Professionally judged and curated, the Arizona Concours d’Elegance takes place Sunday, January 19, 2025, with 100 valuable dream cars and collector vehicles from throughout North America shown on the lawns of the Scottsdale Civic Center in an impressive display of engineering, design, and sheer beauty.
The Arizona Concours is presented in partnership with Scottsdale Arts, the organization responsible for an array of artistic services in the city. The theme for the 2025 edition of the Concours is “The Art of Automotive Engineering.”
There are 15 classes in the 2025 edition of the Arizona Concours, ranging from early “horseless carriage” motorcars, through the Art Deco and Classic eras, to the high-performance exotic sports cars of recent years. Professional judges will examine each vehicle to determine class awards and the coveted Best of Show winners, one for pre-WWII and one for after.
For the first time since the Arizona Concours d’Elegance was established in 2014, the 2025 event will include a class for “important and historic motorcycles,” titled “Engineering on Two Wheels.” Other featured classes are dedicated to Bugatti automobiles, Trans-Am race cars, RUF custom sports cars and the lavish bodywork of acclaimed French designer Jacques Saoutchik.
The day before the Concours, the Arizona Concours seminar series will be held January 18 at the nearby Scottsdale Library with two programs. The first will feature Peter Larson and Ben Erickson, the authors of an extensive three-volume homage to the extraordinary life and art of Saoutchik, the Russian-born engineer who emigrated to Paris to create bespoke luxury vehicles for wealthy clientele.
A second seminar on January 18 will focus on the Glory Years of Trans-AM racing, 1966-72, presented by a panel of historians and collectors who will discuss the V8-powered all-American race series.
Seminar attendance requires the purchase of Concours Plus tickets. For ticket information, visit ArizonaConcours.org.
The Bugatti class, titled The Iconic Engineering of Ettore and Jean Bugatti, will include a spectacular 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, which was one of the most evocative and famous designs from the French automaker.
Just three of these curvaceous coupes were sold, each with uniquely bold rivetted seams on the fenders and roof. This Atlantic won Best of Show at the 2003 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Then it won Best of Show at the Arizona Concours in 2017.
Other noteworthy entries include a champion 1960 Ferrari 250 GT race car; a custom 1930 Rolls-Royce limousine originally owned by Hollywood screen-legend Constance Bennett, who leased it to the studios to use in films; and a 1929 Mercedes 680S Torpedo Roadster artfully designed by Saoutchik.
The Arizona Concours d’Elegance is the first major concours to pay tribute to the Glory Years of Trans-Am. This was a time of intense rivalry between major manufacturers, deep corporate funding and top professional drivers that included Mark Donohue, Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones and Sam Posey, racing throughout the US, Mexico and Canada. The race series helped define the muscle-car era, when cubic inches ruled and the horsepower wars were in full swing.
The champion 1968 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 that dominated the Trans-Am series, driven by the great Mark Donohue, is part of that class. The No. 6 Camaro with Donohue at the wheel started on the pole 9 times and won 10 of the 11 races entered. Considered to be the most-significant Camaro race car of all time, it was part of the Roger Penske team and sponsored by Sunoco.
One of the more-unusual Trans-Am entries is the 1969 AMC Javelin race-prepped by Ronnie Kaplan and raced by the Penske team, successfully competing against the more-prevalent and better-funded pony-car racers from the Big 3 automakers. The No. 3 Javelin (with a 1970 body) was a strong competitor with several famed drivers, including Jerry Grant and Ron Grable.
Tickets for the Arizona Concours are available at ArizonaConcours.org and at the box office inside the Scottsdale Center for the Arts. Ticket prices are discounted if purchased in advance – the pricing tiers are explained on the ArizonaConcours.org website.
Proceeds from the Arizona Concours benefit local artists and art programs, as well as Make-A-Wish® Arizona – kids from Make-A-Wish take part in the Concours activities, including choosing their own winning vehicle, which then receives a unique handmade trophy.
Visit ArizonaConcours.org for tickets and more information about Arizona’s premier collector car event.
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