Hailed as one of the “Top Ten Classic Car Shows in the World,” The Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance will be returning for its seventh year on February 23rd, and will be Celebrating 100 Years of Maserati History in conjunction with the Legends of Riverside and Riverside International Automotive Museum.
This year’s show will once again highlight more than 250 of the rarest and most valuable major classic automobiles from the 1920’s to 50’s. There will also be historic sports cars, race cars and historic pre WW-II Hot Rods.
The show will be held on Sunday, February 23, at the Desert Princess Country Club and Resort at Landau and Vista Chino in Cathedral City from 10 am to 4 pm. Tickets for the show are now $45 and available online at www.desertconcours.com or $50 at the gate on the day of the show.
This is not the sort of event which tells people to, “bring and display what you drive”, but a presentation of what has been done with the automobile representing the best of creativity, engineering and beauty of design. The Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance gives spectators the opportunity to get close to exceptional examples of the best of the automotive industry from the last 100 years.
Among the examples of exceptionalism displayed at the Desert Princess Country Club on Sunday, February 23d will be the 1937 Delage D-8, body by Letourneur et Marchand, owned by Aly Khan, that was presented at the 1939 Worlds Fair as representing the epitome of French design beauty and engineering. Other great cars shown will be a 1930 Cadillac V-16 Roadster that was built by General Motors, and aimed at the very top of the market just as the Depression killed that class of buyer. A 1933 Packard V-12
Roadster that was perhaps the best car in the world at that time, but also killed off by the effects of the Depression.
Key personalities at the event include Masters of Ceremony and Commentator: Ed Justice, Chairman of Justice Brothers Products Company, Major Sponsor of Auto Racing, Media voice of racing and other auto events. Stewart Reed, Chairman of Transportation Design Center, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA. Chief Judge, Dr. Richard Buckingham, Founder of Sovren Vintage Racing Group, experienced judge, racer, and restorer.
In addition to Sunday’s main event, The Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance Road Tour will also assemble at the Desert Princess County Club and Resort on Saturday, February 22nd from 7:30 to 8 am. The cars can also be viewed at the end of the tour around 1 pm at Cuistot Restaurant on El Paseo in Palm Desert.
For more information about The Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and to purchase tickets go to www.desertconcours.com or call 760-766-1777.
