Best In Class: The Making Of A Concours d'Elegance

if someone and has never been to the coast and never seen the ocean they cannot have a conversation with them about the ocean they can't imagine it [Music] people say well i'm not a car person you may not identify as a car enthusiast but every one of us is a car person has a car story everyone whether you're from the midwest the coast south america italy germany france it doesn't matter you can have a conversation about a car because somewhere in their past there's a photograph of them with a car it's very unlikely there's a photograph of them with their refrigerator them with their laptop even them standing in front of their house cars have a way of imprinting themselves on us and that brings everybody together and is a unifying factor and it's quite amazing calling all cars attention all cars calling all cars take the wheel and drive just freezing along with a breeze it's the most wonderful feeling in the world i never mind the bumps or the rugs along the highway of life our objective here is to be another great choice if you're a classic car owner where to take where to show where to spend time with your car we expect 40 000 50 000 people and the purpose is preserving automotive history in a town that really started it you feel when you drive down bellevue avenue in a very real sense it's the realization of a dream [Music] uh my name's jay leno i'm i'm not sure what my title is i don't know i might i'm not sure what is my title i don't know i think you're it's a chairman okay yeah chairman yeah that's it i'm chairman yeah the chairman i'm in the chair i'm a man i'm the chairman okay stop so by now you know this whole thing has to do with cars or at least i hope you get that point you saw the flashy cars the pretty music the mansions while we're at it you're probably asking what is jay leno doing here and what is he the chairman of well to answer those questions we need to take you back to the origin of the story and it all starts in the northeast part of the united states with a man who simply had a dream [Music] my name is nick i have had a fascination with automobiles since i was a very young child early recollections are muscle cars corvettes firebirds cudas my father told me stories about the cars in the old days and my brothers and i all started to get keenly interested in cars it doesn't matter whether it's a model t or whether it's a koenigsegg or whether it's a porsche it becomes an extension of you and for me it was always about cars nick's passion for cars carried into adulthood after finding a whirlwind of success in the business world he would become the co-founder of the audrain automobile museum in the northeast oceanside town of newport rhode island in 2014. our museum is designed around roughly three to four exhibits a year and they rotate allows people to come at any time of the year and see something different and we found that to be highly successful most of the cars have been restored to like new some even better than new i think the museum we we like to collect cars that have newport history and it's much easier to talk and get people interested in cars that have an interesting story it's a lot of work to keep cars in perfect condition since we drive them [Music] for us it's been an evolution and the next in the evolution was to build a concourse when i was first asked to be a part of this event i hesitated frankly my feeling was does the world need another concord delegates the term concord delegates is a french origin it means a competition of excellence this is in reference to a distinguished event where vehicles are displayed and judged what convinced me to become a part of this was newport itself well it's not the perfect time for an event like this because it has sort of a gilded age thing going you know back in the turn of the last century this was where all the millionaires came to play in the 1880s a very unusual chapter of american history started to unfold here a number of different industrialists were making fortunes after the civil war many of them came here to build their summer cottages and by what many of these vacation homebuyers called their cottages many others would consider them to be rather large homes in fact they were beautifully large great gatsby-esque mansions lining the coastline of newport you have this outrageous lavish homes which sort of goes against the whole new england grain of things and what this was was an architectural competition to see who could build the largest home and also to be able to throw the most lavish parties to entertain and influence their friends of the time these mansions were built by the people that helped shape america into what it is today this included some of the front runners in the industrial revolution it was the type of wealth that america had never seen before and likely will never see again on top of that they didn't have to pay a little thing called income tax during that time so sky was almost the limit on what you could build the minute i think about people who have money and these amazing houses i think of what did they do for fun the first thing they did when they could was they bought themselves bloody big automobiles the wealthiest families in america were some of the first people to have cars that stage was set where people saw these horseless carriages coming up and down bellevue avenue america looked to new york looked to newport rhode island to see what the car was going to bring to our emerging culture when you think about it the first ever traffic violation i believe in america was on bellevue avenue in august 1904 a fellow was arrested for driving here in newport at the ridiculous speed of 15 miles per hour he was sentenced to five days in jail automobiles in newport are inextricably linked one of the biggest local influences on automobiles was none other than william k vanderbilt ii and you want to talk about rich this guy was the very definition the vanderbilts played a major role in building the american railroads and they even expanded the shipping industry in fact his great grandfather cornelius vanderbilt reportedly had more money than the american treasury during the time of his death in 1877 so as you can imagine william k and the rest of the vanderbilts were truly looked at as american royalty willie k was everything that you'd expect a young carefree rich playboy to be certainly a total sportsman and somebody who was totally captivated by the automobile willie k vanderbilt had so much to do with the development of motor car racing in america and in fact some of the early races were held here from 1900 to 1904. he would race his cars up and down these roads and much to the higher of the local residents a bit of a hellion as they might say but yeah a fascinating guy started the vanderbilt cup in a number of races willie k you know i think it was just a case of hey you know the cars are cool why don't we get a bunch of them and race dangerous as hell but you see some of those early pictures you know having spent made my name racing i probably would have done it if i didn't know any better but i think that's the appeal is it was so new it was so outrageous a number of different sports made their american debut here the very first tennis tournament america was held here very first golf tournament was held