by Wallace Wyss –
The pandemic torpedoed many of the premier concours, but I am glad to see some new ideas are coming along for future ones. Among the ones I applaud is the announcement (I saw it in Larry Edsall’s article in Classic Car Journal) that The British Concours, aka England’s Concours of Elegance, scheduled for September 6 at Hampton Court, will feature a new “Junior Concours” for half-scale petrol, pedal and electric-powered children’s cars.
Aston Martin DB2 – “Junior Concours”
“Led by The Little Car company’s Bugatti Baby II,” the Journal wrote “the entrants, in children’s racing overall, will drive their vehicles onto a stage for judging, concours officials said in their announcement.”
One memory I cherish from the ’40s was that I had a metal-bodied pedal car but alas don’t remember the make of car it was imitating. But as an adult when I visited the famous car designer Dick Teague in Franklin, MI, I remember him showing me a genuine “baby” Bugatti. These were created by the same people who built real Bugattis. So I think it’s about time the children’s cars got some attention and I hope they will have children pilots behind the wheel as well.
While that British concours as a whole will have nearly 1,000 adult-sized cars participating in the 3-day concours, 20 vehicles will comprise the junior class.
Edsall quoted the event director as to the motive: “We’ve always considered our event to be extremely inclusive, allowing families to indulge their passion, or spark a lifelong obsession with the world of motoring in their children. With our Junior Concours we’re shining a light on the fascinating world of specially built children’s cars, popularized by the Austin J40 of which almost 32,000 were built from 1950.”
Some of the cars will have working headlamps, innovative powertrains and be the spitting image of the full-size models they seek to imitate.
Porsche 917K – “Junior Concours”
I think I’d like to suggest adding a crew of junior sized judges, strolling about with scoring sheets as they pick the best of the best. I’m on the fence as to whether these cars should be entered by children or adults–I don’t know how the Brits are handling it.
I hope other concours pick this idea up and run with it.
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
THE AUTHOR: Wallace Wyss is assembling an anthology of short fiction, all on the subject of cars. He can be reached at photojournalistpro2@gmail.com.
Photos compliments of England’s Concours of Elegance.
I can’t think of a better way to create the next generation of car collectors than promoting the Junior Classes! This brings families closer together by allowing children to work on their cars with their parents. It develops a desire for competition and develops the opportunity for lifetime friendships within the community. Bravo!
Agreed. My aim is to “preserve the admiration of collector cars among future generations” so it’s important to me to add a kid’s component to any event I contract with.
Wally, check out this fun kid’s Letizia Ferrarina car on offer at my client’s Saratoga Motorcar Auctions event next month. It was imported to the USA by none other than Chinetti himself! Tell me it wouldn’t be fun to enter that if you were a child.