Louisville Concours at Churchill Downs

Hey, I understand that there were several guys who received invitations. And were accepted.
Only to find out later, "the Committee" pulled their entries and they're no longer in the
exhibitors part of this event. I agree, I thought this was a Charity event, more exhibators means more money.
I'm sure the caliber of those guys cars selected before were high or they wouldn't have been chosen.
So why un-invite them, if they were previously invited... Things that make you want to say Hummmmm..

 

Not a good way to get participation in my opinion. I'm glad to hear money is going towards the charity, but what I don't get is why such a high cost venue? I would imagine the "expenses" would far out weight the benefits that Brooklawn is going to see. I am also assuming the organizers are using this for a vehicle for good contacts for their own business as well.

 

That is the first I have heard of anything like that. If that is the case, that is not so good. This is their first time putting a show like this together. They are definitely learning as they go. I tried to get as many people as I could involved locally as soon as I learned about the show and there will be a nice Louisville presence there.

The venue is perfect for their event. We may take Churchill Downs for granted as it is in our backyard, but there are car enthusiasts all over the country that are thrilled about showing their car(s) there. In fact, I was told earlier this evening that there are 190 cars entered from 28 different states. I think everyone will be pretty impressed with the cars that will be on display there. Also, this is just the first year for the show, I'm sure over the next few years the cost of putting on the show will come down and the exposure from the show will go up. So, it should be a huge fundraiser for Brooklawn in the long run.

 

I'm bringing my car in my hauler. So I can't detach and drive a truck about and I understand the hotels do not want haulers in their lots. There will be a palce to park the hauler on the grounds,yes? Are the hotels w/in walking distance?
Thanks
Harry

 

Yes a very good point - I've always thought Churchill Downs is a beautiful location for such an event.

You are right though they are learning. Keeneland has an interesting concept in that they allow all "classes" of cars into the show day of and parking is provided in areas that make for a more grand display. Organizers perhaps should consider that when organizing a marque venue that "all" applicants be invited -especially if "not" to be judged. In other words, $25 a car gets you in to a paid class lot.

If they think they have "growing pains" now wait until Corvette is set as the marque. You ain't seen nada.

 

That is good this will help out the charity. Is Churchill allowing this venue for free or is there a fee involved? I thought I heard the figure was somewhere near $100K to do this event? May not be true but if it is wow! Anyways whether it's to gather people for a good cause and create a group of people to network with for business purposes I hope it's a success. I thought the person who started this was a financial planner?

 

You've got a PM

 

I thought your last party ran close to that....

 

I will check for you on the car hauler. You can't be the only one with that issue. If you can access the owner's forum, I believe Gershwin made a comment about having a message about hotels there.

I do like the way Keeneland does that. Keeneland has the luxury of having all kinds of space outside the racetrack for the cars. Having it at the infield of Churchill does have its size limitations. Perhaps this will have to be looked at for future Concours events held there.

I was wondering where you were going with the business networking. The person who's idea it was is a financial planner but he is also a car guy. I believe he owns an Alfa Romeo racecar if I am not mistaken. Also, I don't know what the event is costing Brooklawn, I don't deal with any of the finance stuff, I am just helping with field operations for the actual event. That said, I believe they had several large donors helping things out along the way.

There are a lot of people/companies backing this event and hoping it will be a huge success. With what I have seen, I have no doubts this will be a great Concours. You really should try and attend if you can, it will certainly be worth your while.

 

At the PCA meeting we told Robert Davenport our thoughts. If you want this to fly, you have to accept all sorts of cars. If you become snobbish from the start, you will be unsuccessful. You need more than 80 high dollar unique $1 million+ cars to be successful. Have the marque cars and a whole lot of other fun exotics. Most patrons may be more interested in the cars that they can actually think about owing someday like classic Porsche 911, Ferrari 308, and anything Adam owns To try to get a large turnout with only 80 cars to view is a big mistake IMO if you charge an entrance.
At Keeneland, we all parked amongst the big $ cars and when we walked around, we looked at the affordable cars that we would want to own someday. We were talking about BMW 850's, some various muscle, some lower dollar Italian etc....

 

Nope. We raised quite a bit for the charity. Like I said I could have taken money for my time, but I didn't feel that was right and didn't do it.

