Porsche Takes Center Stage at 2019 Hillsborough Concours D’Elegance

World’s longest running Concours chooses Porsche as its featured marquee brand and showcases some amazing rides.

The Hillsborough Concours D’Elegance is the world’s longest continuously running Concours, celebrating its 64th year in 2019. And it obviously hasn’t worn thin by any means. This year, it set a new attendance record while attracting over 200 of the finest collector cars in the world. This year’s prestigious “Best in Show” award went to a pristine 1933 Chrysler Imperial LeBaron CL, but the featured marquee brand for 2019 was Porsche. And that meant an extra special spattering of the finest machines Stuttgart ever produced.

“This year’s Concours featured the most diverse selection of exceptionally rare, priceless and unique vehicles in our event’s history,” said Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance Chairman Richard Kelaita. “With competition at its peak, our judges determined that this beautiful Chrysler truly represented the very finest from an extraordinary field of entries.”

Festivities began on Friday with the perennially sold out Kick-Off party. This year the featured guest was renowned Porsche racer and restorer Bruce Canepa. Canepa also brought along an impressive slice of his personal Porsche collection for everyone to drool over. This included a 917/10, 935, 962, 959SC and a 918 Spyder. But the prize jewel of the group was the 917K that won the 1970 24 Hours of Daytona.

Saturday’s highlight was the annual Hillsborough Tour d’Elegance, a road rally along the Bay Area’s most stunning back roads and scenic vistas. The group was led by police escort, finishing at a private estate in Hillsborough for lunch. Other notable events within the event were a “Preservation Class” featuring 14 exceptional examples of unrestored cars. An “Evolution of Speed” display showcased 10 of the fastest cars of the last century by decade. These ranged from a 1903 Mercedes Simplex to a 1997 McLaren F1 owned by Larry Bowman.

All-in-all, this year’s Hillsborough Concours D’Elegance was a diverse showing of some of the world’s finest vehicles. From vintage coachbuilt cars to modern day supercars and everything in between. But as good as this year was, we can safely expect next year to be even better. So be sure and head over here to stay tuned for details on the 65th annual Concours as they become available.

Photos: Hillsborough Concours D’Elegance

Brett Foote

Brett Foote has been covering the automotive industry for over five years and is a longtime contributor to Internet Brands’ Auto Group sites, including Chevrolet Forum, Rennlist, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, among other popular sites.

He has been an automotive enthusiast since the day he came into this world and rode home from the hospital in a first-gen Mustang, and he's been wrenching on them nearly as long.

In addition to his expertise writing about cars, trucks, motorcycles, and every other type of automobile, Brett had spent several years running parts for local auto dealerships.

You can follow along with his builds and various automotive shenanigans on Instagram: @bfoote.