ELEGANCE WAS EXPECTED
Tracing the routes of today’s competitive concours scene to the dawn of the 1920s and the seafront of the French Côte d’émeraude
Tracing the roots of the modern concours
The concours d’élégance, which is French for ‘competition of elegance’ and today refers to events where historic vehicles are displayed and evaluated, is now par for the course. But the term dates back to 17th-century France, when aristocrats paraded their horse-drawn carriages in the parks of Paris during summer weekends and holidays, demonstrating the luxury and the individuality of their bespoke carrosses. Over time, carriages became horseless and concours d’élégance turned into competitions among owners of expensive automobiles, with the Pebble Beach Concours d’elegance now the most famous of them all.
The Concorso d’eleganza Villa d’este, held every year beside Lake Como, in northern Italy, claims to be the oldest continuously running concours event in the world. And it may be so. But it is not the oldest concours d’élégance event of all. For that there are several claimants in France, a nation that, not surprisingly, took the lead in adapting its centuries-old tradition to the horseless device that had so fascinated mankind in the early years of the 20th century.
Seaside towns such as La Baule and Deauville were early on to the concept, but the place that stakes the claim to having hosted the very first recorded concours à la Française is Dinard. A commune located in the département of Illeet-vilaine, in Brittany, Dinard was a popular destination for British and American tourists during the Belle Époque period and on into the Roaring Twenties, with many of its wealthy Anglo-saxon visitors building grand villas for
their summer getaways on the other side of the Channel. Famous in those days for its cultural activities, Dinard was one of the most prestigious resorts in France, alongside the likes of Biarritz and Deauville, owing its popularity to Napoleon III and the construction of the Hôtel de Dinard (today the Grand Hôtel) in 1859. Soon a bathhouse on the beach and the casino followed, along with the first houses built by English families seduced by the beauty of the site.
Dinard enthusiast and Porsche racer Denis Cohignac has been sifting through newspaper clippings and other documents with the help of several automotive historians, including Delage expert Daniel Cabart. Between them, they have concluded that the very first recorded instance of a concours d’élégance in France – and ergo in the world – was the event that took place along the promenade at Dinard on 4 September 1921.
More than 60 vehicles took part in that inaugural edition, which was won by a Gillotebodied Voisin owned by Pierre Durand-ruel, a descendant of Paul Durand-ruel, the pioneer art dealer and patron of the Impressionists.
In fact, it was a gathering of the local who’s who, including the likes of wealthy Haitian Sylla Laraque, from Saint-lunaire, with a Delage, and Philippe d’albert-lake, who was a regular at the Bois-thomelin driving competitions, in a Peugeot. Most famous of all, however, was Madame Georgina Citroën, who chose to present her husband’s latest model in the roadster category. A month later, the Type C 5hp – also called the Petite Citron ,inapunon the Citroën name and the yellow hue of the first models – was officially launched at the Paris Salon, and would go on to sell upwards of 80,000 units, remaining today one of the most soughtafter among the early Citroëns.
In the 1920s, Dinard was a favourite holiday destination for the Citroën family, and they took up residence at either the Royal Hotel or the impressive Villa Nahant, which was rented for the summer. André Citroën enjoyed the good life and had a passion for gambling, so was a regular at the casino as well as at the horse-racing track in town. After visiting Ford in Dearborn, Citroën was convinced that the future for car makers lay in mass production, and to attract new customers – including women – future
models had to be equipped with electric starters. The concours d’élégance became the perfect place to showcase the latest models and that first running in Dinard, which had received plenty of media coverage before the event, was a great opportunity for the manufacturer. Thus it was Madame Georgina Citroën herself who promoted the brand, presenting the new model on the evening of 4 September.
During the preceding day, a ‘Grand Rallye Automobile’ drew more than 100 cars starting simultaneously from seven towns within a 50-mile radius of Dinard, converging on the town of Dinan, some 15 miles away. The Automobile Club de France (ACF) officially delegated its timekeepers for the run.
Following the overwhelming success of the first concours d’élégance, several other resort towns cottoned on to the idea, with La Baule, Deauville, Biarritz and Monte-carlo soon embarking on similar competitions that gathered together beautiful one-off coachbuilt cars, elegant ladies in haute couture garb, plus well-groomed dogs as well as art, sculpture and French joie de vivre all in one place over a sunny summer weekend. This was in contrast to the ‘Best of Show’ or ‘Elegance Automobile’ awards from the pre-ww1 period, when, at many motor shows, the best or the most interesting car technologically or in terms of reliability was awarded a prize. A show from May 1914 in Tours, for instance, scored cars on their number of spares, lamps, running boards and suchlike.
