrari Dino. The Studebaker brand is also represented by a flawless 1937 Coupe Express pickup truck in the new-this-year truck class.
There will be race cars, too, including a classic Kurtis Indy Roadster, with a four-cylinder Offenhauser engine, which competed in the 1959 and 1960 Indianapolis 500s.
Motorcycle fans will appreciate a class of vintage Vincents, built in England between 1935 and 1955. Prominent among them is a very special Vincent — arguably the most famous ever — nicknamed “Gunga Din.”
Built as an experimental test-bed for race bikes, it got its name from a magazine road tester who, after riding it, invoked a line from the Rudyard Kipling poem, “You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!”
As the list of cars above suggests, there will be something for every automotive taste at the 2015 Cobble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Plus a very special announcement.
The Lee Iacocca award, which is widely recognized as the pinnacle achievement within the classic car world, will be presented for the first time outside the United States and for the final time ever at Cobble Beach. At the end of this year, the award will be retired. Who the winner will be won’t be revealed until the event.
“Cobble Beach is immensely proud of what we have achieved in these three short years,” says the event’s founder, Rob McLeese. “We started with great ambitions to be listed among the best Concours d ’Elegances in the world. Each year, we raise the bar in the hopes of achieving that goal.”
Confirming the show’s elevated status, Cadillac has come on board as a presenting sponsor for 2015. As part of that sponsorship, guests will be able to test drive some Cadillac Vseries cars at the event.
Proceeds raised by the Cobble Beach Concours d’Elegance will go to the Sunnybrook Hospital Foundation to fund a state-of-the-art helipad on the rooftop of the Toronto hospital.
The Concours takes place at the Cobble Beach Golf Links Resort
“We started with great ambitions to be listed among the best Concours d’Elegances in the world. Each year, we raise the bar in the hopes of achieving that goal.” ROB MCLEESE COBBLE BEACH CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE FOUNDER
Community, near Owen Sound, about two hours north of Toronto. Further information is available online at cobblebeachconcours.com. Freelance writer Gerry Malloy is a frequent contributor to Toronto Star Wheels. To reach him, email
wheels@thestar.ca and put his name in
the subject line.