A show of cars

Once again, a little diversion from the world of Rally as we head back into the world of historic car racing. Last year we were at the world famous Goodwood Revival. This year I found myself at the Lime Rock Historic Festival in Connecticut.

This was the 33rd running of this event, it is well established as a notable date in the worldwide historic racing calendar. Indeed, the guests of honour this year were Jochen Mass, German motor racing ace and one of the greatest names in the history of motor racing, Sir Stirling Moss. 

The event runs over five days of the Labor day weekend starting with a parade through the town on the Thursday followed by three days of racing and practice at the track and a Concours d'elegance car show on the Sunday. The Lime Rock Circuit is in a beautiful location surrounded by trees. Its shape and form remind me of the wonderful English circuit Cadwell Park.

We managed to attend the Mondays racing and the Sunday Concours. This post will be about the car show. I'll cover the racing later.

First of all let me say I don't "get" the Concours concept. I have said it before and I'll say it again. "The best way to look after an old car is to drive it."
The very best concours cars are in better condition than when they left the showroom. Judging a cars appearance is purely subjective. How one immaculate car can be deemed better than another is beyond me. There were many immaculate cars there in many different classes. All deserved to be overall winners. There was even a class for car in the condition "As the owner found them." So that a bit of a rust bucket could be displayed in completion against a mint antique automobile.
So for me this was just a chance to see some beautiful, and legendary cars.

Lets be honest, to the classic motor racing enthusiast there is no more legendary vehicle than the 1955 Mille Milgia winning Mercedes of Stirling Moss and David Jenkinson. It is a breathtakingly beauftiful car with its clean lines and striking silver colour, only broken by the bright red of the number 722. Just astounding.

The legendary Mercedes Benz #722

So to the cars on display. Mercedes were the guests of honour and there were several wonderful old cars there. Each pristine and amazing to see.

1914 Mercedes Grand Prix car

There were many pristine cars of all ages to see, from one of the very first electric cars to a Pagani Huyara 'hypercar'. Though all these cars caught my attention, I was particularly taken by a Tatra T87 Diplomat. A vehicle from Czechoslovakia built in the 1950's with a V8 air-cooled engine. Its streamlined shape was so sleek and eye catching. That car was my "best in show". But my opinion didn't count for much and the best in show went to the Count Trossi Mercedes SSK that had recently won the Pebble Beach concours. A car I thought so ugly I didn't even bother taking a picture of it. 

My "best in show" The Tatra diplomat

But Sunday at Lime Rock is about more than the showpiece cars, for the rest of the circuit is taken up with about 800 other cars from many different makers. "The Gathering of the Marques" they call it. The cars of everyday guys like me. MG's, Cobra's, Land Rovers, Alfa's, Corvettes, etcetera. All a joy to look at. Something I'd never heard of before called a Cisitalia caught my eye.

A Cisitalia. Unusually beautiful.

A Gogomobil that was raced by American Newsreading legend Walter Cronkite.  I didn't know Walter Cronkite liked to race cars let alone something as odd as a Gogomobil.

Walter Cronkite's racing Gogomobil.

I could go on and on abut things that caught my attention. I was most surprised when I looked at my watch after walking a 1.5 mile lap of the Lime Rock circuit to find we had been there over four hours.
It really was a great way to spend a day. It had been a very hot, long day there and we bought ourselves a Ben and Jerry's ice cream and headed off home, looking forward to the next days racing.