The New York City Concours (TNYCC) has crowned its first champion – Nat Lanza’s 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing won the People’s Choice Best in Show Award at the inaugural event held this past Saturday, October 5, 2019.
Mr. Lazna of Ronkonkoma, NY was awarded the prized trophy by Maria Jannace, CEO of The New York City Concours, as well as an elegant wall clock from Hublot, GT Quartz Total Car Protection Package from Gliptone and a swag pack from Stadium Goods, all sponsors of the event. The Gullwing was one of 31 rarely seen iconic, classic cars featured at the Seaport District’s stunning Rooftop at Pier 17.
It’s competition included James Bond’s 1964 Aston Martin DB5, the powerful and stylish 1966 Lamborghini 400GT 2+2, the 1974 Dino 246GTS inspired by Enzo Ferrari’s son, a 2009 Corvette ZR1Bertone Mantide – the only one in existence and a 1956 Porsche 356A Speedster – one of the most iconic Porsches of all time.
With a crowd size nearing venue capacity of 2,000, the world’s first rooftop concours was a resounding success. Designed deliberately in “small ball” fashion, the show organically became a friendly, rooftop party, where strangers one minute were friends the next. Jannace’s mission for TNYCC was to make the ‘concours world’ more accessible and bring young and old car enthusiasts together in the same venue. That was definitely apparent with an audience that featured auto enthusiasts of all walks of life including 15 students from the Automotive Shop program at Thomas Edison High School in Queens. They were on hand to support their teacher Donald Morisette who entered his iconic 1970 VW Beetle in his first concours. The students are part of Morisette’s after school Pit Crew Club and helped him prepare his car for the show.
Stalwarts of the concours community were notably impressed by how TNYCC has reinvented the traditional ‘classic car show.’ TNYCC participant Bill Renta, a concours aficionado having participated in countless shows, drove his 1963 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible from Connecticut to the rooftop and was “blown away” by the event. Renta praised TNYCC as “the most amazing experience I’ve ever been to…absolutely spectacular, I will talk about this the rest of my life.”
A true convergence of art, music, fashion, and pop culture, the event also featured the Hublot VIP Lounge, the Stadium Goods’ high-end sneaker exhibit with kicks matching the cars, a collector car forum from Hagerty, live music from local band The Borough Boys, an interactive display by Gliptone, a “Zaddy fashion-mob” by Acustom Apparel and the Blind Barber, and a display & auction from artist Simon Ward. Additionally, a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club.
