Beautiful cars and motorcycles, a hopefully gorgeous Labor Day weekend, and money going to a good cause will come together in style at the Des Moines Marina on Sunday, Sept. 6 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. when some of the most exciting cars, and motorcycles in the Northwest will be gathered for the 17th annual Italian Concours d' Elegance.
Visitors will see rare and historic Italian cars and motorcycles, as well as beautiful examples from more modern times. Admission is $5 per person, with children 10 and under admitted free.
The Italian Concours d' Elegance offers a daylong celebration of Italian engineering, design and style at its best. It is an opportunity to view a diverse collection of vehicles from Italian companies such as Alfa Romeo, Ducati, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Moto Guzzi and Vespa.
The Northwest has some of the most dedicated collectors of both Italian cars and motorcycles, and many have won awards at prestigious events such as the Pebble Beach Concours.
For 2009, the Italian Concours will be honoring all competition vehicles.
In addition to the vehicles, sponsors and vendors will offer automotive and Italian-inspired merchandise. A raffle to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation has become a popular tradition.
At noon, an operatic performance will delight visitors. Food will be available at the venue or at nearby restaurants at the Marina.
This year all proceeds from the raffle will benefit The Make A Wish Foundation. In 2005, the event raised enough money through the raffle to grant the wish of a young 14-year-old girl with colon cancer to meet NASCAR great, Kasey Kahne and spend the weekend with him at the track in Sonoma, California.
"We put on this show out of love for Italian design and culture," said organizer Greg Soter. "It takes about 1,000 hours to put this show together every year. And we are pretty proud of it,"
Vehicle entry information, photos of past events and directions to the Marina are available on the Web site, www.italianconcours.org.
The show is presented by Cat's Exotics - specializing in the sale of exotic vehicles.