HomeNews and EventsBritish concours will feature children’s vehicle class

British concours will feature children’s vehicle class

Our weekly roundup of car show news and notes highlights Baby Bugatti, pedal and electric kids’ cars getting concours display

-

The British Concours, aka England’s Concours of Elegance, scheduled for September 6 at Hampton Court, will feature a new “Junior Concours” for half-scale petrol, pedal and electric-powered children’s cars.

Led by The Little Car company’s Bugatti Baby II, the entrants, in children’s racing overall, will drive their vehicles onto a stage for judging, concours officials said in their announcement.

While nearly 1,000 adult-sized cars are expected to participate in the 3-day concours, 20 vehicles will comprise the junior class.

Baby Bugatti is electric powered

“We’ve always considered our event to be extremely inclusive, allowing families to indulge their passion, or spark a lifelong obsession with the world of motoring in their children,” concours director Andrew Evans was quoted in the news release.” With our Junior Concours we’re shining a light on the fascinating world of specially built children’s cars, popularized by the Austin J40 of which almost 32,000 were built from 1950. 

“We’ve got a wonderful collection of hand-built cars of all ages, complete with working headlamps, innovative powertrains and a near-perfect likeness to the full-size models they seek to imitate. With the support of their drivers and mechanics, the Junior Concours will be as much of a spectacle as any of our other priceless displays.”

London celebrates golden era of convertibles

Aston Martin DB2 among convertibles entered in special class | Concours photo

The Golden Era of convertibles will be featured August 19-20 at the London Concours in England, event organizers have announced. The class will include 10 vehicles, including Jaguar E-type, Ferrari 330 GTS, Alfa Romeo Junior Spider, Porsche 356 and Aston Martin DB2. 

Beaulieu reschedules ‘Simply’ car shows

The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, England, has revised its schedule of one-marque “Simply” car shows for 2020, beginning July 19 with Simply Jaguar. 

The shows continues July 26 with Simply Japanese, followed by Simply Audi (August 2), Simply Land rover (August 9), Simply Volkswagen (August 15), Simply American (August 16), Simply Mercedes (August 23), Simply Aston Martin (August 30), Simply Vauxhall (September 12), Simply Ford (September 13) and Simply British Classics (September 20), Simply Porsche (September 27), Simply BMW (October 4) and Simply Smart (November 8).

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally reduced

The 80th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally remains scheduled for August 7-16 after the South Dakota city’s council voted to approve the event with some changes because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Black Hills Pioneer reports that there will be no opening ceremonies, no B-1 fly over, and no bands or contests at the Harley-Davidson Rally Point. However, the newspaper adds, there will be “a nightly disinfecting of the downtown sidewalks.”

Road America will host concours

Instead of being staged as previously announced in downtown Plymouth, Wisconsin, the Road America racing circuit has announced that both concours to take place during the WeatherTech International Challenge with Brian Redman racing weekend July 23-26 will be hosted instead at the racing circuit.

In its announcement, the track said, “In an effort to stay aligned with the tradition of the event, while ensuring that both fans and competitors are safe during these uncertain times, Road America has decided to host its popular racecar and sports car Concours d’Elegance events on the grounds at the expansive, 640-acre outdoor facility, while encouraging everyone to comply with local guidelines, such as social distancing, hand washing or using hand-sanitizer stations, and wearing cloth face coverings when social distancing is difficult to maintain.”

The concours events are scheduled for July 24 for race cars and July 25 for sports cars, both running from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Admission will be $10 per person and must be purchased in advance and online. Proceeds will benefit the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Sheboygan County and Meals on Wheels of Sheboygan County.

Great Car Show set for Kansas City

The Kansas City Automotive Museum and the National WWI Museum and Memorial will host the fourth annual The Great Car Show from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 19. More than 200 vehicles will be on display at the WW1 Museum in KC, Missouri.

Concours Virtual shares 3 class winners

Concours Virtual, an online alternative to a real car show during the coronavirus pandemic, involves more than 180 entries in 17 classes and is being staged in part to raise money for UNICEF. The event launched June 30 and has begun to share the identities of the class winners.