The appreciation for fine coachbuilding truly began in the 1920s, when many of the leading French marques from that era – including Bugatti, Delage, Delahaye, Hispano-suiza, Voisin, Citroën, Peugeot and Renault – sold their chassis with an engine, then customers chose their preferred coachbuilders to clothe the car. At that time, the French carrossiers were recognised for their creativity and such greats as Chapron, Figoni et Falaschi, Gangloff, Guilloré, Kellner, Kelsch, Labourdette, Proux, Pourtout, Letourneur et Marchand and Saoutchik established their reputations at these events.
Though the concept spread to other resort towns, it was Dinard that established the French concours approach. “In all likelihood, it was André Becq de Fouquières, a key figure in the Parisian social scene as well as the seaside resorts, who really defined the various essentials of the concours d’elegance à la Française,” says Cohignac. “A man of letters, a chronicler and a playwright, de Fouquières was the one who presided over the Dinard concours. Frequently a guest of the European aristocracy, because he perfectly embodied the French savoir-faire of the time, de Fouquières was a close friend of Mrs Hugheshallett, the queen of the French social directory for the three decades before WW2.
“De Fouquières brought his enthusiasm and exuberance to the many dinners given at the Villa Monplaisir, now the town hall of Dinard. In his autobiography, 50 Years of Panache, de Fouquières states that it was the concours d’élégance that elevated the mascot, the famous radiator cap, to the rank of a jewel. He also managed to gather some of the most prestigious juries, bringing together personalities such as HRH the Grand Duke Cyril of Russia, Countess Emmanuel de la Rochefoucauld, M d’albert-lake and Madame Blériot. Refined and courteous, de Fouquières had mastered the consummate art of presenting, with a tinge of light humour, the competitors and the drivers – whose role was, at the time, purely incidental.”
It also seems that de Fouquières defined the scoring system. The jury scored the entries for the style of the car, the comfort, equipment and conveniences, as well as the overall harmony of the design and the features, and linked the scoring to the lady presenting the entry. This conductrice was one of the differentiating points of the concours d’élégance à la Française. “De Fouquières was an icon of the ‘knowhow’ of French elegance,” points out Cohignac, “but had no automotive technical skills whatsoever.”
The men who drove the cars were there to, well, drive. The responsibility of presenting the car was that of the elegant female passenger, usually with a friendly canine in tow and suitably attired by the finest designers to complement, even heighten, the shade and shape of the bolide. It was a concept that seemed to work well, with spectators turning out in their thousands.
By 1924, the annual concours at Dinard had an attendance of more than 20,000 on the beach esplanade, and among the entrants of the 60-odd cars were several prominent names such as architect René Aillerie with a De Bazelaire, Boutin with a Voisin and Lesénéchal in a Delage, along with Robert Gerbault, brother of aviator and sailor Alain, the first to cross the Atlantic in a yacht. The Grand Prix d’honneur went to an immaculately turned out Voisin.
In fact, it was Voisin that made the most of these early concours events. Already famous in the field of aviation, Gabriel Voisin began manufacturing automobiles in 1919. With his experience as an aeronautics pioneer, he was a brilliant designer who found his inspiration in avant-garde architecture and art, and was a friend of the great Le Corbusier. Voisins were luxurious and aerodynamic, while the sculptural radiator mascot was a work of art in itself and the interior fabrics were pure Art Deco.
Not only were Voisins startling in design, but they were also high-performance machines. A Voisin finished fifth in the 1923 French Grand
Prix at Tours, and Dominique Lamberjack won the Critérium Paris-nice. With several entries in the early years of the Concours d’élégance Automobile de Dinard, Voisins won overall in 1921 and ’24, as well as taking four class victories.
By 1929, the concours was being organised by the Grand Casino de Dinard, run by Marc Guyot. With Rolls-royces, Delages, Talbots, Hispano-suizas, Bugattis and a Chrysler competing, the Premier Prix d’excellence went to Lemaire in the Chrysler, and the Grand Prix d’honneur to Madame Goddet in a Michel Irat, with the second Grand Prix d’honneur taken by the Delage of Colonel Proes.
