I've never been to Kentucky but I have at least visited nearby Virginia as a guest of Jaguar on a new car test drive. If the Bluegrass State is just as lovely, and I believe it must be, then we can all appreciate Nigel Matthews' remarks following his role as a judge at a recent Kentucky concours. Nigel writes: "I have just returned from being a chief class judge at the 2nd Louisville Concours d’Elegance. What an incredible event! The surroundings of the famous Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby since 1876, were just breathtaking. So was the hospitality and friendliness of everyone I met there. Quite a few were also Pebble Beach judges including Honorary Chief Judge Ed Gilbertson who is the Chief Judge at California's Pebble Beach concours. MC was Ed Lucas, the voice of many concours events for the past 20 years. Grand Marshalls were actor and collector Edward Herrmann and Charles Mover. The chief judge was John Carlson from BC, also chief judge at our Vancouver BC Steamworks Concours and my mentor." Nigel enclosed a photo of a1936 Delahaye Coupe that he featured in his newspaper column a few years ago concerning an 83-year-old German now living in Surrey, B.C., who was convinced that this car was the very one he saved from the Nazis. The gentleman, whom we cannot name for his safety, had been assigned during the Paris evacuation to acquire as many interesting cars as possible, then ship them to Germany. The Delahaye, however, was the "coupe too far." He told the elderly lady owner how to hide it from prying SS eyes and then went off to the Russian front where he spent the rest of his war years as a prisoner. Nigel concludes his report by reminding us that "the best part of the event is that it is a fund raiser for abused children, many of whom were seen enjoying the magnificent rolling art and automotive history."

[Photo Credit: Nigel Matthews]