Culture / Cars

Supercar Showcase Puts Dream Rides Within Reach — Living Like a Rockefeller for a Day: When a Golf Course Becomes a Green Garage for Ferraris and Rolls-Royces

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photography Mark Rush Photography

I never dreamed I’d someday sit in the back seat of a classic Silver Cloud Rolls-Royce holding a crystal whiskey glass. It must have been my gorgeous bright blue fascinator that attracted the car’s owner to invite me to do so at the Park Place Luxury & Supercar Showcase

The luxury car show was launched in 2017 as a celebration of the 30th anniversary of Park Place Dealerships, a 22-location luxury and high-performance dealer in the Dallas-Fort Worth region.

Specializing in such makes as Mercedes, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Lotus and Maserati, Park Place’s chairman and CEO Ken Schnitzer notes that the annual event raises thousands of dollars for Momentous Institute. The therapeutic services organization helps more than 6,000 children and their family members annually, sponsored by the Salesmanship Club.

This year’s Luxury & Supercar Showcase, held on the fairways of the TPC Championship Golf Course of the 400-acre Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas in Irving-Las Colinas, drew some 2,850 people despite the almost unceasing thunderstorms.

Scores of luxury, rare, vintage and high-performance cars were exhibited, including such world-famed automobiles as the 1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental built for heiress Barbara Woolworth Hutton. Seventy-five collectors showed their vehicles in the Concours.

Best in Show was awarded to the 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB 6C. Among the 50 vehicles in the New Car Concours were the new Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV, Bentley Bentayga V8, Range Rover SV Coupe and Porsche Cayenne. As I admired a blazing red Ferrari which an 11-year-old boy told us he owned, his proud papa alongside nodded in agreement

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“I bought it for him when he was three,” he said. “Only four more years until he can legally drive!”

Fast Fashion

The Highland Park Village Fashion Show, with a predictably, yet impossibly thin, model lineup, was well-attended, sponsored by the shops at the Village. Yet perhaps the most hoopla came around the Haute Hat Contest, judged by Shane Walker Design.

There was everything from wacky to elegant to whimsical, as in the Paddington Bear raincoat and hat, perfect for this soggy day. Entertainment included The Texas Gentlemen, the Irving Symphony Orchestra and The Studio 54 Band.

In the VIP lounge, where folks huddled to stay warm and dry, it was all about the food and cocktails, with such gourmet offerings as Italian meatballs, mixed ceviche, short ribs with polenta, grilled shrimp, various sliders and such playful sweets as banana cream pie-flavored cotton candy and sorbets made on the spot with liquid nitrogen.

Attendees’ attire was dampened by the weather, but many, myself included, sported elegant hats and clothing, a la Kentucky Derby tradition. Hatmakers, such as Milano Hat Factory of Garland, created fedoras and fascinators, including my own.

When the skies finally cooperated, throngs dashed outdoors to tour the autos and dealer sales booths.

“Yes, we have already had two deals come through today,” a McLaren salesman told me. “Rain or shine, this is the place to be today for car lovers.”

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