The Grand Rallye Automobile made a return in 1930, and of some 50 participants 12 were women, with nine making it to the finish line. In the Concours d’élégance de Dinard, Madame Gaillard won the Grand Prix d’honneur in all categories in an exceptional Bugatti Type 46 with delectable factory open bodywork. Laure Diana, a singer at the Casino de Paris and a wellknown actress, landed the Prix d’excellence for her Delage D8 bodied by Duvivier.
The glamorous Anna-cécile Rose-itier, a racing driver of redoubtable capabilities, did not go unnoticed in her Bugatti Type 46, either. Entered for the Rallye, as well as the concours d’élégance, Itier finished fourth in the sporting event, which included a gymkhana on the beach of the Écluse. She also managed to win a Prix d’excellence at the concours.
Always elegant, Itier enjoyed an eclectic motorsport career for the best part of 25 years. Making her debut in 1926, and then entering regularly in numerous Grands Prix from 1931’37, she raced a Bugatti Type 37A and then a Type 51. With six appearances at the Le Mans 24 Hours and five in the Rallye Monte-carlo, Itier had an enviable record. While lost in the desert during the Rallye du Maroc in 1937, however, she was saved at the last minute by Fritz Huschke von Hanstein, who was also her teammate at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In a cruel irony, von Hanstein would become a German champion in 1939, defending the colours of the Third Reich in international competition, while Itier went on to help smuggle Jewish children out of occupied France during the war.
By ’33, the Concours d’élégance Automobile de Dinard had taken on a decidedly international flavour, with seven nationalities represented: the USA, England, Ireland, Spain, Argentina and Italy, as well as France. The jury was chaired by HRH Grand Duke Vladimirovich of Russia, assisted by de Fouquières. In this period Delage was the marque stealing most of the thunder, and the outright winner was a D8 with arresting Letourneur et Marchand coachwork, presented by French actress and singer Betty Spell.
The world of motorsport also touched Dinard, with the participation of Madame Jacques Bignan, the wife of the eponymous constructor (and Monte winner), as well as Madame Philippe Maillard-brune, wife of the MG racer and double winner of the Bol d’or, and the Singer of Madame Guy Lapchin, whose husband raced at Le Mans seven times.
Matching the beautiful cars and racing bolides for headlines was the world of fashion. Otto Lucas – a Berlin-born, French-educated London resident – drove over from his famous design studio in his SS. Bond Street’s most fashionable milliner, Lucas would later become the official supplier to the Crown, as well as to Greta Garbo among others, and his SS landed La Grande Mention in the Dinard concours.
Betty Spell returned to win again in 1934. For Louis Delage, the owner of a villa in Saint-briac, barely five miles down the coast, success at Dinard was important. It was not unusual for Delage to take on brand ambassadors, such as the famous actress ‘Mistinguett’ or entertainer Josephine Baker, and Spell became the face of Delage for several years. Dressed by haute couture house Worth, Spell would also take victory in concours competitions in Cannes, Le Touquet and Deauville. At Dinard, Delage became the most successful marque, winning five Grands Prix d’honneur as well as 15 class titles.
By the end of the 1930s, the golden age of the concours d’élégance was over. Dinard held its 1939 event on a bright, sunny 11 August, but the clouds of war were already gathering overhead. The superb line-up of beautiful cars included a magnificent Renault Viva Grand Sport, a Lancia, a Delage and an elegant Wolseley, which had been driven across from England. The Grand Prix d’honneur went to Madame Meldener, whose blue dress matched the shade of her Rosengart 11CV Super Traction.
Just 13 days later, on 24 August, France decreed partial mobilisation in anticipation of the Nazi invasion of Poland.
With the cessation of hostilities, it took a few years for the Concours d’élégance de Dinard to return, but it would continue until the 1970s. The festive atmosphere remained a trait of the event and, as the competition was opened up to a wider audience, one-off coachbuilt specials gave way to head-turning series-production models from Facel Vega, Aston Martin, Porsche and Lamborghini, as well as Zagato-bodied Maseratis and Lancias, and Chapron-crafted Citroën DS coupés and convertibles.
The halcyon days of the 1920s and ’30s were never recaptured, but with the centenary of the very first just around the corner, there is a chance that Cohignac and the city of Dinard might just pull off one more to remind people about the original concours d’élégance à la Française.