The 2021 Chattanooga Motorcar Festival was every auto lover’s dream come true. Streets were closed and all available parking lots saved for blocks in every direction from the Convention Center downtown. The parking spaces were filled with countless unique, collectable, vintage and custom cars. The event occurred October 15-17 and we attended on Friday.
The auto extravaganza kicked off with the massive West Village Road Rallye. 400, street-legal vehicles of every make and model imaginable cruised a course through mountainous Tennessee terrain, then returned for display on the streets of Chattanooga. A second Road Rallye was staged Saturday morning. Street Festivals made sure the parties lasted well into each night.
The Legendary Cruise-In event brought Car Clubs with their collectors’ favorites to shine for thousands of auto enthusiasts.
Serious buyers, gawkers and car buffs attended Mecum Auctions in the Convention Center where 600 cars were sold in two days. This 1977 Bronco in mint condition sold for $74,000.00 while a 1990 Bentley only brought $24,000.00. Go figure.
Their were hundreds of classic cars waiting for buyers looking for that car they owned in their youth. The line of beautiful, metal masterpieces rolled by constantly.
High-performance cars, super-cars, racing cars and luxury vehicles were shown and sold nonstop.
Even vintage scooters, motorized bicycles, and motorcycles graced the auction block and found new, star-struck owners.
If immaculate Antiques were what you longed for, no problem. They were lined up by the dozens waiting for new owners.
While the buying and fantasizing of killer cars was going on in and around the Convention Center, they were racing on the new Park Grand Prix at the Bend, a two-mile course built for running historic and vintage race cars. The racing exhibition group, Ragtime Racers, were running authentic 1920 and earlier cars on the new track while we were there.
We met Sandy Blain who operated Ragtime Racers with her husband and took their show on the road from California. She introduced us to Lyn St. James (on right) who was the first woman to win the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year and did it at age 45. Lyn also competed in the 24-hours of Le Man and Nürburgring, where her teams placed 1st and 2nd.
Sunday was the Concourse d’Elegance where owners “compete in a gentlemanly spirit of fair play.” There were 16 categories ranging from Brass and Tin pre-1920 to pre-postwar, classics, sports and special interest vehicles in separate American and European classes plus American muscle cars.
The mega 2021 Chattanooga Motorcar Festival was exhilarating and exhausting. We missed the “Gathering of the Great Ferraris, which displayed the world’s most significant Ferraris from 1943 to 1985 and who knows what else. We only scratched the surface, but we’ll be better educated and ready for next year’s event.