Historic Ferrari race cars among honored marques at Radnor Hunt

Historic Ferrari race cars, Cadillacs of the classic era and century cars (100 years old or older) are the featured marques of the 16th annual Radnor Hunt Concours d'Elegance. American maker Henderson is the featured motorcycle make for the 2012 event and shares the spotlight with two-stroke racing bikes and scooters from around the world. The concours takes place Sept. 7-9 on the grounds of Radnor Hunt in Malvern, Pa.

The Radnor Hunt Concours d'Elegance encompasses three days of activities beginning with a Friday evening barbecue, followed by a popular road rally through the scenic countryside of Chester County on Saturday morning, culminating with a catered lunch. The Saturday evening black tie gala and art show is the prelude to the main event, the concours d'elegance on Sunday.

Each year, the concours event, an invitation-only show, has a featured marque, a vehicle type or coachbuilder and a motorcycle make. The 2012 event will showcase the most interesting and significant racing cars from Ferrari, the early design work of Harley Earl for the Cadillac brand and century cars which have celebrated 100 years or more of existence.

Included in the selection of cars destined for the show field are a Ferrari 166 Barchetta, a Ferrari 250LM, a 1909 Mercedes Landaulet Grummer, and a 1977 Porsche 934.5 campaigned by the famous Brumos/Peter Gregg race team.

The featured motorcycle class will be two-stroke racing bikes along with two very unique bikes: a replica 1867 Roper Steam Cycle and a replica 1885 Daimler motorcycle. In addition, AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame member Don Emde will attend as an honored guest at this year's event and conduct a signing of his book, “The Daytona 200-The History of America's Most Famous Motorcycle Race.” The two-stroke racing bikes will include the ex-Gina Bovaird Suzuki RG500 two-stroke 500cc, which she rode in the French Grand Prix in 1982. Other two-stroke racing bikes on display will be a 1962 Cotton Telstar 250cc production racing bike and several Yamaha TZ series “over-the-counter” racing bikes such as the TZ125, TZ350 and the TZ750, which earned the nickname “The Beast”.

Proceeds from the event will benefit Thorncroft Equestrian Center in Malvern, Pa. The Thorncroft Equestrian Center is committed to a mainstreaming approach for teaching horseback riding and to promoting the development of new and independent therapeutic riding programs, particularly for those with special needs.

www.radnorconcours.org

By Roger Hart