• Classes

CONCOURS d'ELEGANCE

The Oktoberfest Concours is the jewel in the crown

A concours d’elegance—literally, a competition of elegance—is basically a car show. But what a show! From the manicured lawns of Pebble Beach to the splendid palace of Italy’s Villa d’Este, the concours displays rare and beautiful cars, restored to perfection and gleaming like the multimillion-dollar jewels they are. In such venues, cars are judged by various criteria, including historical accuracy as well as the elegance of their presentation—and a “100-point car” is a rare gem indeed.

But you don’t have to be a millionaire collector to buff up and enter your car in the BMW CCA Oktoberfest concours. Indeed, most CCA chapter concours events have more to do with members’ slavish attention to cleanliness and preparation than to authentic details, though the judges do pay attention to historical accuracy and technical merit—as well as fanatical housekeeping.

In the early days of the Club and our Oktoberfest celebrations, the Oktoberfest Concours was held early in the proceedings, but somehow the Friday tradition evolved; this meant that concours entrants spent most of their Oktoberfest week cleaning their cars, and then waxing them, and then waxing them again, then chasing those elusive wisps of lint with Q-tips and camel-hair brushes. This year we’re returning to the earlier tradition, holding the Oktoberfest Concours d’Elegance near the beginning of our event instead of at the end; we hope this will enable participants to relax during the rest of the week and enjoy the many other driving events. And for those who spend the weeks before Oktoberfest buffing their cars, this will give them the chance to put them on display before they get dirty again!

The concours is not a contest of speed, but of excellence—and of course the best-prepared cars garner reward and recognition! But there’s room for other members, too—the ones who think life is too short to spend so much time cleaning and waxing and rewaxing their cars. For those a little less compulsive than the Q-tip brigades, there is a non-competitive display class, where you can roll your BMW out without being judged.

Concours Chair, Goetz Pfafflin