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Lexington vintage car owners show their 1927 LaSalle at Hilton Head Island show
1927 LaSalle 303
November 6, 2007
By Rachel Haynie
The 1927 LaSalle 303 owned by Bland and Laura Quantz of Lexington was among hundreds of vintage automobiles on view at last weekend’s 6th annual Concours d’Elegance and Motoring Festival held at Honey Horn Plantation on Hilton Head Island.
The Quantz’s garnet and black LaSalle was part of the featured class, Cars of Cadillac and La Salle, during the four-day event that also included an auction, vintage fashion show, exhibitions and seminars, a motoring festival, and test drives.
In preparation for vintage races held on the Roebling Road raceway in nearby Bloomingdale, GA, the Hilton Head/Savannah Historics Practice Rounds and qualifying were held Festival attractions included the world’s smallest passenger car, weighing only 250 pounds.
The Peel P50 from Nashville’s Lane Motor Museum has no reverse; to turn it around, the operator has to get out, lift the one-seater up on its front wheel and point it in another direction. Lane Motor Museum is one of the country’s only museums specializing in European cars.
Bill Marriott Jr, Chairman and CEO of Marriott International Inc. and a passionate collector of Italian sports cars, was honorary chair for this event. Other honored guests were Dennis Gage, host of the nationally televised My Classic Car on the SPEED Channel, and racing legend Bob Sharp, grand marshal for the Hilton Head/Savannah Historics.
The Quantzes were the only vintage car owners from the Midlands participating in the Concours, but they shared their Honored Marque-LaSalle class with another couple from Bennettsville, SC, as well a Matthews, NC owner couple. Entries from throughout the nation and Europe participated; some owners drove, but most trailored their cars to the event. South Carolina had approximately a dozen entries.
The Hilton Head event, one of the last events of this year’s vintage racing season, is gaining in popularity and prestige as one of the top Concours events in the country. Other top events are held annually on Amelia Island, at Pebble Beach, as well as Monterey Bay, and Rochester, MI, among other locations.
In its six years the event has raised more than $30,000 for Hilton Head Island charities.
