Popular concours has no formal judging or vehicle clases

The Seventh Annual Art of the Car Concours® is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 23, on the KCAI campus. The event features more than 200 vintage, classic and special-interest vehicles, including cars, trucks, racing cars and motorcycles belonging to collectors from eight states.

This event, a benefit for the KCAI scholarship fund, is growing in popularity and stature among vintage and classic collectors. The Concours is unique for its size and scale in having no formal judging and no classes of vehicles. The intention is to provide a wide range of very high-quality, original, vintage vehicles in an eclectic, informal setting, without the pressure of traditional Concours events.

This year, organizers of the event have arranged for a special afternoon of focus on 1950 and 1960s racing. Special guests to appear at a Saturday afternoon program on June 22 include, Sir Stirling Moss OBE, the most famous racecar driver of the era; Kansas-born Denise McCluggage, a journalist and the most well-known female racecar driver; and a number of friends of Kansas City racecar driver Masten Gregory, who was known as the “Kansas City Flash.”

Moss raced from 1948 to 1962, winning 212 of the 529 races he entered, including 16 Formula One Grand Prix races. His success in a variety of categories placed him among the world’s elite, and he has often been called “the greatest driver never to win a World Championship.”

McCluggage, who was born in El Dorado, Kan., began racing in the mid-1950s, and one of her racing achievements included winning the grand touring category at Sebring in 1961. She ended her racing career in the late 1960s and eventually became editor of Autoweek magazine. She also had a stint at the New York Herald Tribune as a sports journalist.

Gregory was born in Kansas City, Mo., and raced sports cars and Formula One from 1957 to 1965, competing in 43 World Championship races. He was one of three Americans (including Carroll Shelby and Phil Hill) who were actively engaged in the European racing scene beginning in the 1950s. He died in 1985 of a heart attack in Porto Ercole, Italy. Gregory was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.

Admission is $15 at the gate; $12 online in advance of the event; and children 10 and under are admitted free. Early admission tickets ($25) allowed entrance before 10 a.m. (as early as 8 a.m.) for those who want to photograph cars as they arrive and are positioned on the lawn.
(From event website)