A celebration of the snakes: Ford Shelby Cobra and Dodge Viper at fifth annual Philadelphia Concours d’Elegance June 24 & 25, 2022
Shelby’s Peter Brock and Chuck Cantwell, and Viper’s Roy Sjoberg headline Philadelphia Concours d’Elegance to be held at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum June 24-25.
PHILADELPHIA -- May 11, 2022 -- The Philadelphia Concours d’Elegance returns on June 24 and 25, 2022, to celebrate the "Snakes" – the iconic Ford Shelby Cobra and Dodge Viper – each brand with its own unique provenance and cachet in the collector car world.
Featured at this fifth annual event will be two of Carroll Shelby's early "employees", Peter Brock and Chuck Cantwell who helped establish the Shelby brand worldwide, on the street and the racetrack, and Roy Sjoberg, known as “Father Viper,” who spent his childhood growing up in Media, Pa. Also featured will be legendary Super Bowl-winning Coach Dick Vermeil, who will be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame this August.
The nonprofit Cool Cars for Kids, Inc. (CCfK) will stage the Philadelphia Concours d’Elegance (kawn-koor dey-ley-gahns), the classic car “competition of elegance,” on Saturday, June 25, at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia, which in 2019 was voted the “No. 1 Car Collection in the World” by The Classic Car Trust.
The Concours will be preceded on Friday, June 24, by a Preview Gala featuring Coach Vermeil, and Peter Brock, who was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame this past March.
The Concours will showcase an invitation-only assembly of Cobras and Vipers and other American and European classic and historic automobiles and race cars. The fundraising event includes professional judging and awards presented for historical accuracy, technical merit, and style. The popular Hagerty Youth Judging program will also be implemented. This year’s classes are: Pre-War, Post-War, Open, Closed, Sports, Muscle and Kids Choice.
Special events will include a panel discussion with Peter Brock, Chuck Cantwell, Roy Sjoberg and Dick Vermeil during Saturday's Concours. In addition, there will be family-friendly activities, a Car Corral open for local car enthusiasts to exhibit their classic cars, food and specialty vendors, as well as access to the Simeone Museum.
A special car tour is also planned for Cobra and Viper owners on Saturday morning, June 25.
The event benefits the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in providing help and hope to children with rare genetic diagnoses and their families, and to support research that will identify the best possible treatments.
“We are thrilled to be celebrating two of America’s most iconic sports cars, the Cobra and the Viper at this year’s Philadelphia Concours,” said Michael Tillson III, president and director of Cool Cars for Kids, and one of the country’s most highly regarded authorities on classic and sports automobiles. “Attendees of the Concours will not only have a chance to get an up-close look of many historic and legendary examples of Cobras and Vipers, but also see other classic cars from the Simeone Collection.”
Premier Concours Entries:
Classic car collectors from throughout North America are invited to submit their entries for the 2021 Philadelphia Concours d’Elegance at www.philadelphiaconcours.com/concours-page
Car Corral Registration:
Classic car enthusiasts and owners are invited to participate in this year’s Car Corral to be held on the grounds of the Simeone Museum. General Car Corral Individual Space, $50 (includes two tickets to the Concours); Shelby Cobra or Dodge Viper Car Corral Individual Space, $25 (includes two tickets to the Concours). Go to www.philadelphiaconcours.com/corralregistration.
Tickets:
General admission, $25; students and children under 15, free. Tickets to the one-day Concours can be purchased by visiting: www.philadelphiaconcours.com/event-details/fifth-annual-philadelphia-concours-delegance
Tickets to the Philadelphia Preview Gala can be purchased by visiting:
AT A GLANCE:
WHAT:
Fifth Annual Philadelphia Concours d’Elegance
WHEN:
Gala: Friday, June 24, 2002 - 6-10 p.m., Concours: Saturday, June 25th, 2022, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
WHO:
Families, classic car enthusiasts, collectors, racers, one and all
WHERE:
Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - 6825 Norwitch Dr., Philadelphia, PA
For more information, visit www.coolcarsforkids.org, or call 267-982-CCfK (2235)
About Peter Brock, Chuck Cantwell and Shelby Cobra
Shelby hired Peter Brock in 1961 as his first paid employee, running the Carroll Shelby School of High Performance Driving while helping to develop Shelby’s Cobra. He continued at Shelby American until the end of the 1965 race season when the Brock-designed Shelby Daytona Coupes won the FIA’s World GT Championship. Brock also created Shelby’s image of the Shelby American brand – logos, merchandise, magazine ads, and car liveries – and designed numerous other race cars for Shelby as well as the exterior components for Shelby’s Mustang GT350s.
Chuck Cantwell, on the other hand, while not directly involved with the Shelby Cobra, was instrumental in advancing the Shelby brand as Project Engineer on the Mustang GT-350 and GT-500 production cars, the design and building of GT-350 R-Model race cars, followed by Trans Am cars and serving as race team engineer for the Shelby Mustang Trans Am team, earning national championships in 1965, 1966 and 1967.
About Roy Sjoberg and the Dodge Viper
Roy Sjoberg joined Chrysler in 1985, after 25 years with General Motors, becoming the first Chief Engineer of Viper, as selected in 1989 by then Chrysler Corp. chairman and CEO Lee Iacocca and Chrysler’s President Bob Lutz. He quickly assembled a team of 85 people that would take Viper from concept to production in less than 36 months. The powerful two-seater sparked immediate interest in the Dodge brand among enthusiasts and the automotive press. Sjoberg also oversaw the development of the 1996 Viper GTS, an instant success, and in 1995 created the multiple race-winning GTS-R race team before his retirement in 1997. The Dodge Viper was manufactured from 1992 until 2017.
About Cool Cars for Kids:
Cool Cars for Kids, Inc. is a nonprofit organization based in Philadelphia, Pa. that brings together families of children with genetic conditions and classic car enthusiasts who share a common passion and appreciation for the one-of-a-kind. Funds raised from this unique partnership will directly forward its mission by supporting local and national charities – including The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia – to deliver care and support to children and families who struggle with the medical complexities associated with rare diagnoses. www.coolcarsforkids.org.
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