The Elegance at Hershey hosted another successful and eye-popping weekend of activities. Mother Nature treated us to a weekend full of sunshine and blue skies which helped to encourage fantastic attendance on all 3 days. You could hear the roar of the engines as the race cars took their place at The Grand Ascent hill climb on Friday and Saturday. Cars and Coffee took place on Saturday as auto enthusiasts from all over the area brought their cars out to show next to the hill climb area. Sunday’s gorgeous weather brought us one of the highest attended events ever, as spectators packed the gardens behind The Hotel Hershey to view 75 of the world’s finest collector cars in existence.
Over the course of 9 years, The Elegance has donated more than one million dollars to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), the AACA Museum and the AACA Library & Research Center. Thanks to the success of this weekend and the generosity of our sponsors and guests, we will once again be able to make a substantial donation to our charities.
So many beautiful cars and all were winners, but only one could take home the coveted Elegance at Hershey Best of Show, also known as the Governor’s Cup. The 2019 winner was a 1933 Isotta-Fraschini Tipo 8A owned by Stephen Plaster.
Here is a list of the top five award winners:
Governor’s Cup (aka Best of Show)
1933 Isotta-Fraschini Tipo 8A
Stephen Plaster
Founder’s Award
1934 Packard Twelve 1108
Harry Yeaggy
The Hotel Hershey Award
1936 Delahaye 135 Competition
Ken Smith
People’s Choice
1951 LeSabre Concept
GM Heritage Center
Jack Rich Award
1912 Fiat Type 55
George Dragone
Congratulations to all of the winners!
On Friday and Saturday, The Grand Ascent hill climb saw 43 cars racing the historic hill course in the back of The Hotel Hershey. The Ascent brings out some amazing historic race cars and this year was no exception. Charity rides were given in these cars at noon and more than one patron was found cleaning the bugs off their teeth. Stefan Vapaa in his 1968 SAAB Sonett was the quickest over the 2-day event. Saturday also featured the third year for the Cars & Coffee event. More than 250 cars were shown at the informal car show.
We wish to thank all of the car owners for sharing their magnificent machines with us. Every car was indeed a winner in its own way, delighting the crowds that joined us. Thank you also to our Honorary Chairman Robert S. Jepson, Jr., our sponsors and donors, our staff, hundreds of volunteers, our patrons and the teams at The Hotel Hershey and Hershey Entertainment & Resorts for their herculean efforts to make this year’s Elegance at Hershey a seamless extravaganza. Plans are already afoot to make the 2020 Elegance at Hershey even better.
If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, donor or volunteer, please call The Elegance office at 717-500-5191 or email Executive Director Melissa Rau at mrau@TheEleganceathershey.com.
