Your author has been going to the Geneva, IL concours since 2022, when a friend in the LCOC Lake Shore Region mentioned it and that I should definitely seek it out.
I had never heard of it, and when I realized the family cabin was only about 75 minutes away, making attendance much easier than driving 3.5 hours from home base, I had to investigate. I recently took another short vacation, and visited the venue for my third time this past Sunday.
And it did not disappoint. My friend Jim Smith, who was a Concours judge for the second year in a row, calls it the “Pebble Beach of the Midwest.” And he’s not wrong.
And unlike the snootiness/snottiness, fees, snob only areas etc of certain other big shows, the Geneva show is for everyone. All the cars are there out in the open, and everyone is welcome.
And while the masses of folks gawking at the amazing cars may thwart my picture taking at times, I wouldn’t have it any other way. All the preening, special areas if you have five grand, etc. I find distasteful. But enough of that, let’s get to the cars!
One of the first cars I laid eyes on turned out to be a new acquisition by my friend Ron Schweitzer, a gorgeous Emperor Blue 1968 Cadillac Fleetwood Series 75, with matching navy brocade interior!
This was in the Cadillac club section, not the actual judged section on the main drag by the Kane County courthouse, so one was free to walk around the cars for primo pics. Which I did, several times in a row.
VW was one of the featured marques this year, and there were a number of cool examples.
I also loved the big prewar Rollses. And the ‘58 Silver Wraith! Smithers, splash some mud on those people for being poor!
And since Jim was a judge, later on, after he had fulfilled his judgely duties, he took me around to some of the cars for better pics and introduced me to some of the owners.
Everyone was nice; down to earth folks who clearly loved classic cars. And I got to sit in a 1933 SS (Swallow Sidecar), which was the predecessor of Jaguar.
All told, I wandered around with my tongue hanging out from about 10 AM to 3 PM. I believe I took approximately 704 photos.
And I can’t wait to go back next year.
That is a remarkable combination of interesting and beautiful cars. Google tells me that Geneva is only about an hour away from Cameron Frye's house so there should be some nice automobiles there.
Some real beautiful cars there.