This thread contains accepted Concours d'Cancelation entries in the American Antique (1949-1969) Presented by Graves Plating
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1955 New Yorker Deluxe 2-Door
Robert Mark and Wendy Lee
Punta Gorda, Florida
American Antique 1949-1969
This car is the result of a meticulous frame-of restoration completed in 2018. Purchased in 2002, it is very similar to the car given to me by my great-aunt to drive in high school. Since only 5,777 New Yorker Deluxe two-doors were produced in 1955, I feel very lucky to have been able to restore this iconic car of my youth.
Historically, the New Yorker was one of Virgil Exner's (Father of the Fins) styling debut of the "Forward Look" in 1955 that brought Chrysler into the realm of upscale brands.
This car is a 2020 Gasparilla Concours d'Elegance Accepted Participant
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Car: 1956 DeSoto Fireflite Sportsman Four-Door Hardtop
Owner: Gary Carr
Location: Pasadena, California
Proposed Class: American Antique, 1949-1969
Details: The four-door hardtop was a new body style for DeSoto in 1956, as was the Fireflite model. The Sportsman was the most expensive of the three versions on which the hardtop was offered. It was equipped with a 330 c.i.d. engine rated at 255 horsepower with a top speed of 108 mph. It weighed in at 3,970 pounds with Fireflite production at 3,350 units. The base price was $3,431; power seat was an option at $70 while optional power brakes were an additional $40.
Little is known about the early history of this car other than it is an original California car coming from the Sacramento area. It was inherited by the son of the original owner, the son living in the Central Valley, year unknown. It was acquired by a well-known San Francisco collector in December 1989 with 84,000 miles. It became part of the current collection in October 1998. Restoration began in 1999 through 2000 to factory specifications as it is seen today. The factory color combination of Iridescent Plum and Iridescent Lavender is one of the most striking you will ever see. The interior is finished in lavender brocade and white leather. Options include power seat, power steering, power brakes, steering wheel clock, Mopar factory floor mat, wire wheels and above all, factory air conditioning. Including the power seat and power steering, equivalent cost of this car today would be $31,277. At 89,451 miles, only 5,451 miles have been added in the last 41 years. This car was "Best in Show" winner at the National DeSoto Meet/San Diego in 2017. As spokesman Groucho Mark would say, "It's Delightful, it's De-lovely, it's DeSoto!"
car: 1954 Corvette
Owner: Steve Chaney
Location: Vancouver Wa 98682
Proposed class: American classic ( 1949-1969)
Details: Barn find, sat from 1960 till 2015. I restored it completly myself, off frame , numbers matching, nut and bolt correct all original. It took me 1 year to finish, 2200 hours.The car judged at NCRS , awarded Top Flight 97.4 points. The car was Judged at Forest Grove Concours and awared 1st in class/ best open car post war and was runner up for best in show 2 years consecutively. Since the NCRS's Judging I have made most all correct correction to bring my car to a possible 99 point score. Forest Grove Concorse D E'legance knows my car
Car: 1957 Studebaker President
Owner: Mike McChesney
Location: Chilliwack, B.C., Canada
Proposed Class: American Antique (1949-1969)
This was my Grandfather’s dream car. He ordered his new 1957 President from a Vancouver, BC car dealership. This was one of just over 400 Presidents assembled by Studebaker Canada for 1957. The car was shipped across Canada by rail from Hamilton, Ontario to the dealer in Vancouver. It was my grandfather’s dream to buy an Airstream trailer and travel with my Grandmother. Unfortunately, he never did get the trailer. As an option he had the seats “Pulmanized” so that the back of the front seat folded down form a bed with the back seat. This is how they went camping.
I grew up five houses down from my grandparents and know this car from my early childhood. When my Grandfather passed away my Grandmother gave the car to me. It was my daily driver for a while. When I got married it was used as our wedding car (plastic flowers were carefully placed to cover the rust spots). Although it sat for an awfully long time, gathering dust, needing restoration, my good wife let me keep it. I eventually had it restored as close to the way my grandfather had it as I could, including clear plastic seat covers over the original upholstery, BCAA sticker in the window, car dealer script on the trunk.
I enjoy driving it to car events. I occasionally have to explain that it is not a Chevy and that it is a Studebaker engine. Its al part of the fun.
Car: 1956 Buick Century X
Owner(s): Steve Plunkett
Location: London, ON
Proposed Class(es): American Antique (1949-1969)
Representing: The Cobble Beach Concours d’ Elegance
Details:
https://www.historicvehicle.org/an-evening-with-the-1956x-buick-century/
Jacksonville, FL - Buick’s unique and obscure Century X styling department custom will make its international concours debut in the Silver Anniversary Amelia Concours d’Elegance’s Cars of Harley Earl class on March 8, 2020.
