Gear up for sophisticated nostalgia at Castle Hill Concours d'Elegance

By SHEILA BARTH

Essex County Newspapers

IPSWICH _ Try to imagine industrialist Cornelius Crane's summer country estate in the 1920s and 1930s, with elegant cars lined up in its massive parking lot and driveway. The elite and sophisticated are gaily sipping champagne on a sultry day while jazzy strains reverberate across the marshlands.

That same scene is recreated, sans champagne, at the 7th annual Concours d' Elegance, noted as the top antique automobile event in New England, and compared to that of Pebble Beach, Calif.

This year's event takes place Sunday, Sept. 23, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Crane Estate-Castle Hill, 290 Argilla Road.

It is touted as the "creme-de-la-creme of pre-World War II classic and vintage automobiles," with hundreds of them lined up on display, their proud owners standing nearby, willing to show them off.

The New Black Eagle Jazz Band, featuring jazz great Jimmy Mazzy and former Boston Children's Hospital pediatric specialist Dr. Eli Newberger will entertain throughout the day.

(The show also offers an excellent opportunity to tour the inside of the 1920s Great House and its Italianate garden.)

Although visitors are invited to bring their own picnic lunches, they may also purchase food in the garden, so plan on spending the day. The exhibit is along the estate's Grand Allee, stretching from the Great House to the ocean, so car buffs from collector and restorer to mechanic and historians may appreciate them, set against a splendid natural setting of ocean, marshlands, and rolling lawns.

This show pays tribute to the Pierce Arrow and Auto Carrier, known as the AC, which are both celebrating their 100th anniversaries.

There will be cars from the Brass and Nickel era, 1915 to 1924, and Classic Car Club of America autos from the 1920s through the World War II years. There also are antique sports and vintage racing cars built before 1960, and an additional display of "blast-from-the-past" vintage autos built before 1973.

If you're lucky, you may spot an 1899 Stanley locomobile, that looks like a horseless carriage, or a 1911 Corbin Runabout, a lowslung sleek convertible with running boards but no roof, doors, or windshield.

The 1926 Duesenberg Model A has a military or funerary bearing, while the 1929 Riley Brooklands resembles a funnel-shaped sports racing car, and the boxy-shaped 1911 Packard Model 30 limousine draws a sharp contrast to spaceship-shaped 1955 Tojeiro/Bristol.

Whatever the model car or vintage, the Concours d'Elegance displays at least 200 rare automobiles that have been lovingly restored under the hood, on the interior and exterior, with some historical focus.

It's interesting to note that some cars were manufactured on the North Shore, including the Bailey Electric in Amesbury, and the Cameron in Beverly. The Vaughn Machine Co. of Peabody built a hybrid gasoline-electric car around 1905-1906, called the Gas-Au-Lec, and today's car manufacturers are trying to improve on that concept now.

Besides American cars, there are international models, such as Bugattis, Alfa Romeos, Rolls-Royces, Porsches, BMWs, from all eras. The cars are judged on their beauty, line, style, visual appearance, and preservation, with awards given at 3 p.m.

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