here very first polo match was held here of course there's a rich history and sailing here and so that set the backdrop for this various different sporting cultures throughout our city and throughout the state newport is living history and that makes it a very very special place for a concord delegate okay so we've learned that newport is the equivalent of the you complete me of locations for a motor week but that's just the first step you need numerous staff members location coordinators and ways to even advertise the event it's a whole process uh i think stressful is an understatement it's tireless you need to have passion and intensity maybe 600 people it will take to put on this event we've built a core team about 25 people led by rick shad colors to build something like as significant as what we're building it there's so many moving parts these things don't happen overnight if you don't have a staff that's dedicated and willing to work tireless hours the event won't happen no matter what kind of picture i paint rick was brought on board to supply the event with creative direction his main focus was designing the best in show trophy the trophy has to symbolize the motorweek's key tenets history luxury and sport no easy feat for a static piece of art i was introduced to rick via email he had come up with the concept of of the car we call it the car wave trophy uh for all drain make some of your major sports trophies well known for that rick came up he was like a kid in a candy store we can do this we can do that i want this i want that now it was getting all the components all of his drawing and making this concept that was in a drawing come to life it is an emotional piece because our guys are so proud they're craftsmen they're artesian and every person had an interest in it and as scheduled a week prior to the first ever audrain motor week the best in show trophy arrived i'm actually nervous i've been getting getting this here it is that's it wow it's a long time coming this is like christmas morning oh wow wow [Music] he's been listening to me about that thing forever yes i uh from across my desk i heard about this for a long time so it's great the proportions are nice the detail is amazing the gesture of it moving at great speed is really cool to see a three-dimensional is really really awesome with the final piece of the puzzle delivered the team gathered around to share one final moment of solitude before opening day at the gathering resting amidst the ocean sits a mansion that stands out in beauty and size doris duke and heiress of a tobacco fortune once lived in this house better known as ruff point why does this matter well because this is where our first event happens in the audrain motor week the gathering people will be able to enjoy contemporary supercars have entertainment education it really touches on all aspects of lifestyle and how cars bring all these lifestyle attributes together i've always been a dreamer i've always been that one person in school that was different my name is oliver scholl and i'm 12 years old and yeah i love cars i've been waiting for a show like this forever and i've been trying to search online for this all the time and then we found this out and now we're here thank you mom oliver's passion was not lost on anyone in attendance he was such a hit that aston martin invited him to help unveil their new car why don't you stand right over there by the back of that car and we're going to grab you and you're going to help me undo it i've been loving cars all my life i was introduced when i was very very young loving cows trying to go to every cows and coffee i could hear and it's just awesome to be here we've also got another special guest we're sort of bringing on the next generation yeah so i think he's after my job or your job i'm not sure well you grab down at the front there unveil the tbs if the if the younger generations don't come along and share share our enthusiasm um the hobby could die off and that would be sad i just love everything about them and being surrounded by them makes me feel amazing coming oliver get in here yeah come on over it was probably the most amazing thing ever in my life it actually was lifting up the next generation of collector wasn't just an afterthought for audrey these young people are woven into the fabric of the concour with an exciting new category called 30 under 30. well 30 under 30 was the vision of jay leno we try to find people 30 years of age and younger who have restored a car with less than 30 thousand dollars you know the 30 under 30 thing is interesting because it's completely opposite of what concourse events are usually about it's about classic cars from the period to me it's all the same it's like nothing i enjoy more than hearing my friends who grew up on rock and roll putting down rap you know it's not music it's just and it just sounds like your parents lest atlanta in this orchestra that was music not this beetle thing my name is coleman james mcguire 22 years old i go to st michael's college in colchester vermont and this is my 1975 bmw 2002. i've loved cars ever since i was a little kid i've always had cool hot wheels cars and i've always loved looking at cars it's just a part of me it's really what it is it's like something that's in your blood my intent in life was always just to have a cool car so when i was in high school i went to a party one night around 12 30 at night this girl said my dad's getting rid of this 1975 bmw how much does he want for it i'll probably just give it to you oh this car was disgusting i mean inside it looked like someone had been living in it there was pots and pans and toothbrushes and forks and rodents nests and all sorts of mold the sunroof leaked the rear windows leaked i called my dad when i went to go look at it the next morning and he said no way and i said come on i want to do it i want to do it he's like no and i was like come on he's like fine you can get it out of here and you know bring it home you can do it i got myself a trailer and i went and i picked up the car so i got this whole car completely for free my dad was like all right we've got to do it now and then we put it in the garage and started working the first 24 hours i owned the car i started stripping out the interior because the carpets were just soaked with water i think about two weeks into owning the car i pulled the motor stripped the whole motor down to just the block it's pretty crazy uh it didn't look like this before so i wanted to make sure it was mechanically sound before i really did anything else to it pop the hood all the internals are brand new new fuel pump new carburetor from weber new radiator rebuilt alternator rebuilt starter which is down there this whole thing is my pride and joy if you want to see the interior i can show the interior too that's where i think i kind of hit a home run you can see the el cantara headliner it's like a really high-end suede it's really nice to the touch tires super super super grippy but i can go around a highway turn and not let off the throttle doing like 70 and that's when you know it's just built for handling i love the exhaust it pops and bangs and it has a great noise to it first gear it sounds like someone's firing an ak it's nuts probably really annoying to some of the neighbors but i love it you're going