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Duesenbergs at the Grammar School

Imagine in 1956 the parents of school kids looking for creative ways to raise money to complete construction of their school's recreational facility. This clever group decided to hold an elegant car show instead of a traditional bake sale or selling magazine subscriptions and chocolate bars.

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The Hillsborough Concours began as a small antique car show organized to raise money for the public schools of Hillsborough. The response to the first show was so enthusiastic that over one hundred cars entered and drew a crowd of about 1000. The parents gladly raised $2,652 that eventful day.

Now, 50 years later, the Hillsborough Concours attracts over 10,000 attendees and has evolved into a week long series of events, all of which raise money crucial to the public school budget for the town of Hillsborough California. Today all profits raised are distributed to the parents' groups of all the town's public schools on a per-pupil enrollment basis. The individual parents' groups then decide how the money will be allocated at their school.

This year the town celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance that includes a family carnival and BBQ. This family oriented day of activites is traditionally held on a Sunday in May just 20 miles south of San Francisco on the grounds of a public grammar school. The whole town gets involved.

As luck would have it, the sun shown brightly over the gleaming European and American marques this year. The well known British car expert John Joss celebrated his own 20th anniversary as Master of Ceremonies. The grounds of the elementary school, with its green grassy sports fields showcased more than 200 pre-1956 automobiles in 11 classic and vintage car categories: Horseless Carriages Brass Cars through 1919, American Classics (open and closed), European Classics (open and closed), Vintage through 1956 (open and closed), Pre-War Race Cars, Post War Race Cars (through 1956), Sports Cars (1949-1956), and Preservation Class.

The icon for this years show was a most beautiful two toned maroon and black 1929 Duesenberg SJ Le Baron Dual Cowl Phaeton. Some of the other notable classic cars we saw include a '23 Rolls Royce Phantom, a '36 Auburn 1250 Phaeton, a'27 Bentley race car, a '25 Lancia Lambda, a '24 Bugatti 23/Brescia, a '33 Pierce Arrow V-12 Convertible Coupe, and a '36 Packard 1404 Coupe Roadster.

With many awards given in each class my favorite also won the Best in Show, a stunning 1929 Mercedes SSK Roadster owned by the well known Arturo Keller of Petaluma CA who has a private collection of Pebble Beach winners.

If you think this type of event might be worth a try in your town to raise money for your child's school you might look at their website www.hsf.org to see the extent that this glorious event has grown into over 50 years.