When Concours Was About More Than the Car by Mike Thies

The Concours d’Elegance did not begin as a car show in the way most people think of one today. The idea goes back to Europe, where the word simply meant a “competition of elegance.” Long before automobiles, wealthy owners paraded fine carriages, fine horses, and fine clothes. When automobiles replaced carriages, the same idea carried over. The automobile was not judged only as transportation. It was judged as an object of design, taste, social standing, coachwork, color, and presentation.

In the early European concours events, especially in the 1920s and 1930s, the car and the fashion around the car were part of the same picture. The great coachbuilders were showing their latest bodies, and the owners or models shown with the cars were often dressed to match the occasion. The automobile was treated almost like couture, assecories. The car, the body design, the color, the setting, and the clothing all worked together. It was not just “is the car correct?” It was “is the whole presentation elegant?”

That is an important point because the modern concours world has become much more technical. Today we talk about paint quality, authenticity, casting dates, proper trim, correct materials, provenance, restoration quality, and judging sheets. All of that matters, and it should. But the original concours idea was broader than that. It was about the public presentation of beauty, status, and taste.

In America, the concours tradition really began to take hold after World War II, with Pebble Beach being the landmark event. The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance began in 1950 along with the Pebble Beach Road Races. The racing was the main attraction at first. The concours was added as a social and stylish companion event, something to bring elegance and a little polish to the racing weekend. That early connection between racing and elegance is one of the reasons Pebble developed such a special personality. It was not just old cars sitting on a lawn. It was speed, wealth, style, design, and society all sharing the same weekend.

Sterling Edwards took the top prize at the first Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 1950 with  his creation: 1950 Edwards R-26 Special Sport Raodster. He raced it that weekend.

Those early American concours events still carried some of the European feel. People dressed well. Owners took pride in the whole presentation. The cars were displayed in beautiful settings. The event was social as much as mechanical. That is still part of the attraction today. A real concours should feel different from an ordinary car show. The setting matters. The people matter. The atmosphere matters. That is where the word “elegance” still has meaning.

But over time, the fashion side began to fade as a central judging element. In my view, the change started fairly early in the American concours movement, especially by the mid-1950s and into the 1960s. As the cars themselves became older and more historically important, the focus naturally shifted away from the owner’s outfit and toward the car’s authenticity, preservation, and restoration. Once a 1920s or 1930s Packard, Duesenberg, Cadillac, Bugatti, Rolls-Royce, or Hispano-Suiza became the object of serious collecting, judges and owners began looking harder at the car itself.

The rise of marque clubs, restoration standards, and organized judging also changed the event. A car could no longer win simply because it looked glamorous on the lawn. It had to be correct. It had to be documented. It had to represent its era properly. That was a good development, because it preserved history and rewarded serious stewardship. But something was also lost along the way. The fashion element became more of a spectator tradition than a judged part of the event.

By the late 1960s and 1970s, most American concours events were much more about the automobile as a historic artifact. That meant coachwork, mechanical specification, originality, restoration quality, and provenance. The owner’s attire still helped the scene, but it usually did not decide the award. The car had become the star, and the people had become supporting cast.

Today, the best concours events still understand both sides of that history. They judge the cars seriously, but they also protect the atmosphere. Pebble Beach, Amelia, Hillsborough, and other major events are not just technical inspections. They are presentations of automotive history in a setting that still asks people to slow down, look closely, and appreciate the design. Fashion has not disappeared. Hats, dresses, linen jackets, club blazers, and period dress still show up on the field. But today they add to the mood rather than drive the judging.

That may be the proper balance. A concours should not become a costume party, but it should also not become a dry mechanical audit. The roots of the event are in elegance. The car should be correct, but it should also be presented with grace. That is the difference between a parking-lot show and a true Concours d’Elegance.

So when we talk about bringing back the spirit of concours judging, we should remember where it came from. It began with elegance, not clipboards. It became stronger when scholarship, authenticity, and preservation were added. The challenge today is to keep both ideas alive: serious judging and a beautiful presentation. The best events still do that. They honor the car, the owner, the setting, and the history all at once. And fun, too!

Source notes: Concours d’Elegance traces its roots to European “competition of elegance” traditions, with automobile concours evolving from carriage-era social display; Villa d’Este identifies its first event as September 1, 1929, and Pebble Beach states its Concours began in 1950 in tandem with the Pebble Beach Road Races as a social/style addition to the race weekend. The 1950 Edwards R-26 Special Sport Roadster created and shown by S... Hillsborough describes itself as the longest continually running concours tradition, and later American events such as Amelia began the expansion of the modern concours calendar. Thank you to Bill Warner, one of my heroes for a bit of mentoring.