Art of the Car 2011

The annual Art of the Car Concours was held this weekend on the grounds of the Kansas City Art Institute. Celebrating the style and power of the automobile as a work of art, 180 cars graced the lawn on a hot, but cloudy Sunday. Rain threatened but thankfully held off allowing nearly 5,000 people to enjoy some wonderful, rare and beautiful machines.

We were greeted by the toothy grin of Dunbar the Buick's Great Great Uncle, a 1941 Super Convertible.

Greg relaxed and watched the crowd mingle. In center is a 1932 Cord 812 Beverly sedan.

A close up of the futuristic Cord, one of the most influential designs from the 30's. Front wheel drive too.

A massive and rare 1928 Cunningham V5. Picture does not do justice to the size of this classic. Cunningham was a hand built car from an old line carriage company in Rochester, NY. Ceasing production in 1931, they built hand made wooden hearse bodies for a few more years. V5 did not mean a V shaped 5 cylinder engine, but was a series name.

A jaunty 1920 Kissel Gold Bug Speedster. Amelia Earhart owned one.

A relic from the steam age. 1910 Stanley Model 62.

A one off show car by Nash from 1956. The Palm Beach was pure Nash underneath but sported a Pinninfarina body. If only... (sorry no back half of car, there was a crowd around it)

1953 saw the debut of 3 limited production super-luxo tourers from almighty GM as well as the similar Packard Caribbean. This one of them, a Buick Skylark. Greg noted the similarity in the side sculpture on today's Buicks, probably not a co-incidence.

The big, distinctive grille work of the Skylark

The luxurious hand made leather interior of the Skylark



A lucky survivor, 1974 Buick Le Sabre Luxus Convertible. Convertibles were on their way out by 1974, Buick built its last big convertible in 1975. One of 3,827 built, all original with 8,000 miles.

A big honking toothy 1948 Buick Super Convertible

A Chrysler Town and Country convertible from 1946. Lots of real wood work on this handsome machine.

A classy Mercedes 250 SEC from 1966

1947 Bentley, I always preferred the more rakish Bentley grille over the upright Rolls.

The air cooled Franklin 4 door sedan from 1926. Amelia Earhart had one of these too. She was a car nut.

Cadillac style from 1941 Fleetwood 60 Special

A rare visitor from Great Britain, a swoopy 1948 Diamler Green Goddess.

Stylish art deco steering wheel of a top of the line Studebaker President. 1938

Yep A Doozie! 1929 LeBaron bodied J

Even a Duesenburg engine is a work of art

Packards were out in force, a 1948 Packard Custom Eight.

Ask The Man Who Owns One 1934 Packard 1105 Super Eight 7 passenger sedan

The 7 passenger sedan was a loooooong piece of work!

Another Packard Convertible a 1932 902 Eight Coupe Roadster.

Minty fresh Packard 903 Deluxe Eight Convertible.

The imposing visage of a 1932 Packard 903 Deluxe Eight Sport Phaeton.

The interior of the Deluxe Eight oozed luxury and hand crafted style.

A Ford Flathead V8, but where is it at??....

...in the rear of a very rare (9 built) 1936 Stout Scarab. Art Deco in looks but way ahead of its time inside; almost a minivan in concept with a center folding table and swiveling chairs. This one came from North Carolina.

NASCAR inspired Ford Torino Talladega, built for speed on the super speedways of the day.