Classics, convertibles, muscle cars mark return of 2022 Cobble Beach concours

Article content

The shoreline of Georgian Bay outside Owen Sound, Ontario was lined with 125 of some of North America’s best collector vehicles this Sunday. Thousands of spectators viewed the cars parked on the fairway of the Cobble Beach Golf Resort as judges brought in from across North America graded the cars to determine the winners.

Article content

In the end, the 2022 Cobble Beach Concours d’Elegance’s Best in Show award went to a lavish 1928 Isotta-Fraschini in the high-performance Super Sprinto trim, built to be shown at the 1928 New York Auto Show. The LeBaron-bodied boat-tail cabriolet built on an Italian chassis features an ostrich-leather interior and other luxury appointments. It was originally purchased for US$20,000 by a wealthy aviation pioneer and his silent-film-star wife.

Article content

A 1932 Judkins-bodied Lincoln KB coupe shown by Bill and Rita Wybenga of Picton, Ontario won Best in Class and Most Outstanding Pre-War classic awards. Vernon Smith of Swift Current, Newfoundland took top honours for Most Outstanding Post-War classics with his green 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, which cost a whopping US$13,000 when new, the most expensive North American car sold in its model year. General Motors, which during the concours celebrated 120 years of building Cadillacs, is said to have lost $10,000 on each of the 400 Eldorado Brougham cars sold in 1957, styled with rear-opening doors, a stainless steel roof, and lead-weighted cocktail glasses.

Article content

Article content

The General Motors Heritage Centre brought several concept cars illustrating the evolution of the mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette. They included the 1968 Astro II; and the 1973 Chevrolet Aerovette.

A 50,000-original-mile 1963 Corvette split-window coupe displayed by Sarnia dentist Lennie Slipacoff won a Best in Class award. But the car came very close to not making it to the show. The rare Corvette caught fire as Dr. Slipacoff and his twin brother Lawry started out on a Cobble Beach Concours participants’ tour of the Bruce Peninsula on Friday. A fire extinguisher from another participant was used to quickly douse the underhood flames, preventing body damage. The car was completely rewired by five mechanics at Southwest Kustoms in nearby Chatsworth to make the Corvette show-ready again.

Article content

TFX Transport founder Wally Horodnyk received the second-place award for early Corvettes with his red-and-white fuel-injected 1957 model. Deb Read from Caledon took top honours with her green-and-white 1957 Corvette.

Presenting sponsor Porsche brought together a cavalcade of rare colours represented by Porsche sports cars over several decades. Seventy-five years of Ferrari sports cars were also well-represented, with a 1964 350 America owned by Hugh Welsford from Burlington crossing the podium. A very rare 1955 Porsche Spyder, similar to the race car actor James Dean was driving when a vehicle crash took his life, won Best in Class and People’s Choice awards.

Article content

A replica of the first gas-powered car ever built in Canada – an 1897 Fossmobile – was displayed by Ron Foss. Top class honours went to the 1911 Pierce-Arrow restored by Peter Fawcett from Whitby, Ontario. Fawcett had driven the car on a 300-kilometer round-trip summer tour to Niagara. A 1912 Tudhope touring car shown by John Smith won top honours in its class. Tudhope cars were built in Orillia, Ontario and used the most Canadian components of any car built in Canada at that time. The Tudhope factory is now Orillia’s city hall.

Article content

Show presenter Rosemary McLeese and chairman Rob McLeese won their class with Rosemary’s 1931 McLaughlin-Buick roadster. Rosemary is a descendant of the McLaughlin family that built Buicks in Oshawa. The company later became General Motors of Canada.

Restored from pieces stored in a trailer was Sandy Sinclair’s rare 1932 DeSoto Roadster, originally manufactured by Chrysler of Canada in Windsor. Also on display was a 1922 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, owned by Robert Thompson of Port Elgin, Ontario. The Guild of Automotive Restorers in Bradford, Ontario brought a 1948 Delahaye Cabriolet by Franay.

Article content

Noted London, Ontario Cadillac collector Steve Plunkett displayed his 1949 Cadillac Series 75, which was originally used by MGM Studios to transport film stars. The car was custom-bodied in wood by coachbuilders Bohman & Schwartz. Hanover farmer Tony Lang and wife Elaine had more than a dozen cars from their 50-car collection on display, including a 1961 Chrysler 300G convertible, a 1968 Shelby Mustang GT500KR convertible, and a 12-cylinder 1933 Pierce-Arrow convertible coupe, one of only three in existence.

Long-time car restorer Al Webster displayed an art deco 1934 LaSalle convertible coupe painted Argentina Orange. The last of 18 coupe convertibles sold in Canada, Webster bought the car in pieces and completed the restoration just in time for concours judging. A panther pink 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T got the Best in Class award for muscle cars. A 1967 Shelby Mustang GT500 and 1961 Pontiac powered by a 421-cubic-inch engine with a four-speed transmission were runners-up.

The Cobble Beach Concours d’Elegance has raised nearly a million dollars for the Sunnybrook Hospital and Owen Sound Regional Hospital foundations. The ninth annual Cobble Beach Concours d’Elegance is scheduled for September 16 and 17, 2023.

Alyn Edwards is a classic car enthusiast and partner in Peak Communicators, a Vancouver-based public relations company. He can be reached at [email protected].