The first three winning cars are:

  • Class A (Pre-War Preservation) — Salvesen Steam Wagonette owned by Duncan Pittaway
  • Class B (Hollywood Legends) — 1957 BMW formerly owned by Elvis Presley and currently by BMW Classic
  • Class C (Cars of the Art Deco Period) — 1939 Delahaye 165 by Figoni et Falaschi, owned by the Mullin Automotive Museum

Winners from the 17 classes will be re-judged in the awarding of Best of Show honors.

Chattanooga will try again in 2021

Organizers of the Chattanooga Motorcar Festival have canceled their 2020 plans and reset with a target date of October 15-17, 2021 for their second event. The inaugural festival took place in 2019.

“We’ve decided the odds are stacked too deeply against us,” said event founder Byron DeFoor. “The elements that make our event special can’t be held safely at the level that we owe our attendees and participants.” 

Fall car-show calendar

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the fall car-show and concours calendar continues to evolve. Here’s the updated schedule, based on official announcements but subject to change, as of July 14, 2020: 

August 8-16 — Concours at Pasadera, Carlisle Import & Performance Nationals, Woodward Dream Show (Pontiac, Michigan), Street Rod Nationals Southeast (Kentucky), Goodguys Great American Nationals (Pennsylvania), New Hope car show (Pennsylvania), Indy 500 Corvette pace car homecoming

August 19-20 — London Concours

August 21-23 — Morgan Adams Concours d’Elegance (Colorado), Geneva (Illinois) Concours d’Elegance, Street Rod Route 66 Nationals (New Mexico), Goodguys West Coast Nationals (California), AACA Grand Nationals (Pennsylvania), Arthritis Foundation car show (Dublin, Ohi0) (plus the Indianapolis 500)

August 27-30 — Corvettes at Carlisle, Fountain Valley (California), Artmobilia Weekend (Carmel, Indiana), Goodguys Nashville Nationals (plus the rescheduled New York International Auto Show)

September 4-7 (Labor Day weekend) — Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival, Greenbrier Concours d’Elegance, Lime Rock Historic Festival, Groesbeck Grand Prix Festival of Motoring (Texas), Crescent Beach Concours d’Elegance, Sonoma Speed Festival, Foothills Motoring Festival (Pinehurst, North Carolina), Royal Concours of Elegance (England)

September 11-13 — AAA Glidden Tour (Sarasota Springs, New York), Vail Classic, Goodguys Colorado Nationals, Wisconsin Dells Automotion

September 18-20 — New York City Concours, LaJolla Concours d’Elegance, Street Rod Nationals Northeast (Vermont), Arizona FuelFest, Balfour Car Show (Denver) (plus the 24 Hours of Le Mans)

September 25-27 — Salon Prive (England), Telluride Festival, Ironstone Concours d’Elegance (California), St. Michaels Concours d’Elegance (Maryland), Goodguys Lone Star Nationals (Texas), Catskill Conquest Rally (New York)

October 2-4 — Fall Carlisle, Street Rod Nationals South (Knoxville, Tennessee), Goodguys Del Mar Nationals (California)

October 9-11 — Zoute Grand Prix and Concours (Belgium), AACA Eastern Fall Nationals (car show only), Chico Concours d’Elegance (California)

October 16-18 — Keels & Wheels, Lake Mirror Concours d’Elegance (Florida), Mid-American Street Rod Nationals (Missouri)

October 19-23 — AACA Central Divisional Tour (Oklahoma)

October 23-25 — Japanese Classic (Long Beach, California), Charlotte Auto Fair, (plus the Mille Miglia race/rally)

October 30-November 1 — Copperstate 1000 vintage rally car show, Western Street Rod Nationals (Bakersfield, California), Luftgekuhlt 7 (Durham, North Carolina)

To share news of your local car shows and cruises, email larrye@classiccars.com

Larry Edsall
Larry Edsall
A former daily newspaper sports editor, Larry Edsall spent a dozen years as an editor at AutoWeek magazine before making the transition to writing for the web and becoming the author of more than 15 automotive books. In addition to being founding editor at ClassicCars.com, Larry has written for The New York Times and The Detroit News and was an adjunct honors professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Recent Posts

spot_img