Nearly 12,000 people gathered on the lush grounds of Lakewood Yacht Club to get an up close look at some of the most pristine, classic automobiles and vintage wooden boats in the United States at the 17th Annual Keels & Wheels Concours d’Elegance. The 2012 event was co-hosted by the Antique and Classic Boat Society-Southwest Chapter. In addition, the event raised significant funds for Boys & Girls Harbor. To date, Keels & Wheels has donated more than one million dollars to charity.
The 2012 event featured Pre-War American classics featuring Cadillac and LaSalle as well as Packard, Chrysler, Duesenburg, Bugatti and some classic Italian exotics. The boating displays honored the Chris Craft Capri as well as other vintage boats including Century, Hacker, Lyman, Elco, among others.
Celebrity-owned cars such as Marlene Dietrich’s Phantom 1 Rolls-Royce; the Little Deuce Coupe, hot rod made famous by The Beach Boys; and Hollywood’s cowboy megastar Tom Mix’s Supercharged Cord 812 drew large groups of onlookers. The Best in Show was awarded to an immaculate 1931 Bugatti Type 54 Roadster owned by Peter and Merle Mullin of Los Angeles and the 1929 Rolls Royce Phantom 1, owned by Richard and Irina Mitchell of Montgomery, Texas.
David Watts’ 1934 custom Chris-Craft Antique Runabout ‘S A Gem was awarded Best of Show – Runabout. While the exquisite, one-of-a kind 36′ Limousine Launch Tolka, built in Nova Scotia at the Alexander Graham Bell Laboratories and owned by Lee Anderson of Minneapolis, Minnesota took Best of Show – Cruiser.
Keels & Wheels Concours d’Elegance was made possible by the following sponsors including: the City of Seabrook, Fidelity Investments Clear Lake Investment Center, Richard and Irina Mitchell, Alex Rodriguez Mercedes-Benz, Bayway Auto Group and many other sponsors.
We were honored once again this year to have the Antique and Classic Boat Society (ACBS) hold their annual meeting in conjunction with Keels & Wheels. We hope to see you all again next year!
For a complete listing of sponsors and winners, visit www.keels-wheels.com.