Patrick Burke and his sons Jackson, 6 and Weston, 10, of St. Charles had a chance Sunday to look at hundreds of vintage cars during the Geneva Concours d’Elegance event on Third Street in Geneva.
“We always come to this car show,” Burke said. “I’ve been here since 2015. We just like the car show and we have friends who show off their cars here so we come and see them. I’m just a looker but I do wish I could be an owner – absolutely.”
Geneva Concours d’Elegance Director John Barrett, who organizes the event, said it began in 2004 and that looking back over more than two decades, it has “created what we set out to create – a high-end car event.”
“This does well for the community and the charities we have supported over time,” Barrett said a few days before the event. “For several years we’ve been supporting Northwestern Medicine Living Well Cancer Resources and the proceeds of the event go to help.”
Barrett said prior to that initiative, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation was the recipient of funds from the event and was “the longest lasting” of the organizations that have been supported.
“Over the years, we’ve averaged about $10,000 a year so we’ve given nearly a quarter-million dollars in total,” he said.
The show itself includes a number of components including 150 cars that are judged as well as others on display along with “club cars,” Barrett said, “which puts us around 400 cars.”
“In terms of geography, we’ve had people from as far away as Connecticut as well as Colorado and, of course, many around the Chicago area,” he said. “What makes this car show unique from others is that it’s much higher end – it’s judged and it’s seriously judged. To encourage people with really high-end cars, you have to make an effort to protect them. Every car that is judged for the show is cordoned off substantially so they are protected.”
Once again this year, winners in certain categories were awarded “Benz” trophies, named after Karl Benz, the German engine designer and automotive engineer.
Burke’s oldest son Weston said he was glad to come to car shows with his dad and that a dream car for he and his father would be a Ferrari.
“I like to do this. I like looking at the cars and I’m looking forward to driving and having a sports car one day,” he said.
At the event, Nancy Roach of Libertyville said she and her husband “usually bring a car to this – a Stanley Steamer.”
“My husband is a judge and it’s difficult to organize everything and he decided this year he would take a pass,” Roach explained about not bringing their classic car. “The crowd is overwhelming and it’s always like this.”
“It’s been going on for so many years and it just seems to grow in popularity,” she said.
John Waldman of Geneva was overseeing cars representing the Sports Car Club of America at the event and said he had been volunteering at the Geneva Concours d’Elegance the past five years.
Waldman said interest is high in car shows and said the attraction is all about the freedom a vehicle offers.
“We talk about desire and why people do this with the older cars. Back in the 1900s, people bought the Model Ts and it got them off of the farm and that’s freedom,” he said. “When these guys came back from World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam – people bought a car. It’s freedom and it’s what they attached to.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon–News.