Hilton Head Island Concours 2021

The Hilton Head Island Concours 2021 is a full-on Low Country motoring experience, “curated, elegant and refined” as they like to say. From the black tie gala to the Car Club Showcase, the manicured 18th green of the Hilton Head Island Golf Club was set as the backdrop for one of the most entertaining car show concours in America. All the stops were pulled to make this year’s Hilton Head Island concours an elite classic car experience. Then mother nature stepped in and threw us a curve.

A low pressure system came up the South Carolina coast and by Saturday the Hilton Head Island Golf Club was saturated in a driving rain. The Car Club Showcase had to be canceled, and the Concours D’Elegance on Sunday was in danger of being canceled as well.

But on Sunday afternoon the skies cleared and, undaunted, a modified ceremony was improvised to complete the Concours presentations. Because the fields were too wet to allow vehicles to drive on, the awards were announced over the loud speakers by the master of ceremonies. Then the four major award winners were displayed in the Club House square.

Out of the 267 show cars registered for this year’s Hilton Head Island Concours 2021, these four cars won top honors.

The Best of Show award went to a 1932 Packard 903 Deluxe Victoria owned by Richard and Patricia Lambert, of Port Orange, Florida. The vintage Packard also won the Rolling Art Award for its vintage design. (Click the arrows to view photos in the slider above.) 
A 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster won the People’s Choice award. It is owned by Ed and Tina Knoll, of Saint Louis, Missouri.
The Best Road and Track honor went to a 1951 Cooper MG Sports Racer owned by Howard and Diane Banaszak, of Fernandina Beach, Florida. The award is for the best example of a vintage race car.
A 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz was chosen for the esteemed Paul Doerring Best Production/Performance Car award. The classic Cadillac is owned by Phil and Mary Farese, of Wake Forest, North Carolina.
Taking honors as Best of Show in the Motorcycle class was a 1937 Sunbeam Light Solo Sports owned by Richard and Marsha Daughenbaugh, of Aiken, South Carolina. Nineteen of the 267 registed show vehicles were vintage motorcycles.

The Hilton Head Island Concours 2021 also presented a special Hilton Award for the first Duesenberg production car. Brought to the show by the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum, the 1921 Duesenberg Model A Coupe was the first car produced for sale by the Duesenberg brothers. This special coach built Duesenberg was owned by the Castle family from California. Originally ordered by the grandfather of the family, this Duesenberg had been in the family’s ownership for 100 years. It was appropriately donated to the A-C-D Museum for Duesenberg’s 100th Anniversary.

Honoring the automobiles of the past has become a yearly tradition here at the Hilton Head Island Concours. This year’s featured marque was Stutz. So vintage examples of the Stutz Motor Car Company were on display. There were 24 classic Stutz motorcars lined up in a display at the center of the fairway.

Although only a few cars could win the top awards, there were many here today that won awards in their class. This is one of the true historic events in the U.S. The vintage classic cars you see here you may never see anywhere else. Here are some of the Best in Class winners on the showfield at Hilton Head Island.

Over seventy judges were involved in determining the Best In Class awards.