The Hilton Head Island Motoring Festival & Concours d'Elegance
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Location: The Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn
Tickets: Tickets will go on sale Summer 2012
Concours d’Elegance
Sunday, November 4 | 9:00 AM - 4:00 pm
Tickets
General admission tickets for the Concours d'Elegance (daily and weekend passes) will be available online summer 2012. Tickets purchased prior to mid-October will receive an advanced purchase discount. Tickets will also be sold at the gate during the event.
Patron packages Saturday and Sunday (November 3 & 4) are available in advance for individuals and for businesses. Patron packages include food & full bar, exclusive seating in the Patrons Tent offering good views of the Magnolia Parade Route & Awards Stage and VIP parking. Individual patron packages (packages available for groups of 2 or 4) are available online (Summer 2011) and corporate packages are available through the Motoring Festival office (843.785.7469).
Parking
Parking (including designated space for handicap parking) is available on-site at the Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn for $10 per car. Complimentary off-site/remote parking is available at the Hilton Head Island Public School complex with a shuttle to the event site.
Location, Directions & Transportation
The Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn is located on the north end of Hilton Head Island at 70 Honey Horn Drive, Hilton Head Island, SC 29926. The 68 acre historic Honey Horn property has a history dating back 300 years and is described as the last significant parcel of open space on Hilton Head Island. The venue consists of salt marshes, open fields, stands of centuries old live oak trees, the state's largest Southern Red Cedar tree dated at 1595, and a collection of some of the oldest buildings that exist on Hilton Head Island. For directions to the Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn, click here.
Register
Interested in participating as an exhibitor in the 2011 Concours d'Elegance? Click here to fill out an application for the 2011 show.
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Location: The Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn
Tickets: Tickets will go on sale Summer 2012
Concours History
Sunday, November 4 | 9:00 AM - 4:00 pm
Concours d'Elegance, literally translated, means "parade of elegance." Since its inception, the term referred to a very special type of carriage or automobile show.
In the 1920's the first Concours d'Elegance was staged as an elegant marketing effort in France. The custom automobile coach builders and fashion couturiers of Paris were making luxury products of important design and wanted a new and different way to reach their markets. In an effort to create a unique way to reach the market, an idea was developed of a grand exhibition combining both automobiles and fashion.
Fashion models dressed in the latest Paris creations would drive new automobiles up to a reviewing stand. The automobiles tended to be luxury cars decked-out with custom coach work. In many cases they were one-of-a-kind. The models would step out of the cars and model their fashions for the crowd. The cars and fashions were judged and awards given. The awards were based on beauty, design and style.
Before World War II, the Concours d'Elegance format was popular and became a premiere social event. The underlying objective was for manufacturers to reach the market for these beautiful high design products. Concours d'Elegance became the most elegant method of selling products. The Concours d'Elegance was meant not only as a car show, but also as a total extravaganza of style.
The Concours d'Elegance theme faded from the European market during WWII. It reemerged in the 1950's in Pebble Beach.
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Location: The Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn
Tickets: Tickets will go on sale Summer 2012
2011 Winners
Sunday, November 4 | 9:00 AM - 4:00 pm
Click here for a complete list of winners from the 2011 Concours d'Elegance.