By Bob Broeze
The 13th Annual St Michaels Concours d’ Elegance was held at the waterfront campus of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and the picturesque waterfront lawn of the Inn at Perry Cabin in St Michaels on the eastern shore of Maryland. The St Michaels Concours d’Elegance is a charity event with the local student chapter of the Antique Automobile Club of America designated as the beneficiary of proceeds from ticket sales this year.
The St Michaels Concours was attended by Bob Broeze from our Pottstown shop and his wife Sue, along with their 1949 Hudson Commodore Eight Convertible Brougham, which was invited to participate in the American Post-war Class of automobiles. Bob and Sue drove their Hudson to St Michaels from their home in Bucks County. Saturday featured a road rally touring event with more than 50 vintage vehicles participating. The first stop on the Tour was the waterfront estate and vacation home of Alice and Tom Blair, named “River House” an Eastern Shore showplace. Hanging from the ceiling in the library of this beautiful home is a “Spitfire” airplane, showcased in front of a spectacular view of the Miles River! After the visit to “River House”, the tour traveled on to the charming and historic (1683) town of Oxford, MD, a thriving community in the 1800s with a significant colonial port and the site of a Military and Naval Academy established in 1886. Tour participants were treated to a wonderful luncheon at the Historic (1710) and famous “Robert Morris Inn” … famous for their delicious crab cakes and a frequent haunt of Pulitzer Prize winning author James A. Michener who wrote the epic novel “Chesapeake”.
The Concourse was held on Sunday on the lawn of the Inn and the grounds of the nearby Chesapeake Maritime Museum. Featured automobile classes and marques included American Pre-War, American Post-War, Woodies, Bentley, Pre-War European Sports cars, Post-War European Sports Cars, custom-bodied sports cars and “European Sports Cars with American Muscle.” The event was very well attended and all of the automobiles sparkled on this warm sunny day. Class awards were presented on the show field in the afternoon and the People’s Choice and other special awards were then presented on the waterfront lawn of the Inn.
The People’s Choice award went to a very cool 1929 Model A Ford Woodie Wagon outfitted as a camp vehicle, complete with canoe, many fishing, hunting and camping relics from the time and a matching trailer that converts to a camper, complete with a built-in bunk. Best in Show went to a fabulous 1933 Isotta-Fraschini Tipo 8A 2-Door Sports Tourer Castagna.
