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The Concours D’Elegance, or “Competition of Elegance,” is pretty much the premier classic automobile car show circuit. Think of it as the Miss America Pageant, but for cars. Old autos are critiqued on a 0-100 scale, with a 100-point car being no better, or worse, than the car that left the factory. When you’re talking about cars that are between 40 and 100 years old, even a single wrong nut or bolt can cost you the coveted first place prize (and associated bragging rights). Most Concours winners aren’t even driven but from the trailer to the show field, a few times a year.
So why is Hemmings Auto Magazine [3] putting out a call for Chrysler Wing Cars to attend this year’s New England Concours d’Elegance?
This is the fifth annual Hemmings Concours event, which will be held on Sunday, July 17th in Stratton Mountain, Vermont. Concours events often celebrate certain storied cars, and this year will be no different, as the celebratory vehicle are the famous Chrysler wing cars from the end of the muscle car era.
Specifically, the Winged Warriors known as the Dodge Charger Daytona and Plymouth Superbird, which dominated the NASCAR circuit with their huge spoilers and legendary aerodynamic improvements. Built for just one year, only a few thousand of these cars were ever built and sold…and many of them were raced, crashed, or otherwise “ruined” by attrition and time.
However, these cars are spectacularly popular with Mopar collectors, so there’s sure to be more than a few perfect examples left in circulation. But will they heed the call and show up at the New England Concours?