to see a lot of young people start doing stuff like this it's going to be like like a resto mod kind of thing keeping it classy and then with a touch of modern here and there i'm really really excited to be part of a great event it's an honor it's truly an honor to be in it especially being with a bunch of other young guys we're the young guys that got to carry the flame you know coleman's vision for his bmw is a modified restoration or restomod his car is an evolution of what bmw created 45 years ago for mac mckenzie he had a different vision that doesn't look doesn't you know the outside's so fancy in this his car is a pure restoration with the goal of preserving it for the next generation my name is kevin lee mckenzie jr i go by mac i am 25 years old i'm from clayton north carolina and this weekend i'm showing my 1965 chevrolet corvair corsa model i have owned the car since i was 14 years old i purchased it at a yard sale in my neighborhood i went out to my neighbor's house just right up the road he told me that the car was for sale as well and i didn't see a car and i quickly learned that the table i thought i was looking at was a car with a cloth over it i thought it was some kind of volkswagen he told me it was a chevrolet corvair i remember saying oh a corvette that sounds really neat but it looks weird he said no no it's not a corvette it's a corvair it was all foreign i'd never seen or heard of a corvair before at the time uh the trunk on the chevrolet corvair it doesn't look like typical cars because as i found out there's no motor here plenty of room for storage the engine uh on the corvairs is actually in the back end of the car right back here where normally that would be trunk space it's just reversed uh back here is the engine the spare tire see the turbo mounted on top of the engine my neighbors tells me he'll sell it to me for 900 since we're friends or neighbors uh he'd let me pay him a hundred dollars a month for nine months i shook his hand right there on the spot go back to my parents house and they asked me if i found anything and i told him yeah i bought a car my parents were kind of split between excitement and what on earth have you done we had to drag it home because all the tires were flat somehow we got it in the garage i don't know how we did it we had no idea what we were getting into i had to work just so i could afford to make the 100 a month payment at the time and work on the restoration cost and just pay it as i go the restoration itself took seven years i couldn't believe it was the same car i have a full-time job i'm a laboratory technician when i'm not doing that i'm in the army national guard in north carolina i'm also married to my wonderful wife samantha at the end of the day when all that's said and done it comes back to the cars he is uh unbelievably knowledgeable every time he walked by something that i've never seen he'll tell me exactly what kind of car it is and who makes it what year it is elegant car he didn't even have to have lamborghini doors turn signals see it's got the same turn signal as the the packard we saw yesterday in 2018 we received our second junior award but that was the second time we had received second junior award and i was fully expecting to receive our first junior award everyone was smiling and happy and whatnot i tried to be but i was i was a little disappointed a gentleman who was there he brought a whole car hauler he received first junior with every single car that he brought he told me he would give up all his cars to be able to do things like this with his dad that that really hit home to me and i had kind of missed the point um you know of what was really so enjoyable about the car shows being able to do it with dad he's been there for every single one you know this is a dream come true for me i'm the first of three generations to be able to experience this with my son it was a way for us to spend time together and grow closer together and do something that we have common interest in it's not as much about the car as it is the the experience of preserving history spending time with family and preserving something for the next generation i know i won't have dad around forever i hope to have kids and grandkids they won't have me around forever either but they'll maybe have the car and they'll at least have the stories and and i hope that that carries on for everyone in attendance at ruffpoint the gathering event is a completely different experience from one person to the next [Music] should we pull the cover off absolutely i can't wait for nick the covers are coming off multiple new cars that are being added to the audrey auto museum so an old began to a new bugatti what what would be your choice well i'm going to let this be like a you know crowd's choice because they have to see the newest bugatti these cars are all one of a kind and for most collectors acquiring just one of them would be a life's pursuit but the wonderful thing about car culture is the ability of these machines to draw enthusiasts from all walks of life for guys like coleman and mac and kids like oliver this is an opportunity to get close to the cars they've only seen in pictures congratulations buddy congratulations you get a good job yes i got all right guys you didn't know this was going to happen did you yeah think about your first car for a second maybe you don't have a car maybe you never have [Music] think about someone else's car that you had a tie to why were you fond of it what emotions did it bring for you what happened in those moments with that car go ahead and think you see perhaps cars are a part of something more i was hooked on cause from day one i've been going to car show since 1966. my father had a 1941 packet clipper and used to take us to car shows every weekend this is the photos of my father's cars me and my dad 41 packet clipper he let me drive that car to best of the show at car show when i was 14 years old to get the best of show trophy that's the first time i drove a car sport owners agree the big new ford brings you more for your money more in comfort more in performance and more an economy my wife she loved thunderbirds every time i went to a show my wife is the one that wanted the car uh we would go to car shows and every time we walked by a thunderbird i'd be like honey what's that car i love it and he says that's a thunderbird [Music] one year he says well my uncle has one for sale i was like well how come we don't own it yet and that's when she said buy it so you end up buying it i never thought i was a car girl until i met steve every night for about a year i would spend three or four hours at my father would help me uh he was out there just about every night with me when we first started this car my brother was with me but it was shaking it wasn't run right it's the carburetor it wasn't too near my father went under with a screwdriver and my brother said look he looks like a surgeon under there as soon as he started turning the screws on the carburetor the car started running beautiful yeah i put his glass packs on because i like the loud noise i like i like to be able to hear the car when it's running that's what they did in the 50s they made them loud so you you'd know that they were there that one right there that one is me and my dad wiring the dash well he's actually showing me