Cars produced between 1925 and 1948 and that survived World War II in Europe will be recognized as the “honored marque” at the 15th annual Hilton Head Island Motoring Festival & Concours d’Elegance this fall.
“The artistic styling, overwhelming elegance and rich history of these cars made them, as a whole, a worthy selection as this year’s Honored Marque,” Carolyn Vanagel, festival president, said in a news release. “By celebrating this era in European history, we’re celebrating some of the amazing survival stories of World War II. The fact that these cars survived such destruction and devastation is, in and of itself, miraculous.”
Working within the Classic Car Club of America’s official designations and the 1925-48 time period, cars representing automakers such as Alfa Romeo, Bugatti, Hispano-Suiza, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz and other European brands will be grouped into three featured classes — one for roadsters, one for phaetons and one for sedans. They will be displayed at the Port Royal Golf Club as the concours caps the festival on November 6.
Also featured at the concours will be American cars from the 1956 model year, 60 years of the Fiat 850 and 124 Spyder. In addition, a special display will pay tribute to Anderson, a South Carolina-produced car celebrating its centennial.
The festival opens the previous weekend with the Savannah Speed Classic vintage races October 28-30 at the Westin Savannah Harbor circuit, where a new food truck festival will be part of the weekend schedule.
After the races, the festival’s focus shifts to Hilton Head Island for various events, including an Auctions America classic car sale.
This will not be the first time the concours has featured a group of diverse cars as its honored marque. In 2006 it focused on the Cars of Indiana and in 2008 it featured Brass Era vehicles.
For more information, visit the festival website.
