Old Car Festival features women at the wheel in Greenfield Village

The 101st anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution will be celebrated September 11 and 12 at the annual Old Car Festival at The Henry Ford museum’s Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan.

“Many women have owned and driven cars from the earliest days of the automotive era,” the museum points out. “Explore their stories to find out how cars, with their freedom of mobility, supported women in making inroads in the workplace, in civic engagement and in American life.”

Annually, the Old Car Festival draws several hundred vehicles from the 1890s through the 1932 model year to the village. In addition to being parked throughout the village, the cars are driven on the village streets for pass-in-review parades, including a Gaslight Parade of Cars late Saturday evening, when the River Raisin Ragtime Revue presents a Dixieland show with a fireworks finale.

RADwood visits rally school

RADwood, which stages a series of car shows for vehicles from the 1980s and ’90s, has something special planned for its Pacific Northwest event September 19. The show will be held at the DirtFish Rally School and “we’ll be offering legit rally car ride-alongs with some very special cars and drivers,” RADwood reports.

Also on the RADwood calendar are events October 9 at Austin, Texas; October 23 at the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance in Connecticut; and November 20 in Southern California. The group also is working to stage events yet this year in Philadelphia and in the Southeast.

The Greenwich event will feature “a curated display of 50-60 of the most iconic, preserved, unit and RADical rides of the era,” including motorcycles.

Fall Carlisle closes the season

Carlisle Events ends its 2021 Pennsylvania show season September 29-October 3 with Fall Carlisle, which will feature five days of buying, selling and trading at the fairgrounds venue.

“This five-day affair hosts car lovers of all types, each looking to buy, sell and trade all things automotive,” the company says in its news release. “You never know what you’ll find at Carlisle, that is for sure.  Hidden gems include items for the shop, the man cave or even the she shed.  Expect the unexpected.”

Carlisle Fall will include a car corral and an “Anymotive” area with non-car themed items such as boats, RVs, ATVs, motorcycles, tractors and snowmobiles.

Carlisle Auctions also will be putting cars across the auction block on September 30 and October 1. The auction will feature a collection of Bill Miller’s “stuff” collected over his nearly 80 years of life, and some of it sharing Carlisle Events history.

International auto shows scramble for viability

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, the major international auto shows were fighting to maintain viability in an age when everything seems instantly available in a virtual world. 

The North American International Auto Show in Detroit moved from mid-winter to early autumn and from indoors to outdoors. In Germany, the Frankfurt show has morphed into the IAA Mobility 2021, scheduled to be held in Munich from September 7-12.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is scheduled to open the event which promises “more than 1,000 exhibitors and speakers will present innovations and concepts for the future of mobility. With a state-of-the-art concept, the IAA Mobility will link the major players in mobility with the big names in high-tech. It will be the first event worldwide to offer visitors a comprehensive array of test drives with the new vehicle models.”

And if you cannot attend, “All the main events at the IAA Mobility will be streamed.”

The show promises more than 100 world vehicle premieres, more than 250 vehicles for show visitors to test drive, plus an opportunity to experience autonomous driving (but shouldn’t that phrase be autonomous riding?). It also will be the “biggest bicycle event in Europe.”

“The IAA Mobility 2021 in Munich will be the largest and most modern mobility event in the world and is a perfect fit at a time when Europe has set out to be the world’s first climate-neutral continent,” said Jürgen Mindel, managing director of the show organizer, the German Association of the Automotive Industry.

“Traffic plays a major role in this scenario,” he continued. “We are already uniting the sectors – automotive, digital, bicycle and urban planning – that will belong together in the future. We will present new concepts and invite visitors to debate on the right path to a climate-neutral future.”

Greenwich sets featured classes

The Greenwich Concours d’Elegance, being held October 22-24 for the 25th time, but the first under Hagerty ownership, has set its featured classes. They are Ford vs. GM, Lancia, 100 Years of Duesenberg, 70 years of Allard, Right Coast Rods, Vintage SUVs, and two motorcycle anniversaries — 120 Years of Indian and 100 years of Motor Guzzi.

British concours announces featured vehicles

There will be around 1,000 vehicles on display at the Concours of Elegance (aka the Royal Concours), scheduled for September 3 at Hampton Court Palace. Of those cars, around 60 will be featured and of those 60 or so, concours organizers figure five deserve special attention.

They are:

Alfa Romeo P3 Tipo B, considered the first proper single-seater racing car. Powered by a supercharged V8, it was driven to immediate victories in 1932 by Tazio Nuvolari and Rudolf Caracciola. This P3 was purchased by 19-year-old count Jose de Villapadierna, who paid for the car with money he got by selling jewels he stole from his aunt.

Porsche 901, chassis 30078 and displayed at the Geneva Motor Show in 1964 to announce the new 911 to the world. The car is believed to be one of only six of the original 901 models still existing.

Voisin Type C27 Aerosport, one of two Art Deco-designed roadsters built in 1934 on a shortened Aerodyne chassis, and featuring a powered sliding roof.

Rolls-Royce 40/50 Silver Ghost, chassis 60551 and thus the 12th 40/50 produced, and then given Roi-des-Belges coachwork by Barker and finished in aluminum paint.

Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ2, the Zagato-bodied version in the form of chassis AR750113, which won its class in the Nurburgring 1000 and the Targa Florio and was first overall in the Coppa del Chianti Classico. 

