Coming up next weekend is a concours I'd like to someday attend, if only because it's located in an area I admire almost as much as my BC locale. (The two are similar though Vancouver Island has the edge in weather.) The Fairfield County Concours d'Elegance of Westport, CT, held on the weekend of September 12 and 13, 2009, has decided, rather than lament what can't be changed, to celebrate the Pontiac brand in the year of its demise. The event has searched for two very special cars, the oldest Pontiac still in private ownership as well as the oldest Pontiac still with its original owner. The vehicle seen above is the oldest Pontiac in the United States: Paul Jaszczak's 1926 Two-Door Coach, built in the very first months of the Pontiac brand's existence in 1926. Before that it would have been known as a Maxwell, GM having bought the ailing firm.





Now we go to the the oldest Pontiac which is still with its original owner: Ned Sanders' 1955 Pontiac Star Chief Coupé, which Ned bought as a 33-year-old father. Ned is 87 today and his son Gary will bring his car to the concours event in Fairfield County. Both will enjoy a three-day stay courtesy of United Airlines and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Manhattan. This car is so-o-o-o pretty, painted in colors that might not be acceptable today, possibly aimed at the growing female influence. It was also Pontiac's swan-song before succumbing to the bigger-is-better-fins-are-flashier era. Wide-bodies may be more exciting but I'd choose this beauty for the same reason I'd have maintained that relationship with a spectacular beauty queen if I could turn back the clock. (Mmmm... perhaps it's a good thing I can't.)