Personality, Style and Perseverance Hillsborough Concours d Elegance Celebrates 57 Years The prestigious Hillsborough Concours d Elegance is indeed the longest continually-running Concours in the world. The 57 th edition of this historic event will held on Sunday, July 21, on the expansive greens at Crystal Springs Golf Course in Burlingame. Following up on his research about Hillsborough s landmark status, Concours Chairman Rob Fisher said, There may have been an earlier Concours Elegance at Morgans were, are and will always be timeless. Photos: Cookson Family Archives Villa d Este on Lake Como, but there were interruptions in that showing. We ve had so many accomplishments over this long run but I think it s important, too, to remember how we got started and why we should pay tribute to the Hillsborough parents who, against many odds, had the staying power to makethis such a venerable success. By May of 1956, Doris Legallet knew the Hillsborough Parents group was far behind in two major fundraising projects for the town s public schools. The first looming challenge was completion of the Halfway House recreation center on the North School grounds. The building was up but lacked heat, lighting, plumbing and flooring. But even more distressing was a $300 shortfall in the group s budget.
Up to this point, parents with kids in any one of Hillsborough s four public schools North, West, South and Crocker augmented the Town s lean schools budgets with fundraisers like rummage sales and a school carnival. Initially fund raising efforts were on a rotating basis among the four schools, but in 1959 the groups consolidated. Funds from charity events went towards everything from capital improvements to purchase of sports supplies. Legallet went to the district s Dr. Kramer and he came up with the idea for a Concours d Elegance benefit showing of fine automobiles, but they d have to hurry: the date was set for October. The idea was daring and new, but would also catch an emerging wave of California enthusiasm for imported vehicles -- and even more specifically, daring new sports cars with names like Jaguar, MG, Alfa Romeo and Porsche. By the late 50s road racing courses proliferated all about California and from the Del Monte Forest to Torrey Pines and on airport courses at Santa Ana, Moffett Field, Kingdon (Stockton), Palm Springs and Cotati, enthusiasts could savor the sound, speed and spectacle of premier European racing marques like Ferrari, Aston-Martin, Maserati, Allard, Mercedes-Benz -- as well as an emerging American hot rod contender, Corvette. A new breed of automobile dealership specializing in imports and sports cars was emerging all about The early Hillsborough showings were part carnival and car gathering. Note the simple awards podium ramp in foreground (probably 1968 show). Northern California and they saw the Hillsborough gathering as an ideal showcase for discerning enthusiasts. Early Hillsborough exhibitor Bev Spencer had a Buick agency but soon began fielding a stable of Ferrari sports racers in local competition as well as showing them here.
That first event, though, was nearly blown over before a single vehicle rolled on the Crocker greens. A squall rolled through Hillsborough that night and when Legallet and her team arrived at 5 a.m. all the booths, decorations and pennants were down. The committee righted the damage and by midmorning, the sun broke through. Even without Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) sanction and support (that would come 1965), the event drew 102 entrants and was a financial success. Margot Cookson was a chairperson in the 60s and was the first to bring husbands into the working team. 1937 XKSS entered in '68 by KGO Radio personality Jim Dunbar We began to expand with fashion shows. Hillsborough became a must-do in the San Francisco social set, she recalls. Ask Abby author Abigail Van Buren was among the first 23 concours committee members, setting a precedent for personality that would continue as a hallmark of the event for the coming years. Brass has always signified class.
In the 70s, Bing Crosby easily assented to lending his pipe-smoking presence to a California Living magazine publicity spread on the concours, one also showcasing latest fashions worn by Kathy Lee Crosby and Mrs. Ken Venturi. The event drew media stars like veteran KGO radio broadcaster Jim Dunbar, who in 1968 displayed his 1937 Jaguar SS100 roadster. For kids, a classic Rolls Royce will always be a bit awe-inspiring. The same year, San Francisco Chronicle executive editor Scott Newhall, a longtime motoring enthusiast, brought his 1930 Doble Steam Car. Among honorary judges that year was actress Pia Lindstrom, Ingrid Bergman s daughter. With the mid- 60s involvement of the SCCA s San Francisco region, a cadre of early sports car movers and shakers played roles in the expanding Hillsborough event, including benefactor and sometime-racer Sid Colberg, track announcer Larry Albedi, stylish SCCA track starter Don Seike and former chief SCCA judge Doug Salmi. San Francisco society convened at Hillsborough and the event was covered by society writers like the Examiner s Alfred Morch and the Chronicle s Frances Moffatt. It was a gathering of who s who in Hillsborough, notes current committee organizer Susan Fisher. Every family chipped in three to four hours of volunteer time at the Concours. It was the only thing that raised money for the schools. Hillsborough collectors and enthusiasts gave not only their time but rolled out an incredible field of spectacular vehicles.
Harry H. Hastings fielded two lovely classics, a 1923 Moon Sport Phaeton and a 1926 Diana 6 Phaeton. Wayne Weathers took top class and overall accolades for his 1913 Rambler open touring. Peter Lind showed his grand 1937 Rolls-Royce. In the 60s, Dr. Ron Greenspan exhibited his 1954 Porsche SC/GT. These first shows were not without style and drama. The 1960 event featured a Hillsborough Designer s fashion show but the drama came later. In an effort to more closely involve Hillsborough students, committee members decided to have eighth graders stage a Go-Kart driving demonstration. What could go wrong? The kids had already put together a showing of Doodle-Bug motor scooters and they d participated in closed circuit practice on school asphalt, all supervised by Hillsborough police. But when the flag went down, eighth grade male hormones kicked in and the Go-Kart race on Crocker grounds immediately took on every aspect of a full out Formula race through the winding streets of Monaco. Spectators, many parents, scrambled over cycle fences as the little Fangio speedsters were drifting and spinning with alacrity. Oops! Black flag! No harm, no foul.
Today, the Hillsborough Schools Foundation is one of three beneficiaries of the event s charity contributions, which in 2012 totaled $100,000. The other recipients are Autism Speaks, North America s largest autism science and advisory organization, and the 49ers Foundation, which provides extensive support for at-risk youth in the Bay Area. The Hillsborough Concours d Elegance runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $30. Children under 13 are free. For information, download the event site: www.hillsboroughconcours.org.