A Grand Return to Glory: Judging the Audrain Concours d’Elegance 2026
The gilded Age mecca of Newport, Rhode Island, is more than just a historic backdrop; it’s the spiritual home of one of the most prestigious marques in automotive history, the Audrain. Since its inception in 2019, the Audrain Motor Week has been steadily climbing the ranks, rivalling even the likes of Pebble Beach in terms of historical significance and automotive reverence.
I still vividly recall the first time I found myself in Newport, a rookie at the granddaddy of all decadent, fancy-pants car shows, Pebble Beach. Back in the days before the age of endless social media scrolling, I walked into that environment feeling completely out of my depth. I had no idea that such elaborate spectacles even existed, and in my youthful ignorance, I naively assumed the Sunday show was simply an extension of Cars and Coffee. I probably showed up in shorts and a t-shirt—a far cry from the tailored suits and formal attire expected at such an esteemed event.
But amidst the sea of unfamiliar faces and opulent scenery, I noticed a close friend, a Pulitzer Prize–winning automotive journalist, serving as an honorary judge. It struck me then, with that undeniable surge of ego that knows no bounds, that perhaps I too belonged in that privileged circle. Why not me?
The Audrain, I quickly discovered, isn’t Pebble Beach, and many agree with me. Jay Leno, a man who owns a truly ridiculous house in Newport and is an indispensable figure at Audrain Motor Week, has often stated that the Audrain surpasses Pebble Beach. He made this point during The Gathering at Doris Duke’s incredible Newport “summer cottage,” Rough Point—Audrain’s answer to The Quail. Spike’s Car Radio, a podcast I co-host with Jerry Seinfeld’s head writer, Spike Feresten (inventor of the iconic line, “No soup for you!”), did a live show with Leno as a special guest. He declared that Audrain Motor Week mirrors Pebble Beach as it was 15 years ago. The mayor of Newport, through a proclamation, deemed October 2, 2025, to be Jay Leno Day, solidifying his integral role in the Audrain.
And in 2026, the Audrain has elevated itself to unprecedented heights.
The Baptism by Fire: How to Judge a Concours
So there I was, stepping into the deep end as a judge during the main event on Sunday. Seated at the judges’ breakfast, enjoying coffee, eggs, and sausage, the head judge, Phil Neff, posed a question that sent a jolt through the room.
“Is there anyone here who hasn’t judged a concours?”
Not a single hand went up, including mine. Now, admittedly, I hadn’t judged a fancy-schmancy Sunday like the Audrain. However, I had judged the parody car show, Concours d’LeMons, so many times that I’ve not only lost count, but I’ve sworn to never do it again. Should I have raised my hand? Who knows, but it’s cars, right? How hard could it be? Remember, my ego is undefeated. Why not me?
Neff and his team paired me with Ray Evernham, a NASCAR Hall of Famer who has won everything and often with Jeff Gordon. Evernham and I hit it off immediately as we realized we had both raced at Pikes Peak. We were tasked with awarding a special prize, the Sporting Choice Award. Essentially, we were looking for the most sporting car on the lawn.
I asked head judge Neff for some clarification. Did he want us to focus more on sports cars or actual race cars?
“Yes,” he replied, smiling.
This meant we were responsible for looking at and judging every car present that had either two doors or no doors. That’s well over 100 cars. And we had just two hours to do it.
The Anatomy of Judgment: Navigating the Classes
Sporting our judge hats, medallions, clipboards, No. 2 pencils, and navy blazers, Evernham and I stepped onto the field and quickly came up with a plan. Like at all concours, the cars are broken up into classes. We’d simply look at each class, identify one car that “popped,” and write down our top four or five favorites. Our instructions were not to get bogged down with the typical nitpicky minutiae that plagues modern car judging. Who cares if the trunk lining is wrong? In fact, don’t even open the trunk.
Two of the classes made me realize quickly the answer to my earlier “Why not me?” fantasy. Class D consisted of Ford GT40 road cars, six near as I could tell being identical-quality GT40 Mk1 homologation specials. For real, all looked equally awesome, and without checking carb-bolt alignment (as we were instructed not to do), I have no idea how you’d pick a winner. We couldn’t. Put another way, the people judging Class D had to be real and serious subject matter experts to make this call. The same was true with Class A, the prewar Alfa Romeo division, which consisted of six mind-blowingly excellent 8Cs. I couldn’t even begin to tell you why the car that won its class did so, though the burgundy beauty did go on to win Best of Show, and somehow that part totally makes sense.
Still Not Simple
In any case, we still came up with a short list of our favorites, though sacrifices had to be made. There was a Lamborghini 3500 GTZ Zagato Coupe that blew my mind because I’d never heard of it before (turns out it’s one of two ever built, and the other one is being purposely kept away from the public). However, I realized that as novel and “Wow!” as I thought the Zagato Lambo was, it wasn’t winning the Sporting Choice Award. For his part, Evernham was super into an exceedingly rare Allard JR that raced at the 1952 24 Hours of Le Mans. However, I quickly discovered he owns three Allards, and that we ought to strike this JR off our list. Sweet car, however. Fitted with a Jaguar C-Type body to comply with new Le Mans regulations but still powered by a 5.3-liter Cadillac V-8, it remains the most successful of the seven Allard JRs built.
The hardest choice we had to make was for third place. It was between a 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Touring Superleggera Coupe and a 1940 Cadillac Series 62 Bonham & Schwartz Convertible Victoria. I’m a sucker and a fiend for postwar Alfas. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I just love them to pieces. I suppose it’s mostly the Bakelite used on all the switchgear. This particular 6C was finished in a handsome blue and had a great backstory, including the fact its present owner hadn’t driven it since 1973 until the day before the Concours d’Elegance, on the Audrain Tour d’Elegance.
However, we found the Caddy more sporting. It was one of two, custom-bodied in Pasadena, California, by the same folks (Bonham & Schwartz) who did Clarke Gable’s Duesenberg; the candy-red Series 62 just popped. It had that wow factor, the know-it-when-you-see-it, that extra something special. One of two made, yes, but the only survivor as its sibling burned up in a fire. This car was built for a wealthy Californian oil baron family, the Doheny clan, that just happened to be the founder of a little town called Beverly Hills. We awarded the car our third-place vote, or in Audrain-speak, Honorable Mention.
The Final Call: When Elegance Meets Velocity
For us, the Sporting Choice Award came down to two cars: an oligarchic 1938 Talbot-Lago T150 C Lago Figoni et Falaschi Teardrop Coupe and a light green 1951 Cisitalia 202SC Pinin Farina Cabriolet. The Talbot “Goutte d’Eau” certainly had the provenance to win. Aside from being the only long-wheelbase T150 C ever built (15 regular wheelbase versions were made), this particular car holds a racing record that will never be broken: Built in 1938, this T150 C won the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa in 1948, making it the oldest car to ever win a grand prix race. Imagine a 10-year-old car winning an F1 race today? That alone was almost enough to swing us. But not quite.
Perhaps it was the Talbot-Lago’s massive sunroof, or dark paint job, or the fact that by lengthening the car, the normally tidy Figoni et Falaschi shape looked a bit bloated, or maybe the Cisitalia was just that good. From my co-judge, Evernham: “The Cisitalia just spoke to me. The combination of color, stance, and placement of chrome created a picture in my mind of driving it down a beautiful coastline wearing my vintage Wayfarers.”
Exactly right. Look, there’s a good reason the Museum of Modern Art in New York includes a Cisitalia 202 (coupe) in its permanent collection: These little sports cars are just that spectacular. And somehow on this day, in that
