10th anniversary Concours d’Elegance draws record-breaking crowd

Vehicles travel from 12 states to be shown

The Dayton Concours d’Elegance at Carillon Park in Dayton celebrated its 10th anniversary with the largest field of cars and motorcycles ever, and a record-breaking crowd of more than 5,700 visitors.

All proceeds from the weekend events have gone to support Dayton History, Montgomery County’s official historical organization.

Brady Kress, Carillon Historical Park president and CEO, said the organization was thrilled to host the event, and very excited that it unfolded throughout the park’s collection of historic buildings, exhibits and artifacts. Carillon Historical Park features many stories of transportation including railroads, canals, aviation, bicycles and automobiles.

Vehicles came from 12 states. Entries ranged from a 1911 Cadillac to a 2004 Lamborghini. The marques included Bugatti, Tucker, Willys, Citroen, Pierce-Arrow, Crosley, Simca, Reliant, Vauxhall, Aston-Martin, Ferrari, Corvette, BMW, Volkswagen and many others. Motorcycle makes included Ariel, BMW, Harley, Husqvarna, Indian, Matchless, Norton, Penton and Triumph.

The day was mostly sunny, but a brief shower sprinkled on the gathering about halfway through the awards presentation, but the ceremony continued and the rain stopped in a few minutes.

Best in Class awards were presented in 26 classes, and 13 special awards were also handed out.

The art pavilion displayed the work of 12 nationally recognized automotive fine artists, while 10 model car builders displayed their hand-built works in the Dicke Transportation Center.

The 11th Dayton Concours d’Elegance, presented by AAA Allied Group, will be held in Sept. 17, 2017.

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