A highlight reel of 2022’s premier concours winners as the 2023 season forges on
The English poet Tennyson once said that in spring, a young man’s fancy turns to love. For car lovers, however, springtime thoughts turn to the beginning of the concours d’elegance season. We’ll cut old Tennyson some slack since cars didn’t exist in his day, but at least we’ve got our priorities straight.
Hagerty is proud to count many of the country’s premier concours—The Amelia, Greenwich, and Detroit—in its portfolio of events. Not as proud, we venture to guess, as those owners who found themselves accepting the best of show awards at these fetes of automotive greatness this past year. The 2023 concours season kicked off at The Amelia last March, but we thought we’d sip a bit more Champagne to toast the 2022 winners and to get a feeling for the unique atmosphere of each of these shows.
The Amelia
March 2-5, 2023
The concours season began the first week in March at the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, and the Golf Club of Amelia Island. This year, records fell, Voisin won big, and a Le Mans-winning, underdog Ferrari took home some hardware. For 2022, the Best in Show trophy went to a 1934 Duesenberg Model J convertible coupe owned by Harry Yeaggy of Cincinnati, Ohio.
With the goal of competing against the world’s most elegant, luxurious, and powerful automobiles, the Duesenberg Model J was equipped with a 420-cubic-inch straight-eight engine featuring dual overhead cams and four valves per cylinder. The engine produced 265 horsepower. Though other cars might have featured bigger engines, none of them could exceed the power of the Duesenberg. In its day, the Model J was the most expensive American automobile on the market—and the fastest, capable of reaching 115 mph.
This LaGrande convertible coupe was one of the last Duesenbergs produced. It was originally owned by Marjorie Merriweather Post, the daughter and sole heiress of the founder of General Mills; she was a socialite, philanthropist, and collector of fine art. She was also the world’s wealthiest woman at the time. This Model J dutifully served as Post’s car at her summer house on Long Island until 1962. Yeaggy had the J restored to its original specifications. “I’ve won here twice before, but this one was unexpected,” said Yeaggy. “There’s always a lot of competition and Duesenbergs have won here the past two years, so it takes a really special car to win.”
Celebrating motorsports is also a tradition at The Amelia, and both 2022 was no exception. Race cars from the 60th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 70th anniversary of Sebring were joined by rare examples from the NASCAR and Gurney Eagle show groups. Bill Elliott’s 1987 #9 Ford Thunderbird joined the Gurney Eagle in which Dan Gurney himself won the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix. Legendary racing-team owner Chip Ganassi was the event’s honoree.
The 2022 Concours de Sport trophy went to the 2017 Cadillac DPi-V.R that was displayed by the Jackson Collection of Ellicott City, Maryland. The Wayne Taylor Racing chassis features a race-prepared, naturally aspirated Cadillac V-8 engine; it has a displacement of 5.5 liters and makes a series-limited 600 horsepower. This car was the overall winner of the 2018 Petit Le Mans; lead driver Jordan Taylor teamed up with Renger van der Zande and Ryan Hunter-Reay. An overall win at the 2019 Rolex 24 at Daytona followed, with lead driver and two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso partnered with van der Zande, Taylor, and Kamui Kobayashi.
Greenwich Concours d’Elegance
June 2-4, 2023
There is a certain rhythm to the concours season. If it’s March, it must be The Amelia; if it’s August, it must be Pebble; and if it’s early June, it must be Greenwich. Set on the grounds of Roger Sherman Baldwin Park overlooking Greenwich Harbor where sailboats gently bob, Greenwich is a quintessentially East Coast event. For 2022, the Best in Show trophy went to a 1948 Packard convertible Victoria, bodied by Italian coachbuilder Vignale and displayed by the Marano Collection of Garwood, New Jersey.
Packard survived the Great Depression, but as an independent manufacturer, it lacked the financial resources of its competitors. To add some European cachet to its lineup, in 1938, Packard ordered seven cars, including this stunning convertible Victoria with coachwork by Alfredo Vignale of Turin, Italy.
Since Turin was heavily bombed during World War II, Vignale had to hide the car. Work was finally completed in 1948. The aluminum body is mounted on a 1939 Packard One-Twenty chassis and is powered by a 120-hp, 282-cubic-inch straight-eight engine. The car was exhibited at prominent auto salons in Packard’s effort to gain influence in the postwar European market, but all was in vain. After a disastrous merger with Studebaker, by 1958, Packard ceased to exist.
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance
August 20, 2023
Referred to simply as “Pebble” by those who know, this event is widely acknowledged as the ne plus ultra of all concours. Held in late August at the legendary Pebble Beach Golf Links overlooking the Pacific, Pebble will celebrate its 72nd anniversary in 2023. Only the finest automobiles are invited, and competition is fierce for the Best of Show trophy. In 2022, the trophy went to the 1932 Duesenberg J Figoni Sports Torpedo shown by Lee R. Anderson Sr.
Those who know also know that Dawn Patrol, when all the cars take the show field before sunrise, is possibly more exciting than the show itself. Begun in the early 1990s, today Dawn Patrol is sponsored by Hagerty, with each car personally welcomed by McKeel Hagerty, the company’s CEO. In addition to coffee and doughnuts, limited-edition hats are handed out to the first lucky spectators to arrive. Hats from previous shows are among the most coveted items of Pebble memorabilia—not exactly the Best of Show trophy, but certainly a close second.
Detroit Concours d’Elegance
September 23, 2023
With its lineage tracing through the Concours d’Elegance of America back to the legendary Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance, the 2022 Detroit Concours marked the first time ever that a concours was held in Motown. “Our goal was to create a world-class automotive event in the heart of Detroit, one that is worthy of the Motor City, and that is exactly what we did,” noted McKeel Hagerty. With the Detroit Institute of Arts serving as an elegant backdrop, the Detroit Concours brought the world of concours to a whole new audience.
The 2022 Detroit Concours d’Elegance Best in Show trophy went to a 1937 Delahaye 135 M roadster cabriolet with coachwork by Parisian atelier Henri Chapron. Owned by Tom McGough of Shoreview, Minnesota, the car is the only surviving “Grand Luxe” Delahaye of the seven that were built. See our deep dive on this fascinating and historically important car.
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