Bill Wallet gets the questions pretty regularly.
Why, someone will ask, should they pay to go to the Atlanta Concours d'Elegance when there are so many other weekend car shows that are free to attend? What's the difference?
Wallet tends to offer simple — if not always succinct — explanations.
“The reason you come to my event,” he says, “is to see cars you have never seen before. And the cars that we have, we will have a large percentage of them with values in excess of a million dollars. Some of these cars are the only one left of their type.”
The Concours d'Elegance, which Wallet co-founded with friend Harry Krix, will be back this month for its third year at Chateau Elan Winery and Resort in Braselton. Existing concours shows are held in places like Amelia Island, Fla., and along the California coast. But Wallet's event is the first in the Atlanta area.
The two-day event will feature about 160 cars built, generally speaking, between 1900 and 1968. The majority will date back to before World War II and all of them will look as good as, if not better than, the day they were built, Wallet said.
Special attractions will include four different cars from Duesenberg (an Indiana manufacturer of race cars and luxury vehicles that operated between 1913 and 1937); two “older Bugattis”; and 30 different “brass cars.” The latter is used to refer to cars made roughly between 1896 and 1915, the early years of American automotive manufacturing.
The cars come from all over the country.
“It’s like going to a museum of fine art,” Wallet said. “In this case, the art is a car.”
Wallet said the event has grown each year. It welcomed about 5,000 guests last year.
The 2018 event will be held Sept. 29 and 30, with the namesake competition held on the final day. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit atlantaconcours.org.