what he's doing every bulb in that car works when you turn the lights on at night all the words on everything light up and that's what impressed me the most 2014 was the first season we took it out it was the last project me and my father did before he passed away so it means a little bit to me [Music] chokes me up a little bit just to think about it but that last year we spent together putting this car together it was probably the best years i ever had with him without him that car would probably still be sitting in my uncle's house oh i'd still be working on it because i wouldn't be able to finish it yeah my father's with me every time i drive this car every time i turn those headlights on i see them dash light up he's with me if he knew that i was going to this car of course the car that we've worked on together is going to be in one he'd be pretty impressed i think and i'd be happy with that it's a brisk saturday morning in rhode island and cars begin to file in one by one at the foot of the pel bridge this morning is audrain's concours tour delegates a requirement for any esteemed concours event [Music] despite it being quite early and unseasonably cold everyone is excited for what's about to happen the tour is a chance for everyone to gather together and enjoy the cars before the stress of a big show the following day however it wouldn't be audrey's concour without a fitting twist what you might not realize is that to get to newport you have to cross a bridge the pel bridge the bridge is a newport icon that at one time the navy didn't want built and while the bridge has been around for 50 years it's never been completely closed for anything but construction work but this morning the bridge authority is giving nick and his team an opportunity to start the tour from the top of the bridge we are at the foot of the newport pel bridge one of the most beautiful bridges on the east coast my name is jim utasky and tomorrow i will be showing a 1964 ferrari 250 gt lusso back when i was in school which was in the early 60s and i happened to go to a fairly prestigious east coast school and some of my classmates were from wealth and their cars were jaguars valencias occasional aston martin and mine was a bicycle you wanted to be equal on every basis and you were not so yeah does that make you work a little harder do you want to be a little more competitive do you want to make sure that the next promotion comes your way yeah that has to i have to say yes i love the italian cars and at the italian cars especially of that era are truly works of art these are handmade pieces of art there's something special about that italian school those were artisans working with their hands making very few cars the lussos were made at the same time that ferrari factory was making the 250 gto which is an incredibly famous car because it had won pretty much every road race including limau that it was entered in and enzo ferrari was pretty pretty sharp about things like this the owner said i've got to give something for the regular man to drive particularly something of luxury so what was invented was in fact the ferrari 250 gt lusso they translate that view of life and beauty into their what they do with their hands so when we show you the ferrari i think you'll see that there's something unique to be able to show these cars as art and quite often these days they are in fact in museums in the fullness of time we will see our original handmade cars as are not just the paintings on the wall or the statues [Music] it's early morning it's about 6 30 in the morning seven o'clock the cars are out people are happy and the weather is you look at the sunrise today is the tour for the cars that are going to be as part of the concourse so which is tomorrow which is tomorrow we're driving mrs duke's mother's day stuke's mother's duesenberg so and doozy for a duke and with our dog poppy yeah i think i should have renamed her maybe you should be doris instead doozy [Music] [Laughter] but most importantly people are sharing stories you see people out here today just talking about their cars and how they got them and whose it was before them and the history or why they love it because you know they're with their husband or their wife and it's it's wonderful [Music] we met in 1953 right and we were married in 1957 so we have been married over 60 years now my name is rene perlman i'm mark pearlman or dr marcel perlman and we're showing a 1966 jaguar 3.4 s sedan we bought it from the original owner who was an elderly gentleman of 93 who wanted to sell it to somebody younger and we qualified and we are in our 80s you know this is not our our first show car and it's certainly not our first race car this one has something very special about it that i enjoy i couldn't drive when we were first married i didn't have a license and i started driving i took driving lessons and got into it and it was fun i enjoyed it my first run he said just relax you don't have to do any just relax and i said okay and then i came back and he said why were you driving so slowly and i said well you told me to relax so i put the radio on right he said i don't mean to relax that much it was a whole new world for me and i fell into it very easily it was fun cars can help form relationships among people that drive them for some car owners the responsibility of carrying on these stories and the legacies that rest within the metal of these automobiles is something to take pride in my name is hanka rosenblad and the car i am showing is situated behind me and it's a 1953 allard palm beach i like the lines on this car it's simple clean and nice it flows nicely it's really in a class of its own that car is one of one and what i mean by that is there were a limited number of palm beaches of this model produced by allard out of that gross production only eight were manufactured with the ford console engine out of the eight this is the only car known to have been modified by aquaplane and aquaplane was a company in the uk that specialized in modifying ford engines primarily for the racing engines in speed boats when this was being marketed by allard it was marked as three-seater and you can see how small it is so can you imagine three people in here i don't know where the third person would fit because you have your stick shift right up to the seat this car is driven the only time that we will tow it is if we're going for a major distance couple hundred miles i've always driven manual and i find it more stimulating it's kind of musical to be able to shift and use a clutch i could fall asleep driving automatic i need the clutch and i need the stick shift this is a photo that was given to us by one of the former owners and it's a picture of this exact car being driven at laguna seca and as you can see it no longer has a wires on for that race and it doesn't have the brooklyns it has a solid windscreen all right the other one is me doing a hot lap at the jacksonville grand prix i have my helmet on i have my goggles and i have my snoopy scarf on and we did a couple hot laps which were fun i got into cars through my father my father worked for general motors in new jersey when i was growing up dad would have me out working on the cars he taught me how to change the plugs how to take the carburetor filter off some ways i was a little bit of a surrogate son