VINTAGE CARS ARE COMING TO LAS VEGAS

What happens when you mix 200 high-end vintage vehicles with the vibrant backdrop of Las Vegas… We’re about to find out as the inaugural Las Vegas Concours d’Elegance is set to take place in Nevada’s gaming capital on Oct. 25-28.

“I’ve been a lover of automobiles my entire life and bringing this event to the Entertainment Capital of the World has been a dream of mine,” said Stuart Sobek, concours founder and chairman. “The Las Vegas Concours d’Elegance will present an exquisite display of design and craftsmanship married with the thrill and excitement of Las Vegas. It will truly be unique in every way, featuring some of the world’s finest automobiles, a Tour d’Elegance down the infamous Las Vegas Strip, a celebrity golf tournament and much more.”

Sobek, a Las Vegas resident, has been involved with collecting, showing and racing cars for some three decades. He currently is a member of the Classic Car Club of America along with Lamborghini and Maserati clubs.

His event gets underway on Friday, Oct. 25 with an Opening Night Gala at the Cleveland Clinic in Las Vegas. Officials say it “will be a luxurious extravaganza with exciting entertainment, Michelin-rated cuisine presented by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, and elements of surprise and festive fun.”

The concours will take place Saturday on the 18th hole of the DragonRidge Country Club in Henderson, Nevada, just south of Las Vegas. Some 200 cars are expected to compete in 30 classes including Designer Dream Cars of the 1930s, European Post-war Touring/Luxury, American Muscle, Rat Pack and Concept Cars. (Glance around this page for a look at some of the vehicles scheduled to be there.)

The concours Best of Show winner will receive a special “Helene” statuette named for Helene Rother who’s credited with being the first woman to work in an auto company design department having joined the interior styling staff of General Motors in Detroit in 1943. In 1947 Rother established her own design studio, Helene Rother Associates. She was then contracted by Nash Motors to style interiors on that company’s cars.

On Sunday, concours cars will take part in the Tour d’Elegance from 10 a.m. to noon. The Tour will start and end at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino at the south end of Las Vegas Boulevard, aka the Strip. Vehicles will begin their cruise heading north on the Strip, turn around near the north end of the Strip and return to Mandalay Bay, “allowing spectators from both sides of the boulevard to have an up-close look at the automobiles as they pass by.” Vehicles will leave the Mandalay Bay in groups and be escorted by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

The event will wrap up on Monday back at the DragonRidge Country Club with a golf tournament where “guests get to golf with some of their favorite celebrities from the world of cars, music, sports, entertainment and politics.”

Tickets for the events are available online only at lasvegasconcours.com and are listed at $100 for the concours, $200 for the Opening Night Gala, there’s an $800 VIP package that includes the concours, gala and other amenities, and it’s $500 for the golf tournament.

If you think you’re running a little short to cover, say, the VIP package and the golf game, maybe the thing to do is hit town mid-week, win big at the casinos and easily cover your concours expenses. Well, it’s a thought. –Ted Kade, Editor