Art of the Car Concours Featured on The Kansas City Star Website

Art of the Car Concours: Featured in The Kansas City Star

All of us at Aristocrat Motors and Mercedes Benz of Kansas City are proud to be the title sponsors for the 2011 Art of the Car Concours. This fantastic display of classic automobiles benefits the scholarship fund for The Kansas City Art Institute. Recently we were mentioned in The Kansas City Star as the title sponsor:

Kansas City Art Institute to host Fifth Annual Art of the Car Concours on June 26

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (May 31, 2011) - The fifth annual Art of the Car Concours®, featuring nearly 200 vintage, classic and special-interest vehicles, including cars, trucks, racing cars and vintage motorcycles belonging to collectors from eight states, will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 26 on the campus of the Kansas City Art Institute, 4415 Warwick Blvd. Vehicles from Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, Iowa, North Carolina and Oklahoma will be on view.

“This event, a benefit for the KCAI scholarship fund, has begun to develop a national reputation,” said Marshall Miller, a Kansas City attorney and vintage car aficionado who founded and serves as chairman of the event. “The Concours is unique for its size and scale in having no formal judging and no classes of vehicles. The intention is to provide a wide range of very high-quality, original, vintage vehicles in an eclectic, informal setting, without the pressure of traditional Concours events.”

Advance tickets may be purchased online for $12 at www.artofthecarconcours.com. The day of the event, tickets may be purchased for $15 at the gate. Children 10 years old and under, as well as active duty military (with identification), will be admitted free. In addition, early-bird tickets are available online and at the gate for anyone who would like to arrive between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. to see or document vintage cars arriving for the event. Those tickets cost $17 when purchased online and $20 at the gate. Anyone who purchases a $12 ticket online but who then comes early to the event may pay another $5 to enter the campus prior to 10 a.m. Proceeds from sponsorships and ticket sales will benefit KCAI’s scholarship fund.

Featured vehicles this year include a 1929 Duesenberg, a 1930 Rolls Royce Phantom, a 1936 Stout Scarab and a 1956 Nash Rambler.

“The 1929 Duesenberg Model J-129 Dual Cowl Phaeton, owned by John Groendyke of Enid, Okla., has been shown at Pebble Beach, Meadow Brook and Amelia Island,” Miller said, citing three of the nation’s premier concours venues. “The 1930 Rolls Royce Phantom II Cabriolet de Ville, owned by Lawrence Smith of Wichita, Kan., has never before been shown in public and has a special French custom body. The 1936 Stout Scarab, owned by Dick Taylor of Lumberton, N.C., is a Grand National Award-winner that has been shown at Amelia Island, as has the 1956 Nash Rambler Palm Beach Coupe, owned by Scott Morris of Kearney, Neb. The Nash Rambler also was the Pininfarina 1956 Paris Show car. The upcoming Concours in Kansas City will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view these very special cars.”

One of the most popular activities at the Concours is voting for “People’s Choice” awards. Ballots will be distributed to all who attend the event, and they will be invited to vote for their favorite cars. After the votes are counted, trophies created by a KCAI alumna will be presented to the top five vote-getters. Corporate sponsors, the president of KCAI and the chairman of the Concours also will be presenting trophies to the owners of special vehicles chosen as the best in categories that range from “best color” to “car we’d most like to insure.”

“In five years the Concours has grown to the largest in the Midwest for high-quality original vehicles of a wide variety,” Miller said. “There is no similar event in Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, St. Louis or Dallas. As a result, exhibitors, sponsors and visitors from around the country will be traveling to Kansas City for the Concours. This year we have many new vehicles that will delight our guests. We especially encourage multi-generations of families to attend, as that is how I started my interest.”

Miller said that he anticipates that from 180 to 200 vehicles, trucks and vintage motorcycles will be on display. Many of the local vehicles are in private collections and have not been publicly displayed. Amelia Island and Pebble Beach Concours winners also will be displayed.

The event has attracted both local and national sponsors. The Mercedes-Benz Dealerships of Kansas City, Aristocrat Motors/Mercedes-Benz and Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City are the presenting sponsors. Additional sponsors include Baron Automotive; The Branson Car Auction; Curves Ahead Transport; Grass Pad; Hagerty Insurance Agency Ltd.; Hyman Ltd.; Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp., U.S.A.; McPherson College; and Meguiar’s Inc. Community partners include DeLaSalle Education Center, McPherson College and Tivol.

The Kansas City Art Institute is a private, independent, four-year college of art and design, awarding the bachelor of fine arts degree with majors in animation, art history, ceramics, digital filmmaking, digital media, fiber, graphic design, illustration, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture and studio art with an emphasis on creative writing. The college also offers evening, weekend and summer classes in art, design, multimedia studies and desktop publishing for children, youth and adults. Founded in 1885, KCAI is Kansas City's oldest arts organization. More information about the Art of the Car Concours is available at www.artofthecarconcours.com.

We hope to see you at this year’s Art of the Car Concours!