because i would work on the cars whereas my brother really didn't have an interest in cars and i've always been attracted to cars and i don't know why it might be in the blood when you look at the gorgeous vintage cars you wonder who in the next generation will preserve these cars or love them as much as as we do and we're really just caretakers we may own them but we're caretakers of the car what we should be doing is preserving them for the next generation with the hopes that they will love them as much as we do [Music] i'll tell you this i've been telling people this it's really amazing this moment for me because all these cars have been entries on a spreadsheet and to see them all come together yeah imagine the field is very exciting not many father and sons get to rebuild a car together and my dad's always loved rebuilding cars and so he kind of passed it down to me and this is my father this is the guy that uh that really got me into cars i was working beside him he wasn't working beside me i mean i learned a lot from him and he learned a lot from me it was just a lot of fun it's really all about the memories you know it's just the thing that he and i did together that i'll never forget best time we've spent together and we've done a lot you know what cohen thank you for the journey [Music] axel is my husband of 32 years he has been a gearhead all his life and i guess he found another one at the yacht club 35 years ago we enjoy going to car shows and have been doing it now for the last 20 years probably i realize my role i'm hired help behind the wheel she says turn right i turn right and she usually is right i'm always right not good she still puts up with me and i tend to like her every now and then it's made doing these things easy i've jumped over this bridge so many times but never in a parade like this no yeah for me it's probably once in a lifetime [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] with the pel bridge in their rear view mirrors the parade continued through downtown newport towards fort adams everyone took time to reflect on what all of this means and why they're here fans lined the streets eagerly awaiting a glimpse of some of the greatest cars ever built the whole town of newport was together celebrating the automobile and the impact it's had on each of their lives what do you ever see a parade of cars like this calling never you'll never see this [Music] a massive crowd awaited the tour at cars and coffee the fans parted like the red sea to make room for the tour procession [Music] everyone driving in the tour was bursting with pride as the crowd cheered them along excited for a meet and greet with the owners back in the mid 90s we happened to go to the concours that was held in new york city at rockefeller center axel said it would really be nice if if we picked up a vintage car so we can do some rallies and go to shows two years later we bought our first vintage car together and i was just thinking back how long i've been a car nut and i remember in stockholm when i was 14 i and my little sister who was 12 we would walk all around stockholm and see look for exotic cars [Music] what a cool day this is gonna be oh man hey guys nice to see you how's it going how's she running all right she's running pretty good i think that there's a higher enjoyment of cars when you get to share it with people [Music] having fun excellent after cars and coffee wraps the tour will head to downtown newport for the first time in history the city agreed to close the block of bellevue avenue in front of the audrey museum cars tend to build really great friendships when you're in a car club no one cares really what you do for a living it's all about what's the car why did you buy the car and how much garage space do you have the real joy was to drive down bellevue avenue in our cars and really feel a spectacle of what this city is about it was pure joy hi i'm vin de bona and i am so pleased to be able to bring two cars from california to my home here in newport rhode island a 56 continental mark ii and a 57 mercedes 300 sc coupe with a sunroof they only made nine with a sunroof i first saw that car when i was a student at ucla and james wong howe the amazing cinematographer was teaching us lighting he drove up in his 300sc but it was such an elegant car and i remembered that car from that very day when i learned more about mercedes and those cars that became the car i went after well you know in the in the era of these cars the 300 cells in the 300 seas custom luggage came with all the cars now if i ask my wife to pack everything in these bags she'd shoot me [Music] well the interior of the car is miles of of burled wood which is just fabulous the wheel is very big and there's a reason the wheel is big it's a bear to drive no power steering and you have to have the torque of this wheel to make the car work for me style and color are the two most important things of a car the paint job took 3000 hours just for the paint alone the car comes apart and goes together multiple times maybe six or seven different times i mean a restoration like this is easy five six seven thousand hours for a restoration on a car like this you can go to a lot of car shows in california and yes they're terrific and they're wonderful but this is the place where elegance started and to have a car show here in newport makes all the sense in the world [Music] walking down the street i'm drawing the stories i remember when i first went to my first race i had my camera and i used to just take roll after roll of film and it was all cars and my mom said why don't you take a few of the people and i remember thinking cars that i care about as you get older the pictures i stare at the most are the ones of the people so what are you going to talk about um the questions they give me i guess along with them colors scheme the red and the gold really was put together very very well now this is your younger brother are you have you learned from your brother or you are you you do your own research i do my own research and i learn from my brother a lot also yeah pretty fantastic experience to see just all the cars there and just a lot of camaraderie and fellowship with all the different car owners this is a chance to re-imagine what a car core motorweek can be we all wanted this event we just didn't know it the audrain team has been tireless they're working till three o'clock in the morning each night making sure that the experience of the actual visitor is as good as it can possibly be participants organizers volunteers and fans are all elated at the sights and sounds of the cars and the backdrop of newport but the biggest day of the motor week was upon them as everyone eagerly awaited sunrise sunday will represent the culmination of many many many years of effort on the part of a very large team we'll also represent in a very real sense the realization of a dream sunday morning is the crown jewel of the week that's when at 6 30 in the morning the cars entered in the concours will take the field at the breakers mansion everyone will roll their cars into their class positions and once they are settled judging will begin [Music] some of the car owners in competition are looking forward to a relaxing day win or lose they are here to spend time with their car buddies but for mack as an up-and-comer