 

I agree. Now if there was a huge ferrari turnout then it would be another story. I just think sending out acceptance and then pulling them if that is what happened is snotty.

Doug...didn't the committee know you were from Lucust Frog Creek out in the east end? If they are not going to let you in, heck i will be kicked out before I even step into the gates. LOL!

 

Kinda strange. Robert told me & Steve to bring pretty much anything. I never applied, so who knows. Robs email address is: [email protected]

 

LOL! maybe it's just a Doug thing!

 

Joey
I emailed him and was told to apply online. I received my non acceptance letter last week. I am not interested in being in the show...my car is never clean enough and it is just a clone. I just thought it would be fun to be in some sort of corral or field of other interesting cars like Keeneland. From what I understand, the show will be 80 mostly high dollar exotics. Anything else will be parked among the SUV's, Buicks etc...in the parking lot.

 

Doug, the show will be more than 80 mostly high dollar exotics. As I mentioned earlier, they have 190 cars that will be on display. According to the list I have seen, all sorts of different cars have been entered and accepted, ie a BMW M3, Z8, Z1, Porsche 911 GT3, 3 Ferrari 308, Porsche 930, 2008 Corvette Z06, etc. I have seen your Porsche, it is very nice and a little different from the normal 911, which would make it ideal for something like the display only category. I am guessing that the display only category was probably one of the most popular categories that was entered because a lot of people were in the same boat as you. They wanted to be among the show but not judged.

The more I think about this, does anyone know how the big Concours events handle having other cars among the show cars like Keeneland? I am wondering if that is a Keeneland specific thing to do or if other events like Amelia Island or Pebble Beach have a corral for that? Does anyone else know?

 

Doug I talked to him some time ago. They probably were trying to fill up the show, and now it's pretty much full, so they can pick and chose now. Your car is really cool, their loss.

 

The Cavallino in Palm Beach has the main area with show Ferraris and then there is a section of the parking lot that they hold for other Ferraris and exotics. Once that is full, you then have to just park among the other cars. By having the extra parking area, it gives people more cars to look at and makes those parking there more comfortable bringing their cars. If you show up late, you are out of luck. All I am saying is that it would be smart to have an "exotics" parking area sectioned off but not part of the actual show that is closer to the entrance. I am sure many owners would meet up and caravan over to the show if they knew that there would be separate parking for their sports cars.

 

I was referring to the casual beer get togethers at your house....

guess that one went right over your head....

 

Hello all.

I wanted to let all of you knmow that our show is going to be a huge success.

We are at 194 vehicles from 25 states, many of which have never been seen in this part of the country. I know some of you are coming and others are considering attending, but I did want to extend an invitation to all of you that you are invited. We did have to cull our field for we had some duplication of cars and we realize this may have upset a few people. For this, we are deeply sorry.

At the end of the day, we are working around the clock to build a first class Concours for you to enjoy, and for the children of Brooklawn to benefit. All of us involved are volunteers and we are doing are very best to keep expenses low so that most all the money will go to Brooklawn. As you can imagine, building a Concours at Churchill Downs is not cheap and we are prepared to build on this year for future years. If you build a first class event, and attract folks from all over the country, the charity that it supports will win over the many years to come. After this first year, we will know exactly the Gross Income, Expenses and Net Income from this show. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, I ask that you support us and the kids.

Respectfully,

Rob

 

At Keeneland they had several classes of cars being judged and then the rest were parked in and around everywhere,The Porsche,Corvette,Cobra,Mustang clubs were all parked in specific areas.There was muscle,classic,race,rare you name it.Very nice show.We took Jas' cars and lined them along the main drive in with no specific order.I even parked my Viper in the line with his Ferraris and Porsche's ! The "affordable" cars were the biggest draw or everyone would have just gone to Jas's house for the local show!I like the idea of the date of this show because it is a bit cooler.Hopefully I can go to it.

 

How many visitors are expected? I am referring to "walk in" traffic.
Is this event just for those that register or can you decide to come day of?

 

Anyone can show up the day of and get in. If you buy tickets ahead of time they are cheaper. Hopefully there will be lots of "walk in" traffic. There really will be some amazing cars on display there.

 

How does one access the list of cars entered?

 

thinking of going, Harry?