Car Show On Great Lawn To Benefit Westhampton Beach PAC

To some people, a car is nothing more than a transportation module, designed to get them from point A to point B as efficiently as possible.

But to others, it’s a whole lot more: the raw speed and precise handling of a Porsche 911, the refined luxury of a Rolls Royce, or even the quirky design, say, of an Amphicar, which, as the name implies, is as comfortable on water as it is on land.

Examples of all three will be on hand at the Westhampton Beach Concours, a car show to benefit the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, on the village’s Great Lawn this Saturday, July 23, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The show will be directed by Gerard Moringiello, the owner of Hampton Classic Motorcars in Speonk, who buys and sells vintage cars, repairs them, and organizes get-togethers and shows like this one.

This week, Moringiello said he anticipated that 90 to 100 cars will be entered in the show, including a handful of last-minute arrivals.

The star attraction, he said, will likely be a Tucker 48, one of only a handful to be built by the visionary automaker Preston Tucker, who was forced into bankruptcy in 1949, just a year after launching his futuristic car. This car is number 44 of the 50 that were manufactured, Moringiello said, and they don’t come any rarer than that.

Other cars of note that are expected to be shown include a 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing. Voted the sports car of the 20th century, the Gullwing cemented Mercedes’ post-war reputation for design excellence and performance. Models in good condition are even more valuable than a starter home on the East End, fetching something around $1.4 million at auction, provided, of course, it has a regular steel body and not one made of aluminum alloy, which could be worth five times as much.

Of the approximately 1,400 Gullwings built between 1954 and 1957, an estimated 1,200 remain in collections.

Moringiello said he anticipated a wide variety of other vehicles, from long ago to the present, to be on display.

“There will be a handful of Corvettes, a Boss 429 1970 Mustang, a 1966 Mustang GT 350, a 1912 Ford Model T Speedster, a 1911 Cutty, a Unimog, a couple of Land Rover Defenders, two Amphicars, and a nice selection of Ferraris.”

Moringiello is an aficionado of British cars, particularly Jaguars, and plans to have XKEs from the early 1960s, as well as the XJS, the model that replaced the E-type in the early 1970s, as well as Austin Healeys and Triumphs on display.

Two members of WHBPAC’s board suggested that it hold a car show fundraiser to separate it from the pack of other summer galas, said Christine Alford, the PAC’s director of development.

“They thought it would be a great family event fundraiser and a way to do something different,” she said. (Not to worry, if you like cocktail receptions or golf tournaments, WHBPAC has those scheduled next month and in October.)

It didn’t hurt that comedian Jay Leno is scheduled to appear at 8 p.m. that same evening. Besides being the former host of “The Tonight Show” and the current host of an updated “You Bet Your Life,” Leno is also known for his television series and YouTube videos, “Jay Leno’s Garage,” on which he shows off vehicles from a collection of at least 180 cars and almost as many motorcycles.

Despite Leno’s scheduled performance, his appearance at the car show is not guaranteed, although some are betting on it.

“He has to be there,” said Tim Dahlen, 49, a Westhampton Beach resident and member of Rally Point East, a car club for owners of high powered supercars like Dahlen’s Lamborghini Gallardo, which he plans to enter in the show.

He’s proud of the fact that Valentino Balboni, Lamborghini’s former chief test driver, signed the vehicle after taking it out on the track for a test spin.

Dahlen said he has been obsessed with the Italian speedsters since he was a little boy and he first laid eyes on the Lamborghini Countach. “That’s a fighter jet on wheels,” he said.

Robert Bacon, 47, another member of the club, said he was about 6 or 7 years old when he encountered his first dream car: the Corvette loaned to his father by his boss.

“My father was never a car guy,” said Bacon. “He was always very cautious.” But after getting to go for a few rides in the car, his son was hooked.

Bacon said he bought a 2004 Corvette shortly before his wife gave birth to their son. The car, which only has about 5,000 miles on it, is now 18 years old, and he said he plans on giving it to his son when he turns 18 in September.

Bacon plans on showing his new Bentley GT Speed, a two-door convertible at Saturday’s show. “It’s like driving a couch,” he said, “a very a powerful couch.”

Admission to the July 23 Westhampton Beach Concours, which runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the Great Lawn in Westhampton Beach is $50, which includes food and drink. Admission is free for children 12 and under who are accompanied by an adult. VIP tickets are also available for $200. Tickets can be purchased at whbpac.org.