this day could mean everything last night i couldn't get to bed till around midnight then this morning i woke up really early and could not get back to sleep just my anxiety and excitement for the day it's definitely nerve-racking but in a good way it's super super exciting it's gonna be a beautiful day absolutely wow it's 7 15 in the morning and the weather's perfect so it's a good day it's gonna be fun whatever happens it doesn't matter it's just going to be great the whole ambiance of being in newport on this weekend is just terrific you can feel a buzz in the town you know you go to a restaurant everybody's talking about the cars just it's um it's breathtaking it truly is you want to start polishing you want coffee the most important thing for me will be just to meet the people that come to see the cars because they're so passionate about vintage cars and they're so anxious to hear about your car and of course we enjoy talking about our cars this is as good as it's going to get just get the road dust off because it's a driver it wasn't trailered it was driven here so we basically pretty much like the same car so though she likes some that i don't care for much and it's of course the other way around too what you find is that there are other women in the car collecting venue and they'll come up and we'll be chatting about our cars i find not many women come up but when i start talking about the cars a lot of the men are shocked that i know as much about the car as i do nice view is gorgeous gonna be a beautiful day a little cold to drive this but it was fun [Music] let's roll him up gonna bring my father he's always loved cars so i can't exclude him from this i mean i'm not gonna go through it solo i gotta go with go through it with you know someone that i can count on and that's my man my dad without him i feel like i just won't be into this kind of stuff [Music] today's concourse 30 under 30 my son's been working on his car for three and a half years and uh today is a big day for him he's really looking forward to this event it's something i've never done it's a it's an experience of a lifetime i went home last night and didn't even eat dinner i just washed my car i tried it with a leaf blower went like the full nine yards on it really scrubbed hit it with like a uh air compressor and all like the nice little spots to really make sure that there's no water on it right now what i'm doing is i'm going through to get all the water spots that i missed last night out of it because i noticed this morning in the light when i was driving down the highway lights a little bit of spots in the hood so i want to get those out so i can really well the judges today because i got some really good competition next to me gotta make some stuff happen all right come straight to me this car show is unique because i have a class called 30 under 30. when i was young i would go to car shows it's discouraging guys have million dollar restorations for rolls royces and you know lamborghini mirrors and stuff like that but there's really nothing for young people so we started this 30 under 30 class and that's what's fun because you see it's all young people everybody else has got hair this color but this whole section is all younger people that's the cars they're interested in that's this is the carburetor that was in when i got the car okay most of these cars have a good story like the corvair the kid got him he's 14 he's been working on it for 10 or 15 years whatever it is these are funny because nothing happens that you hit about 4 000 and then yeah a little exactly is that you get like this yeah it's like right when you hit that one spot then you can feel the turbo kicking in same thing with the guy with the bmw how are you how you doing nice to see you again we met the other night at the uh yeah the vip dinner this one yours yeah this is my car i did the whole thing myself a lot of these cars are just beaters that kids found plus their cars which to me are just used cars but if you're 25 years old it's an antique it needed a new motor i rebuilt the motor i needed a new floor i put in a new floor four seventy five seventy five okay close yeah you're very close plus twelve we have this class and you know get them some recognition and just have some fun with it look there's no doubt that coleman mack and everyone else are having fun but you can't deny that underneath the big smiles and polite behavior there's a fierce competitive spirit because at the end of the day one person is going to win that trophy because this is an inaugural concours you can only be the first winner once when you're walking around there's something it's like being in an art gallery and you go oh my goodness look at this and in the 30 under 30 class you go go i've always wanted one of those and then some of the front runners definitely in class common here hey i know so what do you think you're excited aren't you i'm very excited i'm really really excited this is super cool it's an honor to be here uh my car right now is uh going to be judged soon so i'm hoping i'm doing doing a really good job just so you know your hand was really sweaty i'm not gonna do that again talk about i am so nervous right now it's not even funny i don't know how to react right now just take it take it am i just on the torque show again [Music] there's a buzz and uh there's a sense of it's the opening kickoff especially when three judges are going to come around and look at your car against other cars in the class and ask you a bunch of potentially detailed questions you really should be up to date on your piece of machinery or you look like a pro or somebody who's pretending to be a car collector so uh the bs level is quite small and the reality of what's important about the particular car you're showing is what will make a difference whether or not you get a first place or an also ramp oh my god look at the clouds yeah here you want to get it with some sort of stellar background in there yeah unbelievable yeah yeah exactly my name's ed justice jr and i'm a judge in the sports car class 1960-66 i was born into a carr family my dad my uncles were the first sponsors in nascar they were the first sponsor for a famous race car builder in indianapolis by the name of frank curtis we won india in 1950 with frank curtis i've been raised and exposed in every form of racing known to mankind the role of being a judge is uh not an easy one you have to know your stuff obviously there's a lot of things that you look at provenance the history of the car how honestly it's been restored how it's been restored if it's been restored now did you restore this car uh over the years yeah okay it's an intricate process that all of us judges take very seriously what the judges are looking for is something slightly different than you might find at traditional concord el gas events of course here we're very concerned about the originality the restoration quality and or preservation quality of the car but there's an added feature this event is all about how cars connect to people emotionally and how they reflect the the prime values of this event history luxury and sport [Music] this is number 11 of sequential restorations going back to 1990. that is a disease i had yeah this is absolutely a stunning car this car has presence you do the restoration we did the