Bill Mitchell was Harley Earl’s hand-picked successor at GM Design and Styling. Their association seemed to go beyond the standard boss-employee dynamic. Many called it a father-son relationship.
Mitchell was just 23 when Earl appointed him chief designer of Cadillac. His design of the 1938 Cadillac 60 Special was a landmark. But Mitchell was a “Buick man” long before he became a man. His father was a Pennsylvania Buick dealer, and despite being the design prodigy given the reins of the Corporation’s premier car division and style leader, Mitchell ached to draw Buicks.
Few were surprised when, on May 1, 1953, Mitchell left Earl’s private design firm -- Harley Earl Corp. -- returning to GM becoming General Motors Director of Styling.
Mitchell drove over 50 “personalized” vehicles during his GM career and was best known for his love of Corvettes and Camaros. But his heart belonged to Buick and three years after returning to GM he created the factory custom Buick Century X. It wasn’t a landmark dream car like Earl’s Buick Y-Job or the 1951 GM Le Sabre, but a modified production car-- “special order 90022” -- a true factory custom.Buick show cars were the glamour models of the Corporation. Much was expected from the Century X. Buick delivered . Mitchell’s 225 changes were more subtle than startling, hardly the usual fare for a GM “dream car” of the fifties. Dual side exhausts exited through the rocker panels requiring holes cut in the frame with plates welded around the orifices for added strength. Century X also wore twin telescoping power headrests, Skylark-style wire wheels, Mitchell’s signature red chassis, and a tachometer. Chrome accelerator and brake pedal trim told anyone who knew the design section’s secret internal language that this was indeed Bill Mitchell’s car.
Being a racer at heart and taking a page from his mentor’s corporate playbook, Mitchell had the Century X driven to Elkhart Lake, WI for the Road America races in 1956. His timing was good. A new V-8 Corvette -- another Mitchell favorite -- defeated a throng of Jaguars to notch the mighty V-8 Corvette’s first victory at Road America. Mitchell spent race weekend cruising around the resort village much as Harley Earl had done at Watkins Glen during 1951 Grand Prix week with the Le Sabre dream car.
1955 Cadillac Coupe De Ville
Owner: John Adams
Lake Oswego OR
American Antique 1949 - 1969
This Coupe De Ville was built at GM’s Clark Street Cadillac plant on February 7, 1955. A perfect example of “Detroit Iron”, she was sold new at Menasco Motors in Grants Pass Oregon to Charlie Patton, a local lumber mill owner. Ownership passed to his son Lowell in the mid 1960's. It went off the road in the mid 1990's and was stored in an unused lumber mill building, eventually becoming a "mouse hotel." It became a "barn find" in 2011 and was removed to new co-owner's home, John Adams.
He began a full frame off nut and bolt restoration of this numbers matching Cadillac taking just over 7 years to complete. Named “Marilyn” during the restoration process to honor the epitome of 1950’s glamor, style and “cool”.
1955 Cadillac
Car: 1955 Ford Thunderbird
Owner(s): Chris Hadfield
Location: Toronto, ON
Proposed Class(es): American Antique (1933-1948)
Representing: The Cobble Beach Concours d’ Elegance
Details:
Chris Hadfield is a fighter pilot, astronaut and spaceship commander, but he has always wanted to drive a 1955 Thunderbird. When this Snowshoe White model came up for sale in 2001 near London, Ontario, Chris was working as NASA’s director in Star City, Russia, so his Dad went for a look at the car on his behalf; Chris ended up buying it over the phone. Chris and his son Evan drove “Snowshoe” down to Houston, Texas on an epic springtime road trip, stopping at every roadside attraction, including Graceland. The car was Chris’ daily driver to and from his work at NASA for the next decade, parked conspicuously on sunny days in the “astronaut parking” lot at the Johnson Space Center, and carefully moved to higher ground during the hurricanes. Snowshoe originally rolled off the Dearborn, Michigan assembly line on August 3, 1955; was sold new in Seattle; and spent 30 years in Victoria, B.C. as a doctor’s wife’s car (he had a black ’57). It was rebuilt in 1974, eventually bought by the owner of a Canadian Tire franchise in 1988, brought to Ontario, and stored. The car has just come out of a full restoration by craftsman Dave Harrison of Straffordville.
https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/astronaut-and-the-55-t-bird/
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