Hundreds of US collectors show off $100m of supercars including Carroll Shelby’s 1950s Corvette at elite Hamptons event

INSIDE the huge invite-only auto show with hundreds of high-profile car collectors showing over $100 million worth of rare sports cars.

The RAND Luxury Motor Auction Hampton Concours started in 2007 as a charity brunch with less than 25 auto enthusiasts but is now around 500 car collectors showing off and test- driving vehicles.

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The exclusive annual charity event is taking place on a private estate in Bridgehampton, New York Sunday, August 11 from 11 am to 3 pm.

“This is one of the only events where we are judging the best in class in Porsche and in Ferrari,” Rand Luxury President and CEO Bradford Rand told The U.S. Sun exclusively.

“And there’s really no other event like it in the Hamptons. It’s probably the largest gathering of Ferraris and Porsches all in one place during the summer in the Hamptons.”

He stressed that, outside of being “one of the best car shows,” all the guests and collectors at the event get “access to food and unlimited spirits.”

The sold-out car show benefits the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation.

It features rare vehicles from collectors and sponsors like Manhattan Motorcars, Ferrari, Aston Martin and McLaren of Long Island and even luxury EV automaker Lucid Motorcars.

Rand said the event isn’t “just a car show for Ferrari or Porsche.”

“We do have some other special cars that are coming in,” he added.

“We have a 1950s Corvette that was raced by Carroll Shelby, a very famous driver. That’ll be on display. That won Le Mans, it’s a very famous race in Europe.”

Carroll Shelby won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1959.

In 1928, the race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France started requiring the winner to be the car that travels the greatest distance in a 24-hour time period.

The car specialist said the Hampton Concours car show also features a “beautiful” 1968 Aston Martin Volante.

“It’s almost out of the James Bond movie,” Rand raved.

“It’s a convertible, beautiful, like a 56-year-old gorgeous car.”

Who is Carroll Shelby

Carroll Shelby is deemed one of the most influential men in Ford history despite never being a full-time employee of the company.

• The car designer and racer was born on January 11, 1923 in Leesburg, Texas.
• He was a racer before he became a vehicle designer.
• Shelby had an interesting relationship with the Ford Motor Company from the early 1960s till he died in 2012.
• He was first a contractor for Ford before becoming a competitor.
  • Shelby had a vision of putting an American V8 motor into a European sports car’s body that would be named Shelby Cobra.
  • He had both British organization AC Cars and Ford Motor Company test it out.
  • A driver under Shelby American drove a Shelby Cobra 427 on Sebring International Speedway and defeated a Ferrari GTO for the first time in the Cobra’s history.
• Shelby was elected into the Automotive Hall of Fame in October 1992.
• The original Cobra was named the ‘Most Significant Car of the Last 50 Years’ by Motor Trend Magazine.

The auto enthusiast said the event has so many rare Porsches and Ferraris that it’s “almost too much to list.”

“Just very special couture boutique, customized motor cars,” Rand explained.

“It really whets the appetite of every car collector out there because we’ll have new cars, we’ll have old cars.”

Though the show has vintage vehicles for auto lovers to admire, Rand said the Hampton Concours also has “the newest cars.”

“Because Ferrari of Long Island and Aston Martin of Long Island, they’re all going to be showcasing their latest models,” he continued.

“And Porsche of Manhattan as well.”

The tickets for the event sold out days ago.

“It always sells that in advance, Rand said.

“Which is nice.”

RAGS TO RICHES

Back in 2007, the charity event car show was held at a private home “and it just grew to be where we now need to be on a polo field.”

“A brunch that we produced for Rolls Royce,” the RAND Luxury President said.

“At a gentleman’s home who now is the chief judge, Glenn Simon.”

Though small, the event still brought car enthusiasts together to do what they love most for a cause, looking at luxury vehicles.

“We lined up a few Rolls Royces,” Rand said.

“Everyone got to test drive them.”

The car lover said that he doesn’t even have too many automobiles in his own collection, just “two very special cars.”

“I have a Ferrari,” he shared.

“It’s a 2005 Ferrari F430 and, what makes it really rare, it’s not just the color combination. That’s like a gun metal over tan. It’s not a red Ferrari. I would never buy a red Ferrari.”

Rand stressed that the vehicle is “very hard to find” as the Ferrari is “one of one in the world.”

His second car is an Aston Martin.

“It’s a 2012 Aston Martin DBS kind of like from the James Bond movie, but it’s a convertible,” Rand described.

“And it’s one of two in the world of 2012 that had a manual transmission, and it’s called the Carbon Edition.”

The Rand Luxury president said that he favors manual cars.

“And they’re only going up in value,” he added.

“They are a great repellent to car thieves because car thieves don’t know how to drive stick shift.”

Rand went on to say that older carjackers may have the skills to drive a manual vehicle.

“But the young kids, they can’t steal it,” he emphasized.

“Because having a stick shift is like an anti-theft device.”

Though he has a humble collection, the auto specialist said a lot of the guests attending the event have a large number of luxury automobiles.

“Those are my two really cool cars,” Rand said.

“But some of the car collectors that are joining us have like 15 cars, 20 cars, 50 cars. It’s crazy.”

One of the vehicles he’s had that’s dear to him is his “very first sports car” that he got when he was around 26 years old.

“Because I bought it with my own money for $6,500,” Rand explained.

“It was a black [1985] 944 Porsche. And it was also a sick shift but I remember when I first got behind the wheel, it was my own money. I grew up very, very modest. Very poor,

“My mom was on welfare and food stamps. My parents were divorced so I worked really hard.

Rand said it was a magical moment for him when he bought his first luxury vehicle.

“I think, as soon as I turned it on, Put on the stereo. I think a tear came down my face,” he shared.

“It was great.”

He said the used sports car he purchased had around “I don’t know, 60,000 miles on it.”

“But to me, that was the greatest car,” Rand added.

“Because it was my car and I bought it up with my own money and I felt like I had achieved.”

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