The Audrain Concours d’Elegance: A 2026 Expert’s Deep Dive into America’s Most Exclusive Classic Car Event
“What’s it going to take to get you out to the Audrain?” So asked Donald Osborne, the bowtied, Italian-speaking master of ceremonies and spiritual advisor to one of the calendar’s finest automotive gatherings, the Audrain Concours d’Elegance, held in the Gilded Age bastion of Newport, Rhode Island.
Osborne and I were both in Miami for MODA (Miami Concours de l’Élégance), RM Sotheby’s bespoke, invitation-only event founded out of spite two years prior after Hagerty’s Broad Arrow auction house poached nearly 30 of RM’s veteran team. The audacity was clear: to stick it to Amelia Island, another world-class spectacle that Hagerty acquired outright. For years, the Audrain folks had been beckoning me to hang out and immerse myself since the event’s inception in 2019. I looked at Osborne and blurted, “Make me a judge?” He flashed his mega smile, waved a hand over me, and declared, “You’re a judge. See you in Newport.”
Into the Deep End: From Novice to Judge
The first time I attended Pebble Beach Car Week—the absolute granddaddy of all decadent, high-society car events—I was completely green. This was well before the relentless onslaught of social media, and I had no conception of such spectacles existing. I didn’t even know what to wear, naively assuming the main show on Sunday was merely another iteration of Cars and Coffee. I think I arrived in shorts and a T-shirt. One thing I did notice, however, was that a colleague of mine— Pulitzer Prize-winning automotive journalist Dan Neil—was an honorary judge. That seemed pretty cool. Then, a persistent brainworm from my undefeated ego burrowed into my frontal lobe as the thought popped into my head: “Why not me?”
The Audrain isn’t Pebble Beach. Talk to figures like Jay Leno, and they’ll tell you the Audrain is superior. I know this firsthand because during The Gathering at Doris Duke’s legendary Newport summer cottage, Rough Point—Audrain’s answer to The Quail—Spike’s Car Radio, the podcast I co-host with Seinfeld writer Spike Feresten (the man behind the iconic “No soup for you!” catchphrase), hosted a live show with Jay Leno as the special guest. Leno posited that the Audrain Motor Week reminded him of Pebble Beach 15 years ago. Leno, who owns, and I quote him, “a ridiculous house” in Newport, is an absolutely essential and integral part of the Audrain’s success. In fact, the mayor officially proclaimed October 2, 2025, as Jay Leno Day.
How to Judge?: Navigating the Waters
So, here I was, officially serving as a judge during the main event on Sunday. I was seated at the judges’ breakfast, enjoying coffee, eggs, and sausage, when head judge Phil Neff asked, “Is there anyone here who hasn’t judged a concours?” No hands went up, including mine. Alright, so I’d never judged a fancy-schmancy Sunday like the Audrain before. However, I’ve judged the parody car show, Concours d’LeMons, so many times that I’ve not only lost count of how many times I’ve done it, but I’ve also sworn to never do it again. Should I have raised my hand? Who knows, but like, it’s cars, ain’t it? How difficult could it be? Remember, my ego remains undefeated. Why not me?
Neff and his team paired me with Ray Evernham, the legendary NASCAR Hall of Fame crew chief who won everything, often alongside Jeff Gordon. Evernham and I hit it off immediately as we realized we’d both raced at Pikes Peak. We were tasked with presenting a special award, the Sporting Choice Award. Essentially, we were searching for the most sporting car on the lawn. I asked head judge Neff for 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 scrutinizing 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.
Sporting our official judge hats, engraved medallions, clipboards, No. 2 pencils, and navy blazers, Evernham and I stepped onto the field and quickly formulated a strategy. Like at all concours, the vehicles are organized into distinct classes. Our plan was to simply review each class, identify one car that truly “popped” above the rest, and write down our top four or five favorites. Our instructions were clear: avoid getting bogged down with the typical nitpicky minutiae that plague modern car judging. Who genuinely cares if the trunk lining is technically incorrect? In fact, don’t even open the trunk.
Still Not Simple: Navigating Elite Competition
Two of the classes made me realize very quickly that the answer to my earlier “Why not me?” fantasy was… not me. Class D consisted of Ford GT40 road cars, with about six examples that appeared to be nearly identical in quality GT40 Mk1 homologation specials. Seriously, they all looked equally awesome, and without scrutinizing carb-bolt alignment (as we were explicitly instructed not to), I have absolutely no idea how anyone could possibly pick a winner. We couldn’t. Put another way, the people judging Class D had to be true subject matter experts to even attempt such a distinction. The same was true for Class A, the prewar Alfa Romeo division, which featured six mind-blowingly excellent examples of the Alfa Romeo 8C. I couldn’t even begin to articulate why the car that ultimately won its class was chosen, though the burgundy beauty did go on to win Best of Show, and somehow, that part actually made total sense.
In any case, we still managed to compile a shortlist of our personal favorites, though significant sacrifices had to be made. There was a Lamborghini 3500 GTZ Zagato Coupe that completely blew my mind because I had never even heard of it before (it turns out only two of these legendary coupes were ever built, and the other one is being intentionally kept away from the public). However, I realized that as novel and awe-inspiring as I found the Zagato Lambo, it wasn’t going to win the Sporting Choice Award. For his part, Evernham was seriously impressed by an exceedingly rare Allard JR that had actually raced at the 1952 24 Hours of Le Mans. However, I quickly discovered that he owns three Allards, and we probably should strike this particular JR off our list. Sweet car, though. Fitted with a Jaguar C-Type body to comply with the revised Le Mans regulations but still powered by a massive 5.3-liter Cadillac V-8, it remains the most successful of the seven Allard JRs ever constructed.
The Hardest Choice: A Winner Emerges
The most challenging decision we faced was selecting the third-place finisher. It was a toss-up between a 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Touring Superleggera Coupe and a 1940 Cadillac Series 62 Bonham & Schwartz Convertible Victoria. I’m a complete sucker and fiend for postwar Alfas. I don’t know exactly what it is about them, but I just love them to pieces. I suppose it’s mostly the distinctive Bakelite used on all the switchgear. This particular 6C was finished in a handsome shade of blue and possessed an incredible backstory, including the fact that its current owner hadn’t driven it since 1973 until the day before the Concours d’Elegance, during the Audrain Tour d’Elegance.
However, we found the Cadillac more sporting. It was one of two examples custom-bodied in Pasadena, California, by the same renowned coachbuilders (Bonham & Schwartz) who created Clark Gable’s Duesenberg; the candy-red Series 62 just popped. It had that unmistakable wow factor, that instant recognition, that something extra that sets a car apart. One of two made, yes, but the only survivor as its sibling tragically burned up in a fire. This extraordinary automobile was originally built for a wealthy Californian oil baron family, the Doheny clan, which just happened to be the founders of a small settlement known today as Beverly Hills. We awarded the car our third-place vote, or in Audrain-speak, Honorable Mention.
The Final Call: Picking the Best
For us, the Sporting Choice Award ultimately came down to two cars: a truly 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 pedigree to win. Aside from being the only long-wheelbase T150 C ever built (only 15 standard wheelbase versions were produced), this particular example holds a racing record that will likely 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 feat