Chicago’s best: Ultimate motorcycle customs crowned

Goebbert’s Farm in Pingree, Illinois, outside Chicago, was the site of the second round of Progressive IMS Outdoors’ 12th annual J&P Cycles Ultimate Builder custom motorcycle show. The class winners were:

Custom Classic: Mateusz Kubak’s 1974 Honda CB550 rebuilt as a cafe racer in a home garage over the course of 6 months.

Custom Street: A 2019 Harley-Davidson FXBB by Yaroslav Lutsenko and painter EXSA Automotive.

Freestyle: Robert Catanese’s 2021 Yamaha R1 custom painted by Alcalde Customs.

People’s Choice: David Moreno’s 2013 Harley-Davidson Street Glide was runner-up for the Freestyle trophy but won the hearts of show visitors. The bike rides on a 26-inch front wheel, has air suspension and paint by John Booth.

Car Boot sale at Goodwood Revival

That’s “boot” not as in the ones you wear on your feet but as in what the British call the trunk of your car. On September 19, the Goodwood Revival will include a boot sale and an award for the best dressed car boot at the sale, organizers report.

“But this is by no means your average car booter: a stunning series of classic cars will provide the backdrop for the sensationally stylish shopping event with a range of vendors from East End stallholders right through to vintage and retro specialists offering everything from fashion and accessories to furniture and homewares,” according to the news release.

“It will be a glamorous affair, where guests can sample a hand-crafted cocktail from the Bar Car while listening to vinyl-spinning DJs as they peruse the delights of the Car Boot Sale and discover some second-hand treasures.”

Featured at the sale will be special pieces donated by Annie Lennox, Livia Firth and others from The Circle, a feminist organization supporting vulnerable women and girls.

Also part of the sale will be the Circle of Style, a new personal shopping subscription service featuring second-hand clothing and supporting the Revive and Thrive program.

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:

September

1-30 – Cars at the Capital, Washington, D.C.; 3-5 – Concours of Elegance, Hampton Court, UK; 4-5 – International Autojumble (swap meet), 6-12 — Mustang Week, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; 9-11 – AACA Southeastern Fall Nationals, Greenville, South Carolina; 10 – Luftgekuhlt 7, Indianapolis; 10-12 – Goodguys Colorado Nationals, Loveland; Porsche Sportscar Together Festival, Indianapolis; 11-12 – Off-Road Expo Arizona; 12 – Muscle Cars, Hickory Corners, Michigan; Simply French, Beaulieu, UK; 12-17 – Revival AAA Glidden Tour, Saratoga Springs, New York; 17-19, Goodwood Revival, UK; Oregon Festival of Cars, Bend; Vail Automotive Classic, Colorado; 18 – Ford Model A Day, Hickory Corners, Michigan; 18-19 – The Bridge, Long Island, New York; Taste of Motorsports, Sonoma, California; 19 – EyesOn Design, Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan; Dayton Concours, Ohio;  RADwood, Seattle; Simply BMW, Beaulieu, UK; 21-26, Motor Bella, Pontiac, Michigan; 24-25 – Cadillac-LaSalle Fall Festival, Hickory Corners, Michigan; 24-26 – Detroit 4Fest, Mt. Holly, Michigan; Goodguys Lone Star Nationals, Fort Worth; 25 — Autumn in the Mountains, Mills River, North Carolina; 26 – Catskill Conquest Rally, Saratoga, New York; Camaros at the Corners, Hickory Corners, Michigan;  Simply British Classics, Beaulieu, UK; 29-October 3 – Fall Carlisle, Pennsylvania; 30-October 3, American Speed Festival, Pontiac, Michigan; Audrain Newport Concours & Motorweek, Rhode Island

October 

1-2 – Euro Fest, Ridgeland, Mississippi; La Jolla Motor Car Classic, California; 1-3 – Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, Italy; Goodguys Del Mar Nationals, California; 6-9 — AACA Eastern Fall Nationals & Flea Market, Hershey, Pennsylvania; 6-10 – Zoute concours, Belgium; 8-9 – Z Nationals, Road Atlanta; 9 – RADwood, Austin, Texas; DesutscheMarques Oktoberfest, Hickory Corners, Michigan; 13-14 – Goodguys Get-Together, Pleasanton, California; 16 – Gilmore Fall Color Tour, Hickory Corners, Michigan; 19-21 – Goodguys Southwest Nationals, Scottsdale; 21-24 – Las Vegas Concours d’Elegance, Nevada; Auto e Moto d’Epoca, Padua, Italy; 22-25 – Greenwich Concours d’Elegance, Connecticut; 23 – RADwood, Greenwich, Connecticut; 29 – Fort Lauderdale Concours, Florida

November 

2-5 – SEMA Show, Las Vegas; 7 – Exotics on Las Olas, Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Simply Smart, Beaulieu, UK; 11-15, AACA Southeastern Fall Tour, North Carolina; 11-13 – AACA Special Western Nationals, Phoenix; 12-13 — Carlisle Events at Lakeland, Florida; 14-17 – AACA Western Divisional Tour, Arizona; 15-17, Chattanooga Motorcar Festival, Chattanooga, Tennessee; RADwood, Los Angeles; 28 – VW Santa Run, Beaulieu, UK

Have an event to add? Email details to journal@classiccars.com.