“Chevy Thunder class set to shake the earth and rattle windows,” reports the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance as it announces cars to be included in the category on May 23.
Among those cars are a 1982 Gurney Eagle Indy car, a 1977 Corvette endurance racer and a 1958 Scarab sports racer, all powered by Chevrolet engines.
“The design and execution of Chevy’s V8 engines, especially the ‘small block,’ is elegant without being exotic or exclusive,” Bill Warner, concours founder, is quoted in the news release.
“Simplicity, lightness, flexibility, compactness and economy are its core strengths,” he said. “It’s served long and well. And of course, there’s that unmistakable sound. Anyone who’s ever attended a drag race, a NASCAR race, a Trans-Am or a Can-Am has heard, and sometimes felt, Chevy Thunder. It’s the clear and unmistakable voice of American motorsports.”
The Amelia news release notes that Chevy engines have powered 11 Indy 500 winners, 24 Daytona 500 winners, have won NHRA races and at Le Mans, in Can-Am and Trans Am, in F5000 and off-road.
“The Chevy V8’s impact on American culture extends well beyond automotive realms,” the concours notes, “even entering popular music: in 1962 the Beach Boys composed a song commemorating the power and the social impact of Chevy’s big block Turbo-Thrust V8 entitled, appropriately, 409. Specifically, songwriter Gary Usher’s “… 4-speed, dual-quad, positraction four-oh-nine!”
And while on the subject of Chevrolet power, the concours announced that Dale Earnhardt Jr. will join the panel for the Chevy Thunder seminar scheduled for May 21. Also on the panel, moderated by former NASCAR crew chief Ray Evernham, will be long-time Chevy racing head Herb Fishel, drivers George Follmer, David Hobbs and Brian Redman, and Eric Warren, head of GM Racing.
Concorso Italiano celebrates Lambda centennial
As the story goes, Vincenzo Lancia was inspired by the strength of a boat’s hull as it cut through ocean swells and so he designed a motorcar with similar architecture and built a patented unibody car, the Lancia Lambda, in 1921.
After testing the 4-seat touring car on mountain roads near Turin, Italy, Lancia unveiled the car in production form in 1922 at the Parks and London motor shows.
Concorso Italiano, the annual celebration of Italian cars, culture and cuisine staged during Monterey Car Week, will celebrate the Lambda’s centennial on August 14 at the Bayonet Golf Course in Seaside, California.
Also scheduled for special recognition at the event is the Maserati Bora, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Carmel Mission Classic canceled for 2021
While many Monterey Car Week events are scheduled to resume in August, organizers of the Carmel Mission Classic, a delightful mid-week show at the historic Spanish-era mission, have posted on their website that the show won’t be back until 2022.
The reason, says event chairman Frank DiPaola, is “the uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions, and concern for the safety of all our participants.”
Also postponed for another year is the return of Automobilia Monterey, the automotive art, books, models and collectibles sales event held in Seaside.
Another kind of car show
There are car shows where various vehicles are displayed in parking lots or on golf course fairways, but there also are “car shows” we can watch on television or on streaming services.
— Among the latter, A+E Networks has announced a partnership with Land Rover North America to present All You Need Know: Overlanding, a 60-minute documentary on the growing trend of outdoor travel and exploration. The program debuts April 18 at 10 p.m. (Eastern) with an encore April 24 at 9 p.m. on The History Channel.
— The Torque Show, hosted by former professional racing drivers Tom Kendall and Justin Bell, continues its live on Facebook trackside talk show from IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship events in 2021.
“Our show takes you behind the scenes at the racetrack and gives you access to drivers and places in the paddock that are beyond your usual pit pass,” Bell noted in the show’s announcement. “We are the place where everyone gathers to hear their heroes share stories of the big wins, wild on-track moments, heartbreak, and some stories that are just not fit for network television.”
— Hagerty has announced the lineup of show for its YouTube channel featuring Redline Rebuild on Mondays, “New” Modified on Tuesdays, Hagerty DIY on Wednesdays, Jason Cammisa on the Icons and Revelations on Thursdays, Barn Find Hunter on Fridays and Buyers Guide on Sundays.
Spring Carlisle includes charity auctions
In addition to a huge automotive flea market and car corral, the annual Spring Carlisle event, scheduled for April 21-25 in Pennsylvania, will include a collector car auction with a 2015 Roush Warrior Ford Mustang crossing the block to benefit the Rescue 22 Foundation, which provides task-trained service dogs to combat-wounded military veterans.
The car is one of 30 produced and they were sold only to active and deployed members of the military. Except, it seems, for the ninth of those 30 cars, which went to the Sisson dealership in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, to be raffled to benefit the Rescue 22 Foundation.
The raffle, which raised nearly $100,000, was won by a combat-wounded veteran who, ironically, was on the list to receive a service dog from the Rescue 22 Foundation. So, according to Garry Sisson, the veteran donated the car back so it could go to auction and raise even more money for the foundation.
“It’s not often that a car this nice can be sold twice with monies benefitting the same great organization,” Carlisle Auctions director Tony Cline is quoted in the auction announcement. “We are excited to work with Mr. Sisson, the Rescue 22 Foundation and our great bidder base to raise money for this rare and extra special car.”
