The 33rd annual Palo Alto Concours d’Elegance car show is scheduled for 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., June 25 at Stanford University.
The Concours began in 1967 in a field next to Stanford University. As it grew, the event moved to the Town and Country Village, then Palo Alto High School, and has been held at Stanford the last 20 years.
George Paddleford, one of the six founders of the Concours, remembers that first year well.
“We only had a few people come and we lost $1,800 at the first show. We made some changes and never lost a penny since,” he said. “Now it’s presented by the Palo Alto Lions Club and the money is raised for charities in the South Bay.”
Each year the show features at least one marque car and this year the American Lincoln and the European Jaguar are being featured. The Lincolns are from the Nethercutt Collection and the Jaguars are from the SS100 to today’s models.
Jaguar was started in England in 1934 by a company making motorcycles. The first sports car was a 2.5 liter 90 in 1935 with a stylish two-seater bodywork.
The SS100 of 1936 was powered by a 2.5-liter engine and cost in the vicinity of $600. After World War II, the company was renamed Jaguar Cars, even though the name Jaguar first appeared in 1935.
Jaguar’s most famous model may be the XK roadster, which was introduced in 1948 and quickly won five LeMans races over the next several years. The first Jaguars were difficult to distinguish from their SS counterparts and they were followed by the MkV.
Gil Gilfix, executive director of the Concours, said the Lincoln exhibit will be large. Lincolns on exhibit will run from the first models to the present day LS.
Lincoln has been around for 80 years and is one of two remaining domestic luxury brands from the beginning of the motor age in the 1930s.
Lincoln is a division of the Ford Motor Company. Ford is one of the sponsors of the Concours.
When the original Lincoln company was in serious financial trouble and entered receivership, Henry Ford paid $8 million for the assets in federal court. It then became a division of the Ford Motor Company.
Today, the Lincoln Navigator is among the leading luxury sport-utility vehicles. The new mid-luxury, rear-wheel-drive Lincoln LS displays a new level of responsiveness and handling for a domestic luxury sedan and has been favorably compared to the BMW 5-series and the Lexus GS400.
Also displayed at the Concours will be a Ferrari exhibit, along with classic, vintage and racing automobiles, plus village trailers, hot rods and a miniature engine exhibit.
Admission to the Concours is $16 for adults, free for those under age 16.
For more information, call 961-5444
