Keno Brothers announce Elegance at Hershey weekend auction

Just days before their inaugural collector car sale, set for Thursday in New York, Keno Brothers Fine Automobile Auctions has announced a multi-year agreement to stage another classic car auction as part of The Elegance at Hershey concours d’elegance, beginning in 2016.

“When the Keno Brothers approached us about aligning an auction with our annual event, it seemed like a natural next step in the growth of the overall weekend,” Michael Rich, chairman of The Elegance at Hershey, said in a news release.

“We’ve gotten to know both brothers, and the expertise and esteem they bring to the table establishes an extended credibility that couldn’t be purchased,” Rich continued. “We’re excited to create a new addition to our show and open the channels for even more collectors to get to know everything we have to offer.”

According to the news release, the brothers served as co-grand marshals at Hershey earlier this year.

“Leigh and I had the opportunity to gain a full experience at Hershey, as co-grand marshals and show entrants, and couldn’t have been more impressed with the levels of professionalism and high-caliber competition that Hershey showcased,” Leslie Keno said.

The twins showed a 1969 Lamborghini Miura at Hershey, and they are offering the car up for bidding at their inaugural Rolling Sculpture sale Thursday in New York City.

According to the news release, Leslie Keno pointed to the new partnership with Hershey as a perfect fit for two brands that want to broaden their appeal within the high-stakes collector car arena. While the Kenos have been involved with collector cars since childhood, they only recently launched their own auction house. And although Hershey has a long history in the collector car world with its annual autumn classic car swap meet, the Elegance has been held for only five years.

“We are proud to join such a prestigious event,” Leigh Keno said. “We’re all about history and treasure finding – and The Elegance prides itself on the very same desires – the town alone reflects a long historic legacy, and we couldn’t be happier to enter a new chapter that we hope will too become a tradition.”

The Elegance weekend at Hershey, Pennsylvania, is designed to celebrate what the news release called “a bygone era when the automobile stirred our imaginations and quickened our hearts.” The Keno Brothers auction, scheduled for Saturday, June 11, 2016, will join a weekend calendar that also includes:

• The Grand Ascent vintage hill climb with historic racing cars being driven up the “back road” to the Hotel Hershey. The event is modeled after the hill climb held each year at Goodwood in England and pays homage to sports car hill climbs that were such a significant part of the early years of sports car competitions in the United States. The Grand Ascent is held Friday and Saturday, sanctioned by the Vintage Sports Car Club of America.
• The Gala Dinner and Charity Auction, which in 2016 will have a theme of “Artistry in Motion” and will honor the work of automotive photographer Michael Furman. Proceeds from the Saturday evening dinner and auction benefit research to cure Type 1 Diabetes through the JDRF as well as the museum, library and research center of the Hershey-based Antique Automobile Club of America.
• The Concours d’Elegance Garden Party, the formal classic car concours held Sunday on the lawn of the Hotel Hershey.

The weekend also has included a 5-kilometer fun run on the hill climb course, a Hershey Gardens tour, various classic car seminars and “Concorso Bizarro,” a car show for “mechanical misfits, automotive abhorrences and the just plain tacky.”