22nd Annual Gran Concurso Internacional de Elegancia

April 17, 2007 a committee of judges was on its way from San Diego to Mexico City. The committee was composed of Tom Krefetz, Harvey Williamson, Pete Rieth, of the San Diego Jaguar Club, Curtis Arndt, Chairman of the Austin Healey Concours, and Eduardo Palermini an expert restorer connoisseur. They were in route for Club Jaguar of Mexico’s 22nd annual Gran Concurso Internacional de Elegancia. The event field for the concours was an old Equestrian field in Dos Rios of Huixquilucan, which is in the middle of the mountain country setting with a beautiful green surrounding about 10,000 feet above sea level.

The concours began with a group of Jaguar enthusiasts years ago who wanted to share their passion with the community. It grew more each year, and it is now the largest event of its kind in Mexico. The show has attracted many other clubs including Porsche, Mercedes, Alfa Romeo, Triumph, MG, Fiat, Ferrari, Mustang, Corvette, Chrysler, Micro Cars, and Volkswagen. Besides the JCNA concours, the event also includes a general concours comprised of the various car clubs’ own choice. A best of show is chosen from all of the vehicles as well. Many automobile manufacturers sponsor this event, which helps fund Club Jaguar’s other events. A large portion of the proceeds is also donated to a local charity. Club Jaguar is an active, very social club, and they go on Saturday drives to have breakfast as a group driving an hour outside the city. They plan rallies and events to drive and enjoy their Jaguars. This is a wonderful organization that shares mutual interests in cars as well as friendship. Club Jaguar catered this event for their club and was a very good host to the judging committee and guests.

The awards ceremony was very festive and special. It was well attended and began with a fashion show with local models in beautiful spring apparel. Concours Chairman Emeritus Enrique Villa with Club Jaguar Mexico President Alejandro Isoard Viesca bestowed the awards and made presentations to the audience. The 1952 Jaguar XK 120 FHC a very original example of an XK that underwent a no expense spared frame up restoration in 2007, won “Best of Show” at the event. Tom Krefetz summarizes the event saying, “This is an event we all look forward to every year. Everything about it is fantastic. There are long days with a lot to do, but the time goes quickly. What we come back with are memories and continuing friendships.” This was Tom’s third year of attending, organizing, training, and judging at the Gran Concourso in Mexico City.

A: “Jim, the first thing that we need you to do is go to our website to determine if you want a driver, show-driver, or show car restoration to your Jaguar. If you send us detailed photos, pictorially showing the car inside and out – with all the good and bad parts of the car, we will try to give you ball park estimate depending on the level of restoration that you choose. There are three unknowns that we have to wait till we see in order to determine the estimate. 1 – When the body is stripped to bare metal, we can see if there is bad damage or rust that needs repairing. This is additional. 2 – When we rebuild the mechanical components, if there is bad damage that is not normal for the restoration process, this would be additional. 3 – If there are parts missing that we normally restore, such as seats and consoles, or air cleaners, this would also be additional. We can still give you a pretty good estimate without the unknowns. Then once the car is in our facility and we do a thorough inspection, we would report back to you.”

A: “That is up to you. We are available to purchase from directly or if you want a car restored, we can restore a car to suit your needs and specifications. Sometimes people enjoy buying at the auction because of the impulse and excitement of the situation. We would encourage you to do so if you desire. If the auctions mention our name, then you can bid with confidence that you are buying a quality car. Bid with confidence at the auction or feel free to e-mail and we could discuss the car of your dreams.”

Stay tuned for a further updates.

The next Classic Showcase newsletter will include: