Elegance canvassed the grounds of Inn at Perry Cabin by Belmond Thursday night as St. Michaels Concours d’Elegance Chairman Luke L. Phipps announced that the Concours, presented by August Classics, will once again be held on this famously idyllic waterfront property on September 22-24, 2017.
Now in its 11th year, the internationally acclaimed St. Michaels Concours d’Elegance in fact opened on the grounds of the Inn at Perry Cabin back in 2007 in partnership with Concours Founding Chairman George Walish. It took place there through 2009, but as residents of the mid-shore will no doubt recall, the classic car competition has moved around over subsequent years.
Inn at Perry Cabin interim General Manager Klaus Kabelitz and team couldn’t be happier to welcome back the St. Michaels Concours d’Elegance. “We look forward to hosting classic car enthusiasts from near and far,” says Kabelitz. “St. Michaels is truly the gem of the Chesapeake Bay, and we hope that people find the Inn to be a gem within St. Michaels. Hosting the Concours is just one way we’d like to help position and promote this town as a premier destination in the Mid-Atlantic region.”
The St. Michaels Concours d’Elegance showcases some of the finest automobiles from around the world every year. Last year’s Best in Show winner was a 1928 Auburn 8-115 Speedster that took owners Albert and Barbara Mason 15 years to personally restore. Collectors compete on an invitation-only basis and to qualify, their luxury cars must meet strict standards, such as having won similarly prestigious awards previously. The St. Michaels Concours has been dubbed by some as one of the top 10 such events in the United States, and Walish has called it the “Pro-Bowl” to Pebble Beach’s “Super Bowl” of classic motorcar competitions.
Local volunteers of the St. Michaels Concours d’Elegance celebrated an historic return home to St. Michaels in 2016 through a partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and are delighted by their recent partnership with the newly founded Classic Motor Museum of St. Michaels.
“But in order for the Concours to reach its full potential,” says Phipps, “it has to be back at Inn at Perry Cabin by Belmond. The Inn’s historic nature, its beautiful 200-year-old gardens and its grandeur are the perfect backdrop for an event that has style at its core.” Phipps adds, “With Chef MacDonald’s culinary expertise and commitment to local ingredients, we’ll be able to debut in 2017 an enhanced VIP and entrants gallery, which will feature a gourmet garden party with live music, flowing champagne and passed hors d’oeuvres.”
The Concours will continue its partnership with the Maritime Museum in 2017, too, with plans to continue to host the classic and antique boat showings at the Museum’s Fogg’s Cove Landing, as well as additional activities including, for the first time, classic automobiles for sale.
“That partnership remains particularly important to us,” adds Phipps, “as the beneficiary of the 2017 Concours will be the Classic Motor Museum of St. Michaels, and both the Motor Museum and Maritime Museum prioritize education for local kids and young adults. The lack of vocation-technical education in our tri-county area is a real concern of ours, and when the Motor Museum opens in March, we look forward to launching an automotive educational program much like the Maritime Museum’s boatbuilding one.”
Tickets for the 2017 St. Michaels Concours d’Elegance will go on sale in July and be available on the event’s website at https://www.smcde.org/.
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