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From YourSITE.com Events Coverage Some say New York is the capital of civilization. The latter may be debatable, but the fact that New York City is the largest metropolis in the world merits at least some degree of bragging. The largest players in the world’s industry maintain offices here, and its financial district is the hub on which the world’s economy is based. New York is a power city, so it naturally figures that the city that is home to some of the world’s richest folks might also play host to a super-exclusive automotive concours. Such was the thought behind this year’s first annual New York City concours d’Elegance.
This event, a first of its kind, was held in the heart of New York City, at Central Park’s Wollman Rink. Space is at a premium, but with such exclusive cars intended for display, large numbers of vehicles are not what this event is about. Rotating cars out for Sunday’s Italian automobile focus also helped make enough room. The truly valuable aspect of this location, though short on square footage, was its central location. Thousands of people stroll past Wollman Rink daily and subtle promotion in town with streetlight banners meant plenty of observers either paid to enter or looked longingly through the fence at an incredible collection of automobiles.
Among the local city-dwellers ogling the cars were celebrities and other major players in the auto industry and motorsport. Five minutes inside the gate we spotted racecar driver Derek Bell and Audi designer Claus Potthoff, and the “who’s who” listing certainly didn’t end there. Celebrity judges ranged greatly, from the 23-year old actress Anne Hathaway to ex-Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler to Pink Floyd drummer and hard-core car collector Nick Mason. Actor Adam Malcolm McDowell and interior designer Thom Filicia from ‘Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’ rounded out the celebrity judging, while the list of more qualified judges included Malcolm Barber, Rick Carey, Chris Current, David E. Davis, Jr., John Fitch, Dick Fritz, David Gooding, Paul Grist, Vic Norman, Steve Pasteiner, Christian Philippsen, Chuck Queener, Gerald Roush, Larry Smith, Jaques Vaucher, Roger Warner, Jr. and Ed Gilbertson.
High-end cars, surprisingly, were not as prevalent as expected. Notable attendees however included a Jaguar D-type, a Jaguar C-type, the first Ferrari 125 ever sold, a ’49 Ferrari 166MM, a ’37 Mercedes-Benz 540K Roadster, a ’57 Maserati 300S, an Aston Martin DB4 GT Bertone, last year’s Pebble Beach-winning Horch 853A Erdmann & Rossi Sport Cabriolet, and the last remaining Audi Imperator owned by Audi Tradition. Audi was a major sponsor of the event, displaying their entire range of new cars at the rink, along with two pre-production Q7 SUVs, badge 4.2 and as-of-yet-unseen 3.6. The 3.6, it turns out, was actually a 3.0TDI badged 3.6 for customer clinics. An Auto Union Grand Prix racecar had been on the billing for the event, though some last-minute scheduling conflicts for the car’s private owner kept it from participating. And while the iconic Silver Arrow did not take part, several other significant vintage four-ringers did appear.
Audi Tradition’s last existing Audi Imperator had been in the USA for a Pebble Beach appearance in August. The car continued its American tour with its display at New York as well. A most notable attendant was last year’s Pebble Beach-winning Horch 853A Erdmann & Rossi Sport Cabriolet, owned and painstakingly restored by Joseph Cassini of West Orange, New Jersey. Being somewhat of a local, it was perhaps not a surprise to see the car in New York, though it was certainly very much a pleasure. Cassini was on hand to answer questions about the car and its storied past. It turns out the Horch had been brought back to the United States following World War II by a US serviceman from Ohio. In Ohio, the car languished behind the man’s service station near Cleveland awaiting restoration until roughly thirty years ago when it was sold to a Horch collector in Florida. The Florida collector intended to restore the car, but by the age of 70 still hadn’t made the undertaking, so he sold the car to Cassini, who funded a two-year ground-up restoration in Canada at RM Auto Restorations.
The Horch was originally a putty gray color, though Cassini though it would be much more handsome in its current color, a brilliant silver that is period correct in paint available at the time. With such a successful beginning to the inaugural New York City Concours d’Elegance, it’s assured that the event will continue on, and likely to flourish. Considering it can gather such an impressive grouping of automobiles and its backdrop is one of the most impressive cities in the world, a return next year is most certainly mandatory.
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