The Bridge car show returns to the private golf club in Bridgehampton, NY on Saturday, September 15, 2018, set on site of the historic Bridgehampton Race Circuit.  Paying tribute to the club’s racing heritage, the invite-only event will present over 150 ground breaking cars as well as a few private planes for the invited to peruse. Growing from 100 cars displayed at last year's presentation, the car show is presented by Swiss watch manufacturer Richard Mille who will sponsor the elite event through 2020.

The only event of its kind, The Bridge (taking place at The Bridge golf club) quickly gained acceptance as a "must-attend" event among auto enthusiasts and automakers in the luxury market, some who are now launching new designs or choreograph special experiences at The Bridge. This includes Terrafugia who will demonstrate their new Transition prototype, the world’s first practical flying car, and Karma Automotive who unveils a new special edition, hand-painted Verbicky Art Car. Richard Mille will debut a never-before-seen limited edition watch for the Americas.

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"The Bridge 2017" photo by Michael Shaffer of Capitol Sunset Photography. Courtesy of The Bridge.

"The Bridge 2017" photograph by Michael Shaffer of Capitol Sunset Photography. Courtesy of The Bridge.

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The Bridge is a collaboration between Bob Rubin, who has owned the race circuit since 1981 and founded The Bridge golf club in 2002, and the event’s organizers: Shamin Abas, President of Shamin Abas Ultra-Luxury Brand Marketing & Business Development; and Jeffrey Einhorn, a Manhattan-based attorney. The trio said they identified a lack of true engagement with collectors at other concourses and designed The Bridge as the antithesis of the atypical automotive event. Traditional concours typically include competitions which is not a component of The Bridge.

The rarefied car show also has a private art fair on its grounds.

Returning for a second year and doubling its size is the newly-named The September Art Fair at The Bridge. The invite-only art fair is organized by Suzanne Butler (CANADA), Max Levai and Pascal Spengemann (Marlborough Contemporary). The art is presented in double-wide shipping containers that are 320 square feet each. They have been customized and designed by artist Lars Fisk, a sculptor who embraces small modular architecture as part of his practice.

Set in the dunes near the golf course's 18th tee, exhibitors include 303 Gallery, CANADA, Andrew Edlin Gallery, Reyes Projects, Karma, Perrotin, Andrew Kreps Gallery, Marlborough Contemporary, Morán Morán, Vito Schnabel, Sies + Höke, and David Zwirner Gallery. The September Art Fair at The Bridge opened on Friday, September 14, 2018 with a private preview and continues through Sunday, September 16, 2018.

"The addition of the art fair to the car show added a new dimension to the party," Rubin stated in the announcement. "With double the galleries, and more cars, it should be even more fun. This year features an homage to Buckminister Fuller. He designed the famous Dymaxion car, and influenced countless artists, so it's perfect for us."

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"The Bridge 2017" photo by Michael Shaffer of Capitol Sunset Photography. Courtesy of the Bridge Golf Club.

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From inception, the show has attracted cars that are utterly unique, according to organizers, with car enthusiasts traveling from across the globe to display their cars in Bridgehampton, NY in The Hamptons.

Notable automobiles from the 2017 event included a 1957 Jaguar XKSS, the first of sixteen built, a 1957 Porsche Speedster, originally raced by factory driver Lake Underwood and a veteran of the Bridgehampton Race Circuit, and a 1968 Chevrolet Corvette NART LeMAns race car, one of 17 Corvettes to have compete at LeMans. In addition, the line-up included multiple Ford GT40s, Mercedes 300SLs, both gullwings and roadsters, and a 1976 Lamborghini Periscopo.

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"The Bridge 2017" photograph by Michael Shaffer of Capitol Sunset Photography. Courtesy of The Bridge.

"The Bridge 2017" photograph by Michael Shaffer of Capitol Sunset Photography. Courtesy of The Bridge.

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“We’re very proud to build upon the success of our previous years and have cultivated an experience that will suit a multitude of tastes and interests,” Rubin stated in the announcement. “Since buying this property, the land was calling for this. It’s about shunning the roped-off kinds of concours, and celebrating the art, history and function of the automobile to reimagine what a concours could be. As The Bridge continues to grow its car and contemporary art elements, we are shifting perceptions.”

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"The Bridge 2017" photograph by Michael Shaffer of Capitol Sunset Photography. Courtesy of The Bridge.

"The Bridge 2017" photograph by Michael Shaffer of Capitol Sunset Photography. Courtesy of The Bridge.

