Concours d’Elegance

In a city the size of metro Chicago, where charity events take place almost every weekend, how do you create a spectacular event that is a “must attend” for local patrons?

Three local charities put their heads together, combined their resources and brought a new idea to the Makray Memorial Golf Club in Barrington.

The first Concours d’Elegance events began in Parc des Princess, Paris in the late teens or early 1920’s, during the “salon” era when high fashion and high art were all the rage in France. Originally the shows were simply a way to show the new automobiles at a time when automobiles were the newest and latest invention to capture the dollars and the imagination of the wealthy globetrotters traveling through Europe. Today the Concours d’Elegance has become a show of distinction where high-end car collectors can display their rare, historic, classic, and performance racing cars in a juried exhibition.

The Barrington inaugural Concours d’Elegance, the first ever Legends and Legacies, a Parade of Elegance featuring some of the world’s rarest, and most historic classic cars took place in September of 2007. The event drew record crowds who paid $25 in advance or $30 at the event or purchased VIP tickets for $75 in advance or $80 on event day for a chance to get a close up view of these priceless cars. The Concours d’Elegance achieved fame at shows located in Pebble Beach, Hilton Head, Meadow Brook and Amelia Island, but has never made an appearance in the Midwest prior to this past September at Makray Memorial Gold Club.

Mary Bradford-White, president of the Barrington Hills Conservation Trust helped to organize the Concours d’Elegance.

Imagine what a thrill it is to stand next to some of the most valuable and rare historic cars in the world. Joining high end car collectors from around the country, there were several cars showcased in the Concours d’Elegance that are from local collections including a 1939 Bugatti T57-C, a 1936 Auburn 852, a 1937 Austin Seven Nippy, and a 1910 Model T Ford.

The three local charities responsible for bringing this elegant event to the Chicago area are the Barrington Hills Conservation Trust, Cowboy Dreams of Illinois, and Hospice of Northeastern Illinois.

The Barrington Hills Conservation Trust was founded in 2001 to help preserve the open land, the rural character, and the scenic, historic, recreational and ecologically significant resources of the Barrington area.

Cowboy Dreams of Illinois provides hippotherapy and therapeutic horseback riding for children with special needs at its riding center at Kickapoo Farms in Barrington Hills.

Hospice of Northeastern Illinois was founded in 1982 in Barrington by a small group of volunteers who were dedicated to the philosophy of hospice established the organization to benefit those who wanted to care for their elderly or ill loved ones in their homes.

The Concours d’Elegance of Barrington is slated to be an annual fund raising event and has the potential to become a national event. The Chicago area is lucky to have an event of this stature in our immediate area. It gives us a chance to see cars few have actually seen up close, a chance to relive a past era in our imaginations, and to see cars that collectors have lavished their time and spent fortunes on.