A 1938 French Roadster Takes Top Honors At Newport Car Show
Newport, Rhode Island was car central last week, as the annual Audrain Newport Concours & Motor Week turned this seaside city into a world of stunning vehicles. It concluded on Sunday with the Concours d’Elegance finale, where a litany of best-in-class awards were handed out to a beautiful array of luxury cars spanning from the early days of automobiles to recent generations. No honor is more prestigious than the ‘Best of Show’ winner, which went to a 1938 Delage D8-120 De Villars Roadster.
The Delage D8-120 Roadster was built in Courbevoie, France by the coachbuilding firm De Villars, and was later introduced in Paris in October of 1938. The car is owned by Fritz Burkard, who bought the ride in 2019.
The ‘Best of Show’ winner, with its notably eccentric flair, is said to be inspired by the industrial era of Europe and Art Deco style. The latter of which emerged in early 20th century France and eventually came to define the 1920’s and 1930’s style of the United States, most apparent in the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings in New York City.
Award winners were selected by a panel of 65 judges from five countries, and 180 cars participated in Sunday’s Concours d’Elegance finale, traveling from all over the United States and Europe. While the ‘Best of Show’ honor is of course the most coveted, capturing the hearts of the people is a respectable concession, as the ‘People’s Choice’ award went to a 1973 Buick Gran Sport Stage 1 Colonnade Sun Coup.
There were plenty of other best-in-class winners to go around. The class categories varied to encompass different eras and styles so that cars were generally competing against others from a similar period and design. Categories spanned from American Pre-War 1920-1930 to European Post-War 1960-1980, with some getting much more specific, such as British Icons, Little Gems and Racing Sports Cars. There were even categories for different time periods dubbed the 30 Under 30 class, which included car owners under 30 years old who have built their cars with less than $30,000.
Though the Concours d’Elegance show is the primary focus of the Audrain Newport Concours & Motor Week, the nearly weeklong event offers a loaded itinerary throughout the week. Each day presents a selection of activities for attendees, from cocktail receptions to seminars, art exhibitions, auctions and more. Plus, the Audrain Automobile Museum is in downtown Newport with rotating exhibitions of world-class cars. One would be hard-pressed to not find something to do, even if just taking the wonderful mix of natural and man-made beauty that coastal Newport has to offer.
To make things even better, Arturo Fuente and Oliva cigars were handed out at events Thursday night and most of Friday. At one such event Friday evening, McLaren Boston handed out sleek single cigar tubes to VIP guests at one of the main festivities.
Newport is perhaps most known for its remarkable row of Gilded Age mansions, symbolic of an era of unprecedented wealth and power among a select few. None is more famous than the Breakers Mansion, once a home of the Vanderbilt family with deep ties to automotive history that embody present-day Newport—and it’s the annual site for the Concours d’Elegance finale.
The Concours ‘Best of Show’ trophy actually features a member of the Vanderbilt family, Willie K. Vanderbilt. The one-time heir to the family fortune is said to have organized and raced in the first ever automobile race in America at the nearby horse-racing track in Newport on September 6, 1900. On the trophy, Willie K. can be seen racing around in his “Red Devil” Mercedes, his competition car of choice.
The Audrain Newport Concours d’Elegance will return to Newport next year, with the 2024 Concours & Motor Week beginning on October 3rd.
