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The particular shoreline of Georgian Bay outside Owen Sound, Ontario was lined with a hundred and twenty-five of some of North America’s best collector automobiles this Sunday. Thousands associated with spectators viewed the cars parked on the fairway of the Cobble Beach Golf Resort as judges brought in from across North America graded basically to determine the winners.

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In the end, the 2022 Cobble Beach Concours d’Elegance’s Best in Show award went to a lavish 1928 Isotta-Fraschini in the high-performance Super Sprinto trim, built to be shown at the 1928 New York Auto Show. The LeBaron-bodied boat-tail cabriolet built on an Italian chassis features an ostrich-leather interior and other luxury appointments. It was originally purchased for US$20, 000 by a wealthy aviation pioneer and his silent-film-star wife.

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A 1932 Judkins-bodied Lincoln KB coupe shown by Expenses and Rita Wybenga of Picton, Ontario won Best in Class and Many Outstanding Pre-War classic awards. Vernon Smith of Swift Current, Newfoundland took top honours with regard to Most Outstanding Post-War classics with his green 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, which cost a whopping US$13, 500 when new, the most expensive Northern American car sold within its model year. General Motors, which usually during the concours celebrated 120 years of building Cadillacs, is said to have lost $10, 000 on each associated with the 400 Eldorado Brougham cars sold in 1957, styled with rear-opening doors, the stainless steel roof, and lead-weighted cocktail glasses.

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The Common Motors Heritage Centre introduced several concept cars illustrating the evolution from the mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette. They included the 1968 Astro II; as well as the 1973 Chevrolet Aerovette.

A 50, 000-original-mile 1963 Corvette split-window coupe displayed by Sarnia dentist Lennie Slipacoff won a Best in Class honor. But the vehicle came very close to not making it in order to the show. The rare Corvette caught fire because Dr. Slipacoff and their twin brother Lawry started out on a Cobble Seaside Concours participants’ tour of the Bruce Peninsula on Friday. A fire extinguisher through another participant was used to quickly douse the underhood flames, preventing body damage. The car was completely rewired by five mechanics at Southwest Kustoms in nearby Chatsworth to make the Corvette show-ready again.

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TFX Transport founder Wally Horodnyk received the second-place award for early Corvettes with his red-and-white fuel-injected 1957 model. Deb Read from Caledon took top honours with her green-and-white 1957 Corvette.

Presenting sponsor Porsche brought together a cavalcade of rare colours represented by Porsche sports cars over several decades. Seventy-five years of Ferrari sports cars were also well-represented, with a 1964 350 America owned by Hugh Welsford through Burlington crossing the podium. A very rare 1955 Porsche Spyder, similar to the race car actor James Dean was driving when a vehicle crash required his life, won Best in Class and People’s Choice awards.

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A replica of the first gas-powered car ever built in Canada – an 1897 Fossmobile – was displayed by Ron Foss. Top class accolades went to the 1911 Pierce-Arrow restored by Peter Fawcett from Whitby, Ontario. Fawcett had driven the car on a 300-kilometer round-trip summer tour to Niagara. A 1912 Tudhope touring car shown by John Smith won top honours in its class. Tudhope cars were built in Orillia, Ontario and used the most Canadian components of any car integrated Canada at that time. The Tudhope factory is now Orillia’s city hall.

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Show presenter Rosemary McLeese plus chairman Rob McLeese received their class with Rosemary’s 1931 McLaughlin-Buick roadster . Rosemary is a descendant of the particular McLaughlin family that built Buicks within Oshawa. The company later became General Motors associated with Canada.

Restored from pieces stored in a trailer was Sandy Sinclair’s rare 1932 DeSoto Roadster, originally manufactured by Chrysler of Canada in Windsor. Also on display was a 1922 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, owned simply by Robert Thompson of Port Elgin, Ontario. The Guild of Automotive Restorers within Bradford, Ontario brought the 1948 Delahaye Cabriolet by Franay.

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Noted London, Ontario Cadillac collector Steve Plunkett displayed his 1949 Cadillac Series 75, which was initially used by MGM Studios in order to transport film stars. The car was custom-bodied in wood simply by coachbuilders Bohman & Schwartz. Hanover farmer Tony Lang and wife Elaine experienced more than a dozen cars through their 50-car collection on display, including a 1961 The chrysler 300G convertible, a 1968 Shelby Mustang GT500KR transformable, and the 12-cylinder 1933 Pierce-Arrow convertible coupe, one of only three in existence.

Long-time car restorer Al Webster displayed an art deco 1934 LaSalle convertible coupe painted Argentina Orange. The last of 18 coupe convertibles sold in Canada, Webster bought the car in pieces and completed the restoration just in time for concours judging. A panther pink 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T got the Best in Class award for muscle cars. A 1967 Shelby Mustang GT500 and 1961 Pontiac powered by a 421-cubic-inch engine having a four-speed transmission were runners-up.

The Cobble Beach Concours d’Elegance has raised over $800, 000 for the Sunnybrook Hospital and Owen Sound Regional Hospital foundations. The ninth annual Cobble Beach Concours d’Elegance is scheduled for September 16 and 17, 2023.

Alyn Edwards is a classic car enthusiast and partner in Peak Communicators, a Vancouver-based public relations company. He can be reached at [email protected] com.