The Fourteenth Annual Greenwich Concours d’Elegance was held this past weekend (June 6-7) at Roger Sherman Baldwin Park in Greenwich, CT. FlatSixes.com contributor Tom Williams was on hand to peruse the field and snap a few pictures of this year’s event for your viewing pleasure.
Possibly more interesting than the pictures Tom captured are his comments in the email that accompanied his story (see below in quotes). Is anyone familiar with this event? Any idea why Porsche was so poorly represented this year? From my experience, regardless of the featured marque, Porsche usually has a strong showing at Greenwich. What was the difference this year? Many more pictures after Tom’s email comments.
Attached are the Porsche pics I took at the Greenwich Concours. Sadly, these pics do not do justice to the size and scope of the show. This year, Porsche seemed like an afterthought. The cars were gathered just off from the main green, nearly behind a tent that Miller Motorcars was using to display their line of cars (Ferrari, Maserati, Rolls Royce, Bentley, an Alfa 8C and a Bugatti Veyron).
The Porsches were in a small semi-circle. No 911 in police livery to be found. I flashed my press pass, announced to a couple behind the rope I was here from PorschePurist, and if I could come in for some pics. They waved me in, and continued with their conversation. I took my time, snapped my shots, turned around to face two couples sitting in chairs, thanked them, and said “Be sure to check FlatSixes.com for the pictures!” No one said a word, they stared at me blankly, and I walked away. Just very odd.
My guess is most of the owners were walking around the show, as they could not see it from where they were. The most telling sign this year was no local dealer support from Porsche, as there has been in the past. Ferrari, Mercedes, Aston Martin and Jaguar were there, and held center stage. Never before have I seen Porsche left on the sidelines like this.
As for the Porsches that were there, most interesting were the 1983 956 raced by Derek Bell, the 356 Continental (which I have seen before at a PCA Concours) and the ’74 Carrera.
I wrote a short intro about the Concours-thinking it is the cars that tell the story here [I agree]. So, not a great day for Porsches, but the rest of the cars were fantastic.
As an aside, and to be clear, Tom’s remarks above are not meant as criticism of the organizers or the event itself, just an observation on what was a clear difference from the past. As Tom wrote to me:
Founders and co-chairs Bruce and Genia Wennerstrom hosted an impressive variety of marques, featuring rare, exotic and one-off production and race cars. The Greenwich Concours has quickly matured into a must see event, attracting visitors from around the world and all walks of life.
Information and pictures for today’s post comes courtesy of Tom William of Milford, CT. Tom, a member of the International Motoring Press Association, provides automotive news, reviews, commentary and editorials for The Garage (thegarageblog.com) and Car Keys (www.carkeys.ca). Tom first joined PCA as a member of the Central Pennsylvania Region in 1994 when he bought a 1987 924S. He rejoined PCA, this time with the Connecticut Valley Region in 2004 after he acquired his 1976 911S Targa.
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[Source: Tom Williams, 993C4S]