Also on the auction docket is a 1964 Cadillac Eldorado convertible that will be sold to benefit first responders in the Williamsport, Maryland, fire department.
Mini mayhem on the hill
That’s Mini as in the Mini Cooper and hill as in the hillclimb course at England’s Shelsley Walsh where, on June 12, in addition to the 60th anniversary of the Jaguar E-type, a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the John Cooper-tweaked Mini will be staged.
In addition to such featured vehicles as the recently restored Gerry Marshall 1964 Austin Cooper S that won the Snetterton 500 in 1965, many Mini car clubs are expected to gather at the event.
Fabulous Ford Forever moves to Irwindale
After being postponed in 2020, the 35th annual Fabulous Ford Forever show returns June 13, 2021, and at a new location, Irwindale Speedway in Southern California.
Special displays at the show that was a fixture for years at Knott’s Berry Farm are 65 years of Thunderbird, 80 years of Continental, 60 years of Econoline, 50 years of Pantera, 60 years of Falcon, 50 years of Capri, 55 years of Bronco and 60 years of Pinto.
Auto Royale celebrates Lyons and his cars
photo shows Jag test driver Norman Dewis in the Hansgen Special
Auto Royale’s British International Concours d’Elegance, scheduled for July 16-18 at Waddesdon, will feature a William Lyons / Jaguar XK class in celebration of the 120th anniversary of Lyons’ birth, the 70th anniversary of the Jaguar C-Type and the 60th anniversary of the E-Type.
The special class will feature vehicles powered by Jaguar’s XK engine that debuted at the 1948 London Motor Show in the XK120, which drew its name from its 120 mph top speed.
Among the cars in the class will be the 1953 XK120 “Hansgen Special,” designed and built by American racer Walt Hansgen to challenge Jaguar’s own C-Type.
2021 car show and concours calendar
The following are dates currently set (but subject to change) for a variety of concours d’elegance, car shows and driving tours scheduled during 2021:
April
19-22, AACA Southeastern Division Chain of Lakes Tour, Florida; 21-25 – Spring Carlisle, Pennsylvania; 23-25 – Goodguys North Carolina Nationals, Raleigh; Derbuy GT tour, Belgium; 24 — Carolina Cruise, Kannapolis to Concord, North Carolina; 25 – Simply Aston Martin, Beaulieu, UK; 30-May 1, Darryl Starbird’s National Rod & Custom Show, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
May
1 – Big Displacement Showcase, Seal Cove, Maine; McPherson College CARS Club, Kansas; 1-2 – Keels & Wheels, Seabrook, Texas; Boulder City Rod Run, Nevada; 9 – Mother’s Day, KC Auto Museum, Olathe; Simply Vauxhall, Beaulieu, UK; 14-15 – Carlisle Import & Performance Nationals, Pennsylvania; 14-16 – Houston Art Car Experience, Texas; 15 – Vintage Travel Trailer Rally, Hickory Corners, Michigan; 15-16, Goodwood Members’ Meeting, UK: 16 – Simply Audi, Beaulieu, UK; 20-23 – Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, Amelia Island, Florida; AACA Founders Tour, Davis, West Virginia; 21-23 – Goodguys Salt Lake Nationals, Utah; 23 – Simply Electric, Beaulieu, UK; 28-30 – Goodguys Nashville Nationals, Tennessee
June
2 – GM on Display, Macungie, Pennsylvania; 2-6, Retromobile, Paris, France, AACA Eastern Divisional Tour, Cambridge, Maryland; 4-6 – Carlisle Ford Nationals, Pennsylvania; Street Machine Nationals, DuQuoin, Illinois;
Goodguys All Star Get-Together, Fort Worth, Texas; 5-6, Friends of Steve McQueen, Chino Hills, California; 6, Albuquerque Lowrider Super Show, New Mexico, Simply Porsche, Beaulieu, UK; 8-10 – London Concours, UK; 12 – Drop Top Showcase, Seal Cove, Maine; Oddballs & Obscurities, KC Auto Museum, Olathe; 12-13 – Cincinnati concours, Ohio; E-type 60 years, Shelsley Walsh, UK; 13 – Fabulous Ford Forever, Irwindale, California; Mini Cooper Day, Beaulieu, UK; 17-19, AACA Eastern Spring Nationals, Saratoga, New York; Simply VW, Beaulieu, UK; 18-19 – Micro-Mini Car World, Hickory Corners, Michigan; 19 – All Air-Cooled Gathering, Hickory Corners, Michigan; 20 – Father’s Day, KC Auto Museum, Olathe; Blackhawk Museum, Danville, California; Hot Rod & Custom cars, Beaulieu, UK; 25-26 – Carlisle GM Nationals, Pennsylvania; 25-26 – Congress of Motorcars, Hickory Corners, Michigan; 26 – Miles through Time, Clarkesville, Georgia; 27 – Oldsmobiles & Orphans, Hickory Corners, Michigan; Simply Jaguar, Beaulieu, UK
Have an event to add? Email details to journal@classiccars.com.
