Meadow Brook Hall, Michigan, 02 August 2009
The thirtieth anniversary running of the Meadow Brook Concours
d’Elegance once again graced the lawns of Meadow Brook Hall, a
1920s built Tudor style mansion, constructed for the widow of
automobile pioneer John Dodge. The hall is one of the main
historical features of the sprawling Oakland University campus in
the town of Rochester to the north of Detroit in Michigan. Over the
years the concours has built up a strong reputation for its relaxed
ambience, great vehicles and serene setting, with associated
motoring tour, gala dinner and RM Auction.
The 2009 running featured the “Best of Detroit”, at a time when
the car industry in “Motor City” and elsewhere is on its knees,
this was a fitting boost to the confidence of car makers, by
highlighting their greatest moments, to bolster their resolve to
return to strength in the future. Amongst the milestone models on
display were the opulent Cadillac V-16, initially of 7.4 litres
displacement, produced between 1930 -1940, and the 1957 –
1959 Ford Skyliner with its complex retractable hardtop
arrangement that featured miles of electric cables, servo motors
and sundry levers and switches, that saw the roof retract into the
trunk in less than sixty seconds. Another model to feature was
the 1969 Chevrolet Camaro, which has been resurrected with the
2010 model year version, drawing strongly from the original design
concept.
Another feature was “1959 The year Detroit Went Wild”, the year
that chrome and fins became true excess, probably best
exemplified by the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, with its
spectacular bullet tail lights in huge swooping vertical fins. Other
classes included Swoopy Coupes, the Roaring Twenties, Rolls
Royce Phantoms, pre and post 1956 Sports Cars, American
Muscle 1964 to 1974, Drag Racing – The Factory Years, and a
featured museum, this being the Gilmore Museum, details of
which can be found at www.gilmorecarmuseum.org , which is
considered one of the top five automotive museums in the USA.
The content may read as though it is predominantly American,
but there was plenty of European content within the cars and
motorcycles on the field. One of the most spectacular was the
Fiat 8V Ghia Supersonic of David & Ginny Sydorick from
California, whilst the bright yellow Dino 206 S Competizione
Speciale with its dominant front and rear wings, of Jim
Glickenhaus, was also a great crowd pleaser. There was also a
rare Abarth 1000 SP sports racing model, a variety of Jaguar
models, examples of AC, Allard, Lancia, Mercedes, MG and
Morgan, together with pre-war examples like Delahaye, Peugeot,
Hispano-Suiza, Talbot Lago and even a 1930 Tatra.
The show has two Best of Show awards, one for an American
automobile and the other for a Foreign one. The former was won
by the 1934 V-12 Packard Sport Sedan with Dietrich body owned
by Ray Scherr from California, and the latter by the 1939
Delahaye 165 Figoni & Falaschi Cabriolet belonging to the Peter
Mullin Foundation, also based in California.
David O’Neill
08/2009
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