By Terry Boyce
One of the finest automotive events in the world, the Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance will take place on the grounds of Meadow Brook Hall at Oakland University, in Rochester, Michigan on Sunday, August 5.
The more than 250 carefully selected cars on the field will include prestige and sports models from every collectible era. However, the great Classic cars of the 1925-1942 period have always been, and continue to be, at the heart of the Concours. These are cars that both inspired and reflected the age of modernism. It is interesting to trace the evolution of streamline design in their metal forms. The sculpted hood ornaments, art deco-inspired hubcaps and gracefully rounded grilles and lamps evoke the styling trends of the pre- WWII era.
The Meadow Brook event celebrates "The Art That Moves Us" this year with a special display of exciting Alfa Romeo 8C 2900s. These incredibly rare pre-WWII Italian sports cars - less than 50 were ever made - blend power and beauty in a manner that was and is uniquely breath-taking.
Vehicle displays featuring cars crafted by coach builders Saoutchik and Murphy will provide interesting contrasts for connoisseurs of art deco and moderne design.
French designer Jacques Saoutchik created some of the most curvaceous and dramatically styled custom bodies ever; his works were automotive "eye candy" of the highest order. The Walter M. Murphy Body Co. provided elegantly sporting bodies for the finest automotive chassis - including the Duesenberg, Cadillac V-16 and Packard Twelve. Murphy, of Pasadena, California, had an elite client list that included many Hollywood movie stars and film moguls - it is always enjoyable to imagine who might have once ridden in these cars.
Another class will be dedicated to the always high style Auburn, Cord and Duesenberg. These cars, built in Indiana, were some of the most beautiful, sporty and prestigious cars of the 1930s.
A showing of up to forty rare and fascinating 4-cylinder motorcycles, many dating from before WWII, will bring a new dimension to this year's Concours. As with the automobiles, examples from the streamline design era are especially intriguing.
The Concours includes a large art show tent, where one may view (and purchase) works by some of the world's most renowned automotive artists. Alain Levesque, the Quebec artist who often paints in a style reminiscent of the art deco era is among the artists on the display roster for this year's event.
Charitable proceeds from the Concours help support Meadow Brook Hall, one of America's great surviving Tudor mansions from the golden age. The former home of Dodge heiress Matilda Dodge Wilson and her second husband, Alfred G. Wilson, Meadow Brook Hall was completed in 1929. The grand, 110-room home provides a perfect backdrop for the Concours d'Elegance. The home will be open for tours during the day of the Concours, by separate admission. It features vast collections of original art and furnishings.
Tickets to the 2007 Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance are available before the event for $20 and will be $25 atthe gate. For a schedule of events, additional details, or to order your tickets, contact the Concours of America office at 248.269.7672 or go to www.meadowbrookconcours.org.
(Terry Boyce is the Director of Operations for the Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance. As an automotive historian, he has authored several books and many magazine articles about cars. Terry is a contributing author to "Curves Of Steel," a forthcoming book on streamline design and the automobile, featuring the photography of Michael Furman.)
