The Concours d'Elegance of Texas

My husband is a car guy. Meaning he loves car racing (Indy car, sports car and Formula 1), he also loves car museums, auctions and car shows. Me, being his loving wife, attend the majority of these events with him. Does this me a I am a car girl? Not really, but I do enjoy spending the time with him doing what he loves.

Some of the cars that were up for auction

Our favorite cars in the auction the Jaguars and the Porsches

The Concours d'Elegance is a antique car show that showcases, and auctions, the cream of the crop cars. The Texas event was held in Houston for many years and now they are holding it in Arlington, Texas, close enough to us for a day visit.  The auction was held in the convention center next to the Ranger's and Cowboys stadiums, and the car show was held in the surrounding grounds. It was actually in a beautiful spot in perfect weather.

I put this picture of a 1935 MG PB Airline Coupe first as a tease because it was my favorite car in the show.

It even had the original tool kit displayed with it.

Saturday we attended the auction and was not disappointed in the quality of cars, and the large bids made for them. The most expensive car auction that was actually sold was a 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster that was sold for $1,010,000. It blows my mind how much people will pay for an old automobile.

This Mercedes was the biggest seller of the day!

There were several cars sold well over the $100,000 price point and a few that got over the $500,000 price point. Then you have the cars that did not sell because they were expecting to get 6 or 7 figures and they did not get bids over the reserve. I always wonder what type of people buy these cars. Some are celebrities, car dealers, businesspersons and many are unknown because they are phone bidders. I can think of sooooo many other things I could spend my money on, and none of them are cars. I do not speak for my husband, lol.

On Sunday morning we drove in for the outdoor car show and again we were not disappointed. Like I said it was a beautiful morning and the show was held in a lovely setting.  We parked in the Cowboy's stadium parking lot and had to walk a bit to get to the show. In an adjacent parking lot there is a car show of the car that did not make the cut for the Concours, so we walked through and saw some pretty cool cars in that lot. Some were not marked with the year and some were modified so I was not able to label some of the pictures. You can see by the plaques on the cars what they are.

This is an amphicar.  This car can drive on land and into the water where it runs like a boat. They were built in the 1960s and were made in Germany. A fun fact: President Johnson had a blue amphicar that we loved freaking out his guests with.

1911 Cadillac Touring Car 

From the parking lot show to the staging area for the Concours we had to walk a bit. The scenery on the walk was nothing like your typical sports stadium facility.

A cool water fall feature we saw from a bridge

A pond with another water fall feature

Arriving at the Concours staging area.

Then we walked to the Concours the cars were displayed in a tree lined grassy area, and displayed by category.

1905 Cadillac Roadster

My husband's favorite was the 1930 Franklin 145 Airman

A 1958 Corvette, as you can see by the license plate.

A 1956 Lincoln Premier Coupe

1956 Dual Ghia DG 500

1948 Cadillac Series 62. This car won Best of Show!

In true Texas style this Concours d'Elegance is the only one that has a category for trucks.

1929 Ford Model A from the side

1929 Ford Model A from the other side

1954 Chevy 3100

1960 Datsun Pickup

A  1959 Ford Ranchero  on the left and a 1972 Chevy C10 on the right

When we were walking around the show I had not idea what year the cars were, who made them, or how rare or special they were, but I did appreciate how they looked. And they were Spectacular!