restoration with mpi at the point where you want to drive it more i drive it though i got it i've driven all my cars okay you're over the total restoration finally i'm over that yeah and it's tuned to the nines it's probably the perfect time to keep it for the rest of my life that's a killer photograph yeah driving around with monica that's why i'm not taking it oh wow good for you jim thanks so much that's fun you know what you're a lucky man i i hope that every time you get in that car like everybody driving their beautiful car here that you're thinking this is this is amazing this is as good as it gets that's true we're showing a 1966 jaguar 3.4 s sedan it is totally original and unrestored from the factory this is the original car it has never been painted this is old english white what i like about the car is the design of the car it has a very felicitous design there's a roundness to it that i find appealing [Music] can we start the engine it's a delightful car and it's very pretty and people seem to like it a whole bunch it's such a gorgeous ride it's really really lovely thank you so much thank you you're welcome welcome thank you for doing this marcel thank you can we ask you to sit inside and start sure and i'd like to see i'm not being funny i'd like to see the owner inside the car sure because it gives the car perspective yeah great very nice does the radio work yeah it's got a little flat a very fragile very fragile right it's perfect what goes in there watches uh no this is interesting this is a troubleshooting light plugs into the engine right they're a different shape on either side are they uh no is it my eyes it's just the perspective you might it's the perspective i would never criticize you right sir i need your glasses now the steel roof does that come down does that slide back yes it does yeah yeah and it comes down and under drops underneath yeah yeah all right i only did nine with only nine with the roof 98 cars nine sunroof coupes that's it oh yeah it has been a pleasure to see you thank you so much thank you so much really really enjoyed it appreciate it we'll see you later thank you thank you [Music] glad that's over i do really old my name is jean jennings how do you do hey mike mckenzie mark shaw and mike mckenzie nice to meet you i'm jay matt mckenzie nice rob mack mckenzie kevin mckenzie i go by mac he's he's kevin senior i'm kevin junior so i go by can you tell us a little bit about the car sure this is a it's a 1965 chevrolet corvair corsa model they only built the corsa model in 1965 and 1966. i bought this car at a yard sale when i was 14 and i went to my neighbor's house just right up the road and this was sitting in his garage i went back home and told my parents i said they asked me if i found what i was looking for i said yeah i bought a car actually i was 14 yeah you bought the car at 14 but the really the goal was right this is a multi-year restoration project we we knew it was going to be it was going to be a long time it wasn't just going to be some short process but yet me and dad have gone through the whole process together it's been a great experience uh getting to spend time with uh mac and being here and all these beautiful cars the beautiful weather and uh to see all the excitement it's been a real uh real spectacular time for us well thanks a lot yeah thank you thanks so much yeah absolutely absolutely there's been an experience that i'm sure we'll never never ever forget [Music] tell us a little bit about the car so i i built the whole car from the ground up uh it was completely ready to go to the junkyard the car graveyard and i brought it right back to life the motor was shot the doors went open there was holes in the floors like the size of my face like i could stick my head through i was driving the car when there was a hole in the floor my phone fell out did a flintstone the whole car needed a full restoration he got this car just on a whim and he's restored it and he never expected this and this has been the pinnacle to the whole build he's met tremendous people he's learned a real lot through this project and as a result here he is today weber 32 36 carburetor ireland engineering uh header street and track so it gets like the really fun noises with the pops and the bangs but it's not it's not too much so it just sounds really nice like it sounds classy you know these the seats have the original bmw logos still on the sides yeah and then i i wanted to keep it classy but do some modern stuff to it so i put in my little uh jvc touchscreen yeah and it has apple carplay so oh that's awesome yeah it's really really cool thank you so much for bringing the cards oh no thank you thank you for taking the time to talk to me yeah nice meeting you all thank you that was good i felt like i told them all i just gave it my all i told him everything i could it's an honor to be here and that was that was the that was the whole thing that i've worked for just talk to those people get my car judged i mean i feel like they really liked it i hope they really liked it [Music] it's my mom's birthday today so shout out to my mom so we should be doing something for her right now and she's here right now with me supporting me you know helping me out [Music] sunday mornings is when the adrenaline gets going you see behind us i mean the trophy solid sterling silver it's absolutely beautiful the way they've been it's been sculpted here richard did the original design this is definitely a one-of-a-kind trophy but in the end the kind of people that enter their cars into the spirit of a competition like this they don't need trophies to feel good about themselves yes they do yes they do yes they do oh having been a judge yes they do and you know they get very mad where they don't get the trophy [Music] all the fine food the wine the champagne the cars the fancy clothes but really in the end you've got to remember this is a competition people spend years and millions of dollars getting their cars ready or with the case of the 30 under 30. maybe their budget is a little more modest but the passion that drives them the same energy to get their car here they're just as proud so it's nerve-wracking you want to be a winner everybody here wants to be a winner and it's easy to lose sight of the fact that it is a competition the judging was pretty awesome they took the time to listen to what you had to say they wanted to know how if you drove the car or not which was which is what i wanted to tell them the most because that's that that gives them a perspective on what it looks like how much you use it i'm nervous i'm nervous i'm sweating my hands are sweating i'm sweaty my back [Laughter] i mean i don't usually get like ooh but like now it's just like oh boy it was totally just going wasn't it it took seven years it's still a work in progress really it's not well isn't it or when do they finish being a work in progress then always never work in progress yeah my nerves are a little bit calmer now but uh still a little nervous with that but more excited than anything no no nerves just very exciting it's an unusual car they're not used to seeing one they're used to seeing the larger allards not the smaller ones so we had a nice time talking to the people my heart's going a million miles an hour right now like a million like i might have a heart attack my