A day of elegance

Crowds strolled through Carillon Point Sunday to check out restored and antique classic cars that were featured in the parking lots and vintage boats moored nearby in Yarrow Bay.

Crowds strolled through Carillon Point Sunday to check out restored and antique classic cars that were featured in the parking lots and vintage boats moored nearby in Yarrow Bay.

The Sixth Kirkland Concours d’Elegance event featured 16 exhibits, including vintage motorcycles, elegant classics, historic hot rods and vintage wooden boats.

A 1959 corvette and 1949 Ferrari were among this year’s featured class: lipstick red convertibles.

During the event, attendees marveled at the oldest known Indian motorcycle in existence – the 1902 Indian Camel Back, which looks like a bicycle.

Others, like Mike Schmitt of Seattle, got up close looks at favorite classics.

“I’ve always loved pre-war classic cars since I was a little boy,” he said, looking over the black exterior of a 1936 V-16 Cadillac owned by Mike Fairbarn of Canada.

Olympia resident Greg Sauser noted the event features many “one-of-a-kind models that you’ll never get the opportunity to see anywhere else. They’re pieces of art.”

A celebration of the classic art of vintage automobile and wooden boat design, the Kirkland Concours event is patterned after early twentieth century Concours held in Europe that were “contests of elegance.”

Proceeds will benefit the uncompensated children’s healthcare funds at Children’s Hospital and Evergreen Healthcare. Since beginning in 2002, the show has raised nearly $1 million for charity.