Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance

This year’s Concours was phenomenal. They were celebrating 60 years of Ferrari and that was evident from the instant you walked on the field. The show was much bigger than previous years and there were at least 70 Ferraris — classics and contemporary.

What a great day! Went to the Hillsborough Concours for the second time today. Last year was cool and they featured a lot of classic Maseratis. This year’s show seemed much bigger (approx 240 classic cars) and there were ~60 Ferraris from a wide variety of eras. One of them belonged to the King of Belgium.
The event is really classy, but still casual and family friendly. The show is set on the fairways of the Crystal Springs Golf course and there’s just something special about walking up the hill and seeing lines of classic cars and white tents on the beautiful green and mountainous backdrop.
I bought the higher priced VIP tickets which included an open bar, catered buffet and a private tent in the shade. The food was really good. My friend Andrew tried to get the same tix but they had sold out, but he said the food was similar and his tickets were only $ 35.
I went to the Pebble Beach Concours last year and this show comes really close in terms of classic car quality IMHO, but thankfully it’s more local and WAYYYYY more affordable.
One cool, unexpected thing was the new car showcase. They had a couple dozen high end new cars including 2 MacLarens (one you could sit in!), a bunch of Ferraris, Maseratis, Audi R8s, a BMW i8. I enjoyed that as much as the classics.
Terrific show. I’ll be back next year!

I remember going to the Concours d’Elegance every year since I was 12 for the Crocker Middle School fundraisers. Recentlyish, the location changed from the large Crocker fields, to by the Crystal Springs Golf Course. Every year, a different car make is the theme and is showcased. Additionally lots of classic and exotic cars make appearances as well. A family member’s car was entered during the Porche year and it was a blast showcasing next to all the other awesome cars.

The Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance is an annual car show for all types of super fancy classic cars. Lots of cool classics to see on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon in August. Many brands were well-​represented there, including some very rare and very old brands. There were the usual collections of Rolls-​Royces and Bentleys, Chevys, Fords, and Shelbys, Ferraris and Alfas, Jaguars, etc. Among the more rare specimens, there was an Iso Grifo, a Lambo 350GT, a Talbot-​Lago, a V16 Cadillac, Packards, Studebakers, and lots more.
It took place this year at the Crystal Springs Golf Course. There was plenty of free parking to be had across the freeway, and shuttles were running back and forth regularly. You could wander all around the cars and peer inside the windows, chat with the owners, and listen to them start the engines and watch them drive away… all very cool. The winners in each class and overall winners all got to drive down the red carpet and were presented with their awards (by a few 49ers’ Gold Rush Girls), and there were small grandstands for the crowds to watch the cars drive past. It was definitely a lot of fun to admire not just the magnificent creations from the past, but the work that had gone into restoring and maintaining some of these ancient machines.
The only downside was the $ 30 admission fee. At least the proceeds are supposedly going to benefit various local charities…