Michigan Golf Journal July 2021

Michigan Golf Journal Concours d’Elegance For decades, the circle of cars called European Post War has been a staple of the Concours d’Elegance of America. The circle has always represented the best of the best from Europe’s great carmakers and the most beautiful works of the Continent’s most talented designers and coachbuilders. The European car market of the post-war era market produced a wide range of body sizes, styling themes, and driving dynamics – which ranged from pure sports cars to chauffeur-driven limousines and everything in between. Furthermore, it was an era when cars truly reflected the cultures in which there were created. Today, new sedans from France, Germany, or England are virtually indistinguishable from each other in terms of design, performance, and overall execution. In the Post War era, European consumers were blessed with an endless variety of culture-rich offerings. Citroen’s innovative, yet playful DS could only have come from France – a country that viewed art and design as a cultural resource. Germany’s over-engineered, somber, and serious 600 could only have come from Germany’s engineering-oriented culture. Rolls-Royce’s grand and regally styled Silver Cloud, with its book-matched walnut, Connolly leather, and Wilton wool carpets represented the best that England had to offer.