Concours d'Elegance of America delivers, never mind the rain

If last weekend's Concours d'Elegance of America had taken place in late October, the weather could have been said to be unseasonably -- perhaps even miraculously -- warm. But Plymouth, Mich., is typically sweltering, not blustery, in late July, and this was the first concours we can remember where blue blazer-wearing judges were appropriately dressed in their buttoned-downed outfits.

It's hardly productive to complain about the weather, though, and those in charge of the event pulled together a field of more than 300 cars enticing enough to draw roughly 10,000 attendees to the Inn at St. John's, on-and-off rain be damned.

 Graham Kozak
Hey, at least electric automakers are willing to try new things: A Corbin is dwarfed by an older relative.

Vehicle classes were widely varied: On the granola end of the spectrum sat the electric vehicles. As if to demonstrate that everything old is new again, a Detroit Electric (no, not that Detroit Electric) sat next to Teslas (both of the Roadster and Model S varieties), a Corbin Sparrow, an EV-1 and several other electrified General Motors offerings both vintage and modern.

To balance out those zero-tailpipe-emissions vehicles were the so-called “dealer supercars” -- muscle cars made even more muscular thanks to visionary (or perhaps slightly insane) dealers like Don Yenko -- and several thousand tons of Duesenbergs, Packards, Pierce-Arrows.

The obligatory nod to the 50th anniversary of the Porsche 911 was made, but we were also pleased that the Mercedes-Benz Pagoda -- another German two-door celebrating a half-century -- was well-represented on the field as well.

 Graham Kozak
When you design a car as timeless as the Avanti, you can get away with painting it refrigerator white.

The tendency to over-restore priceless automobiles still seems to be rampant across the collector-car world, with Espadas and Power Wagons alike displaying paint more flawless and panel gaps more regular than their original builders would have ever cared to achieve. But we're glad to see that original, unrestored cars are making their way onto concours fields with increasing regularity.

Unlike the untouched 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Spider that took best of show at The Elegance at Hershey, the 1934 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Long Chassis Boattail that won best of show (European) at St. John's had received a thorough going-over -- but the 1925 Packard 236 Eight Sport Model and 1931 Hudson 8 Boat Tail Speedster the prizewinning Alfa shared the field with definitely showed their age.

That '34 Alfa was joined by a 1931 Duesenberg Model J Tourer by Derham, which took best of show (American). It was a worthy car for the title, even if another Duesey driving away with a trophy doesn't exactly spell an upset.

 Graham Kozak
This is probably one of the very few times a Rolls Royce owner has deployed the roof of his own town car.

Rain was a constant threat throughout the show, and overcast skies gave way to drizzle a few times throughout the day. We didn't even mind getting wet, though. It was a small price to pay for the entertainment the showers brought on: Owners, apparently unaware that cars don't dissolve when exposed to water, sprang into action almost immediately.

Talbot-Lagos, Packards and Imperials took shelter under sheets of plastic and custom-fitted car covers (with special provisions made for oversized hood ornaments, of course). Some owners seemed to be pros at defeating the elements; we saw a team skillfully deploy a Cadillac touring car's top while town car owners fumbled with their vehicles' complex stowaway roofs.

But in the end, none of the cars melted, the rain abated and everyone at St. John's seemed content to take in the sights at one of the nation's premier concours. Event organizers may not yet be able to control the weather, but we're pleased to say that everything within their domain went off without a hitch.*

*Except for the music played over the loudspeakers early in the morning -- Philip Glass, Enya (?) and ambient horror make for one weird, weird vibe on the concours grounds.