Late in the Summer 2010, the Bear Mountain Car Show is still pulling a strong crowd of diverse cars. From wild and rare Italian exotics to classic American muscle, the show keeps getting bigger and better every year. You have to hand it to Rodbenders and PopYourHood for putting on such a great show at such a scenic location. Some of the highlights last week were the rare Ferrari F40 and the one owner 1970 Shelby GT 500 Convertible.

Last week some impressive American muscle cars showed up:

Plymouth Duster	Shelby GT500 Convertible
Chevrolet Camaro	Dodge Challenger

(more…)

Park Loop Road on Mount Desert Island, Maine is one of America’s most scenic and best driving roads.  The 20 mile road is located in Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island near Bar Harbor, Maine. And while this road is not one to speed on, or go for sporty driving it will bring great pleasure in a slow cruise with the windows open or even the top down on a fine convertible.   Since the loop was recently paved when we visited, dropping the windows and slowly driving allowed us to hear how serene and calming the park environment is; basically all one hears is nature. (more…)

Saturday August 7, 2010 brought the return of the Hemmings staff to Saratoga Springs, New York for the annual Hemmings Sports & Exotics Car Show. BMW cars were the featured marque and there was a wonderful showing of all types of Bimmers from 2002’s to 6-Series “sharks” and even a Hennarot M1.

The weather on this day was spectacular with light music filtering through the warm summer breezes and bright sun shining over head. The Saratoga Automobile Museum Popcorn truck was sharing it’s wonderful kettle corn and the local Lion’s club opened up a concession stand for attendees to fill up on grilled goodies. What more could one ask for than a beautiful day with sunny skies and a lineup of well cared for sports and collector cars on display?

The car turnout was comprised of well over 150 sports and collector cars ranging from early Model T’s up to modern sports cars through model year 1988. There was a strong showing of classic post-war British sports cars including Jaguars and MG’s. In this area we though the Jaguar XK 140 stole the show! (more…)

The Kemp Auto Museum of Chesterfield, MO has been invited back for their third consecutive Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, which is taking place this weekend, March 12-14 at The Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island and The Golf Club of Amelia Island at Summer Beach.

Executive Director Rodger Van Ness will be showing the Kemp Auto Museum’s rare, award-winning 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Cabriolet A at this year’s prestigious Amelia Island Concours. Van Ness commented, “Being invited back to the Amelia Island Concours for the third consecutive year is an honor, and to have the opportunity to show our 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Cabriolet A again is a real treat.” He remarked, “Receiving invitations for two consecutive years is a tribute to and recognition of the one-of-a-kind collection The Kemp Foundation has obtained and the Museum maintains.”

About The Kemp Foundation and the Kemp Auto Museum:
The intent of the Fred M. Kemp Foundation is to demonstrate the evolution of European 20th century automotive design and engineering and its impact on the worldwide automotive industry. The Foundation is dedicated to the education, preservation, maintenance, expansion and the public display of the vintage antique, classic and contemporary European automobiles previously owned by Fred M. Kemp. Functioning as an educational facility through the Museum, the Fred M. Kemp Foundation is a non-profit charitable organization approved by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as tax exempt under Section 501c3.

The Kemp Auto Museum collection is built from one of the finest and extensive private collections of classic Mercedes automobiles in the world, and includes the acclaimed coupe, cabriolet, sports car and sedan designs from 1886 up to the present.

The 2009 Monterey Sports Car Championships at Laguna Seca saw amazing action in ALMS GT2 class. Once again, Corvette racing and Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsches battled heavily with Risi Ferrari; so heavily that at the final lap of the race, Magnussen in the Corvette ended up hitting the wall hard, bumped by Bergmeister in the the Flying Lizard Porsche GT3. Everyone has seen and heard about this by now, but it’s certainly worth mentioning as one of the scary highlights of the year. (more…)

September 13th, 2009 brought out the sunshine and some of the most amazing classic and collector cars on the east coast to the 6th Annual Fairfield County Concours d’Elegance at the Fairfield County Hunt Club. The Fairfield County Concours is a really fun event to attend. The organizers Bill Scheffler (Chairman) and John Shuck (Director of Operations) are backed by a great team of friendly volunteers and the show is always raises money and awareness for great charity causes. (more…)

Much can be said about a concours event that draws amazing Duesenbergs, rare one-off prototype Packards and unusual makes from Britain, Italy and automotive meccas and this year, the Fairfield Concours d’Elegance in Westport, CT did just that. At this event there was a truly remarkable collection of fine, rare, classic and collectible automobiles; important automobiles. (more…)

Our friend Peter L. continues to send over his pictures from the 2009 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the Concourso Italiano.

Pebble Beach astounds every year with the diversity, rarity and high quality of cars that show.  And what better setting than on the golf course next to the Pacific Ocean.

(more…)

September 5th 2009 in scenic Warwick, New York brought the 2nd Annual Pennings’ Car, Motorcycle and Tractor Show. Jack Pennings, Jr. puts on this annual show in Pennings’ Apple Orchards in the hills of the bucolic Hudson Valley each year to celebrate local car, motorcycle and tractor collector’s prized possessions.

The afternoon featured the car show, a pig roast, barbeque, a rock band and a lawn tractor pull contest! Appoximately 50 cars were entered along with 75 motorcycles and 10 mint show tractors. The tractor show is a completely appropriate theme for Warwick, NY and what better place to show them than on the farm at Pennings Orchards. (more…)

The 59th Annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is perhaps the pinnacle of all concours events in the US and possibly the world. Certainly the turn-out of rare Ferrari race-cars coupled with other exotics and one-off sports cars is enough to put this concours at that top of the heap. (more…)