10 Cars That Wowed at the 2019 Concours d'Elegance of America

The concours d'elegance held annually at the Pebble Beach golf course in California is fabulous, but it's also bougie and costs a ton of money to attend. While we recommend you go there at least once, the Concours d'Elegance of America is nearly as incredible and takes place in southeastern Michigan—which, we probably needn't point out, is far cheaper to travel to and stay in than northern California during one of the fanciest weekends of the year.

Having been running for over 40 years, the Concours d'Elegance of America has called the Inn at Saint John's in Plymouth, Michigan, its home since 2011. Given that the venue is just half an hour from the Car and Driver offices, the event is an annual go-to for us. While the concours names two Best in Show winners—which this year were a 1938 Graham 97 and a 1954 Ferrari 375MM, both pictured above—we picked our own 10 favorites. Because we're odd, our choices ranged from a coal-powered Citroën to a '60s Mercedes limo to a stainless-steel Thunderbird and a Mohs Safarikar (don't worry, we'll explain). Click through to see them all (and, yes, we also picked the Ferrari).

The DeLorean may be the most widely recognized car with an unpainted stainless-steel body, but it was not the first. Allegheny-Ludlum Steel built six 1936 Fords of the then-new material, later reviving the promotional effort with a pair of 1960 Thunderbirds. This T-Bird came up to Michigan from Cleveland, Ohio, where it is displayed on loan to the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum.—Kevin A. Wilson

This Vanden Plas–bodied car was the oldest among eight Bentleys in a class honoring the centennial of the marque's founding in 1919. It hails from 1924, the first year Bentley won the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. The famous "4.5-liter" inline-four (actual displacement 4398 cc) had an overhead camshaft and four valves per cylinder, helping make Bentley the top choice for sporting British gentry seeking to indulge in dual road and racing enjoyment.—Kevin A. Wilson

As evidenced by the bizarre-looking tumors on each of its front fenders, this isn't your typical Traction Avant. (As if any Citroën Traction Avant could be considered "typical.") Because of gas shortages in France during the war, this elegant front-wheel-drive French car was converted to run on coal. In those two large fender humps, the coal is ignited and, after about 30 minutes, methane gas rises to the tops of each one and into a carburetor to power the car. (Other converted cars could run on charcoal or wood.) Horsepower was reduced by about a third, cutting the Traction Avant's top speed from 65 mph to about 45 mph and overall driving range per, um, coal-up to only about 30 miles. This car is owned by the Lane Motor Museum, one of only a few such examples to have survived.—Daniel Golson

This Pininfarina-bodied 375MM caught our eye because of its unique and almost un-Ferrari-like bodywork. It caught the concours judges' eyes, too, because it won overall Best in Show in the foreign category. Just six 375MMs were built with a closed-roof body, and each one is slightly different. This example, the most luxurious of the six, uses actual leather upholstery instead of vinyl. The Ferrari's current owners purchased it in 1969 and have overseen a mechanical rebuild and a paint restoration. Like the other 375MMs, this one has a 4.5-liter V-12 derived from the Grand Prix race cars of the time, and the bodywork and most of the chassis are made from aluminum.—Daniel Golson

This flamboyant car has a fittingly flamboyant name. When it was introduced in 1952, the Dragon was Kaiser's most expensive model, and it was distinguished by exterior accents made from real 14-karat gold, special cloth seats, and the eye-catching "Bambu" vinyl roof you see here. It also came with extravagant period features including an automatic transmission, tinted windows, a rear (!) audio speaker, center armrests, and power steering. Topping it all off is a gold plate on the glovebox that came inscribed with the name of the owner.—Daniel Golson

Nearly as long as a current Mercedes-Benz S-class, the W189-generation Mercedes 300 models were flagships through and through. Typically referred to as Adenauers, 300Ds often came in the form of stunning pillarless hardtop sedans like this one. (A handful of cabriolets also were made.) Every 300D came powered by the same 3.0-liter inline-six that was used in the legendary 300SL Gullwing. Favored by businessmen and politicians, the Adenaurs were offered with features such as a phone, a dictation machine, a writing desk in the rear seat, and a glass partition between the driver and the passenger. This Sindelfingen-bodied example was bought by its second owner just three years ago.—Daniel Golson

This is not just any 928, Porsche's onetime front-engined GT car. It was built during the first year of production and came equipped with a five-speed manual gearbox, no sunroof, and checkered Pasha upholstery. If you can get over that whole "Porsche thought replacing the 911 with the eight-cylinder, front-engined 928 was a good idea" thing, this is one sweet vintage 928. It reportedly spent 25 years stored in an actual barn before a recent recommissioning.—Kevin A. Wilson

This lovely little British roadster was exported from England in bits and pieces before being assembled in Australia. The Riley Nine is powered by a 1092-cc (1.1 liter!) inline-four with a pair of gear-driven camshafts and a tall cylinder head with hemispherical combustion chambers. (Oh yeah, this thing's got a Hemi.) That same engine led Riley's 1934 effort at Le Mans, when it won the Team award, and its competition breeding is reflected in this example's history of rallying in Australia and continued use in U.S. vintage-racing endeavors.—Kevin A. Wilson

The Rolls-Royce Phantom V came to be known as much for its overt luxury as for its long list of notable and eccentric owners, which included Queen Elizabeths both I and II, Imelda Marcos, Liberace, and Elton John. Every Phantom V had a body custom ordered to its owner's desires, and this massive (and kinda weirdly styled) example was designed by coachbuilder Henri Chapron, who is likely best known for his custom Citroën DS models. His shop didn't turn out many Rolls-Royce bodies during its 50-plus-year run, and this Phantom is one of just a handful that Chapron took on in the postwar period. The Rolls's face is its most distinctive feature, with a gigantic waterfall grille and chromed vertical headlight surrounds.—Daniel Golson

A car as large and, um, distinctive as this Mohs Safarikar deserves multiple slides. There is simply too much to talk about. At the Concours d'Elegance of America, it was suitably displayed in a class called Oddities. This car is one of three prototypes built by the Mohs Seaplane Company of Madison, Wisconsin. Bruce Baldwin Mohs named his Safarikars for their anticipated purpose of African adventure.

The real adventure, of course, is simply beholding one of these Safarikars. They ride atop an International Travelall truck chassis and use that company's 392-cubic-inch V-8. The doors slide outward, but not much farther than is needed to allow a seated occupant to poke the barrel of a gun out to shoot at game. There also is a continuous steel beam in each of the Mohs Safarikar's doors—we can't stop typing that name—to meet Mohs's perceived safety aims. The roof is retractable via hydraulic contraptions.

The Safarikar's most distinctive "styling" attribute is its Naugahyde vinyl–covered body. There is 40 yards of the stuff used on the entire car, and it's held on to its wood and foam underpinnings by more than 7000 staples. According to current owner Mark Zalutko of Forty Fort, Pennsylvania, Mohs and his then 84-year-old mother handled the vinyl attachment process. Zalutko adds that, thanks to an aluminum-intensive upper superstructure (behind the wood and foam), the giant Mohs weighs "only" 5200 pounds.—Kevin A. Wilson