It’s almost summer so that must mean its time for classic car shows! I recently attended the Classic Car Club of America Museum ‘Experience’ show, held annually at the Gilmore Car Museum in Western Michigan. The show always has a great collection of classic automobiles, all of which have been beautifully maintained and/or restored.

This image shows a portion a 1938 Mercedes 540K Sport Tourer automobile. This particularl automobile is on display at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan. If you love cars, the Gilmore Car Museum is a great place to visit. They have a couple hundred classic automobiles on display in various barns located on the premises.

This shot shows a 1936 Cord 810 S/C Phaeton which was on display at the 2009 Concours d’Elegance car show held at Meadowbrook Hall in Rochester Hills, Michigan. I’ve always been attracted to the Cord, particularly those from the mid 1930′s. I love the design elements, particularly the ‘coffin’ nose and the exposed exhaust pipes. The car just has great lines and exudes class.

I originally posted this image on Flickr shortly after the event. A couple weeks later I was surprised to receive an e-mail from the owner! His daughter had seen the picture on Flickr and had told her dad. One of the highlights for me about this car was the unique color. …

Every year I look forward to the Concours d’Elegance car show held at Meadowbrook Hall in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Each year this car show brings in over 200 classic cars, many of which are rarely seen in public. This year was the 30th year the event had been held at Meadowbrook. For those unfamiliar with automobile history, Meadowbrook Hall was built by Matilda Dodge Wilson and her second husband Alfred Wilson. Matilda was the widow of John Dodge, one of the founders of the Dodge Brothers Company which was later sold to Chrysler. Hence, this location is a very appropriate place to hold a car show.

The shot you see above is from a 1963 Thunderbird convertible which was on display as part of the Motor Muster held at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. Not much more to say really, I just liked the simple pattern created by the fake vents. Minimal processing to produce the final image.

The Motor Muster at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan manages to get a great collection of automobiles. Many cars on display are ones that you would see (or would have seen) driving around your neighborhood. However, the show also gets a few cars which are more unique. One example is the Hudson Italia. This car grew out of a need for Hudson to offer a sporty car to compete with other manufacturers. I personally don’t find this particular car attractive when viewed whole, but I love some of the details. This particular shot shows an area just over the passenger side headlight. Looks vaguely like the Star Trek emblem to me! A couple of years ago I saw this car at a different car show and took this shot.

This past weekend I attended the 2009 Eyes on Design car show held at the Edsel and Eleanor Mansion in Grosse Point Shores, Michigan. The event is an annual affair and is a fund raiser for the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology. This is the shows 21st year. Each year has a different theme and this year highlighted advertising and cars. Many of the cars on display had a framed advertisement for the vehicle next to it. It was interesting to see the way cars have been marketed through the years.

This past weekend I attended two car shows, each showcasing vintage automobiles. The first show that I went to was on Saturday and it was the annual ‘Motor Muster’ held at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. The ‘Motor Muster’ is a huge event, with hundreds of cars, motorcycles and bicycles from past to present. While the show has some very nice cars, and the location at Greenfield Village is wonderful, it is disappointing in one regard because the show is laid out in such a way that you really can only see the fronts of most cars. Still, I was surprised that I came away with a large number of good shots this year.

This shot of a 1933 Lincoln was taken at the Classic Car Club of America (CCCA) car show held at the Gilmore Car Museum in early June. The cars were displayed around a big oval track and I had already made a pass around to see all the cars. I was walking behind the cars to head over to another spot when I noticed this Lincoln. For some reason, the license plate in conjunction with the other elements of the car really caught my eye. The raw shot out of the camera didn’t convey the strong graphic nature that I had felt when I took the shot, so I used a combination of Topaz Adjust and Topaz Simplify to create a image with a stronger graphical feeling (at least to my eye).

This shot shows the drivers side engine ports of a 1937 Cord Beverly Sedan. The car was part of the Classic Car Club of American (CCCA) automobile show held at the Gilmore Car Museum near Kalamazoo, Michigan. I’ve always been a big fan of Cord automobiles. They have wonderful interior and exterior details that are fun to explore, but sometimes difficult to capture in a photograph. When shooting at car shows, it is sometimes difficult to get a good shot without annoying reflections, harsh lighting, etc.