hands are even getting more sweaty there are cars i could see taking first place in this group in the class and in the show i know who's first place all right he's first whether you get a ribbon or not he's first that's very sweet there i know good afternoon everyone thank you all for coming here today and celebrating this amazing initial event i'm here with my friend and uh co-chairman mr jane leno and now we have someone watch think about we do indeed the judges have made their final decisions they make their way around the concourse field handing out the third second and first place category ribbons [Music] excuse us okay okay we have something for you well done sir the right hand numero uno well deserved first in class we loved your car the color combination everything that's just a gorgeous car i thank you very much thanks for bringing the car jim indeed yeah thank you beautiful car beautiful car first yeah the great one was first in class we just found out my dawn daughter went right the gray one took first in class the great mercedes so it worked out stuff happens i'm so thrilled my wife is more concerned about how to hold it down don't worry about it [Music] hey how are you good we have an award for you oh thank you um your car is really in a way it's it's it's restoration you're the one person here that actually did restoration some of them preservation some of them because we love the fact that you really love them tried to restore it right um so we have third and class for you oh thank you very much you have a cup and you have a ribbon for your car so put that on your windshield yes thank you so much i appreciate it thank you so much thank you for letting us come out here and hold on just be a part this has been so incredible thanks for this whole time yes thank you so much thanks look forward to it next year yeah cool thank you all right move on to second place thank you appreciate it here let me yeah i know a corvair getting anything out of concord what's up with that that's not right hear that mercedes one second please wow good for that kid he's a super good guy as coleman waited for the result he couldn't help but notice the ribbons being handed out to his competition ultimately his effort was not enough coleman did not place in class thank you very much i appreciate it it was really hard thank you really good job i wish i could split that thing in half because yeah it's fantastic thank you i really appreciate it i do yeah yeah thank you please come back again everybody all right yeah really pleasure meeting you too it's great it was great it's been fun it's been fun [Music] thank yeah so much he has a great car what can i say he has a fantastic car i mean like what can i tell you i this is my first car my first build uh right out of the box i was at a concourse so you know no hard feelings you know i'm not i'm not upset i'm going to win like a champion you got to lose like a champion he has a fantastic car he really does and i just want to say thank you to the judges and everyone for uh taking the time to come look at what i built and for having me here at the concours unbelievable unbelievable that sucks super cool though super cool i'm proud you know it's been a lot of fun just worked really hard at it started off as just take me in with a car and it turned into something something else took us on a ride we couldn't imagine [Music] it's super cool though super cool don't look like i know no i know i'm hey i'm i'm happy with it i'm happy with it what do you say a really tough decision yeah i wish they could split it right down the middle and that's it feels great i said to axel can i pour my champagne in it and drink out of it this is really a surprise [Music] we had a wonderful week here we didn't win but it's okay we had a good time we had a good time it's all good it's all good that is so neat what'd we get third in our class very nice wow that's incredible [Music] i don't have the words to say how [Music] glad i've been to have been invited to this i still remember standing in the car with my feet through the floors before the floors were put in but if i could go back to that i would be blown away because working with my father for the last time before he passed away i'd never trade that for the world and i don't think he could ever sell the car just because of that [Music] and now ladies and gentlemen what we've all been waiting for here it comes you hear it [Music] the inaugural winner of best of show in the audience is this amazing as of raskini owned by joseph and margie cassini congratulations yeah beautiful very nice job nice job that's great thank you so much to be selected as best in show for our 1927 isotherskini is certainly an honor and a humbling [Music] experience as the weekend comes to an end we're reminded of what this is truly all about to some these events are about a trophy to others time to bond with the child family member or your car buddy but for all it was a dream [Music] cars aren't just about the elegant sheet metal metallic paint and horsepower it's about how they bring us together the memories we'll make with the people that we care about the most you may not identify as a car enthusiast but every one of us is a car person has a car story somewhere there's a photograph of them with a car [Music] this is not just about cars this is not just about bringing people into newport this is about memories cars have meaning to them they have a connection and whether it was their grandfather's car he always polished on weekends driving with their parents to the beach or driving to grandma's house there's always a picture of them with a car there's always a memory of them in the car and that's what we're trying to spark and grow cars have an emotional appeal to people and that's sort of the thing anything that bonds people together by working with their son or daughter and teach them how to use tools and just having a conversation while you're working on a car it's just a bonding process you know and i think it's important think about this what is your fondest memory with a car what memory comes to mind [Music] what family member do you think of just think about all that for a second you see maybe you really are a car person after all [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] one of the most important things for me is that my wife and i go on long drives it's a great day to spend out riding together and talking you can spend time together you can enjoy the senior you can see things you haven't seen in years my personal favorite that i love to drive is an old porsche it's 1980. it just reminds me of when my wife and i were dating and when we first got married and you know i love to drive it it's filled with memories so sometimes it's just that it's the car that makes you feel good it's not the fastest it's not the most expensive it doesn't have the best air conditioning the seats are okay the cocoa mats kind of smell and uh um but it's a great car and i love driving and everybody sees me driving and they say why do you drive that and the answer is i love it so i guess that's my favorite car [Music] you

Channel: Audrain Museum Network

Views: 160,927

Keywords: automobile, jay leno, car, vintage car, car collecting

Id: Ia2NAAZ7oSI

Length: 78min 0sec (4680 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 09 2021