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The public has the chance to see some of cars exhibited at The Bridge as part of  the public "Coffee and Cars" event, held at the Bridgehampton Historical Society grounds on Sunday, September 16, 2018. Expanding the number of luxury cars presented is The Experience Auto Group. They are hosting a Rally to Bridgehampton with Ferrari-Maserati of Long Island, Porsche of South Shore and Gold Coast Maserati. Cars are expected to arrive at the Bridgehampton Museum at 10:30 a.m. where they will join vintage and historic cars and a selection of cars exhibited at The Bridge. Admission is free. Click here for details.

For The Bridge's 2018 edition, following are a few of the noteworthy cars expected to exhibit:

1957 Maserati 300S

Stirling Moss, Maserati’s number one driver in the mid-1950s, described the 300S as “one of the easiest, nicest, best-balanced sports-racing cars ever made.” This high praise combined with these driving dynamics helped solidify Maserati as one of the greatest race car manufacturers of all time.

This 1957 Maserati 300S is one of the 26 examples built by the Italian manufacturer and was originally ordered by Italian Primo Pezzoli of Scuderia Guastalla, a highly successful team that competed in Europe and South America. After racing throughout the 1950’s, this Maserati remained unrestored for many years until it was purchased by a German enthusiast, who used it to compete in vintage races at Le Mans, Goodwood and Brands Hatch, until it suffered a sizable accident in the 1990’s. It was later restored in 2014 by RedLine Restorations in Connecticut, and has since received countless awards at exhibitions throughout the United States.

 1965 Shelby GT350 R Ex-Mark Donahue

One of just 36 produced, the Shelby GT350 R was sold on a strictly-for-racing basis, they could be ordered and purchased from a dealer and required no modifications after delivery to begin competing at the track. The cars started life as significantly more mundane fastback “K code” Mustangs that were shipped directly from Ford to Shelby’s workshop in Los Angeles, where in six monthsthe docile sports car would be transformed into an SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) B Production monster. Among other changes, the cars received a revised suspension, a modified 289 cubic-inch V8, an improved cooling system, fiberglass body panels and plexiglass windows – and on the inside, the interior was gutted and a full roll cage was installed.

This car, serial number SR105, was one of the two GT350 R’s sponsored by Dockery Ford of Morristown, New Jersey for the 1966 race season and campaigned by famous American driver Mark Donahue, known as “Captain Nice,” at The Bridge. After changing hands, the car was re-acquired by Dockery Ford years later and restored by Legendary Motorcar in Ontario back to the exact specifications from when Donahue raced it.

1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe by Graber

This Dove Grey 1954 Aston Martin represents one of the two bare chassis that were supplied by the factory to Carrosserie Graber of Switzerland for a custom Drophead Coupé conversion. Distinct, from its Tickford-built counterparts (although sharing the 125 bhp inline-6 and 4-speed transmission), the Graber had many interesting design elements: the entire front of the body was fabricated in aluminum with everything behind the front windscreen in steel, allowing Graber engineers to weld the body directly to the chassis. Further, the doors and posts were supported by wooden oak framing, and the car featured Bosch switches, Smiths instruments, Marchal lights, Dunlop tires and Armstrong shock absorbers.

This DB2/4 was completed in May of 1955 and sold through the Stierli Garage in Zürich, Switzerland. After spending considerable time used in Switzerland, the car was put in long-term storage in Basel. There it stayed until 2007, when it was sold to a collector in Los Angeles and subjected to a comprehensive restoration, after which it debuted and placed at Pebble Beach in 2010.

1952 Chrysler SWB Ghia Prototype Coupe

The 1952 Chrysler SWB Ghia Prototype Coupe was exhibited at the Paris Auto Show in 1953 and built on a shortened Chrysler New Yorker chassis with a Firepower Hemi V8 and the Power Flite transmission. One of Chrysler’s famous “idea cars,” it was meant to inspire Chrysler’s design team and provide the public with a glimpse of great things to come by combining American power with Italian coachwork.

This car was the work of industrial designer Virgil Exner, who was contracted by Chrysler along with Carrozzeria Ghia to build the coachwork – and was commissioned for C.B. Thomas, president of the export division of Chrysler. Plans to put the car into production were considered, but never came to fruition due to Chrysler’s financial woes, leaving this as the sole vehicle of its design, which years later, took “Most Significant Design” at Pebble Beach.

1963 Chevrolet Corvette Pininfarina Rondine Concept

In 1963, Chevrolet debuted a new design direction for the second generation of its successful Corvette line with the Sting Ray. While the now famous sportster still featured rakish fiberglass bodywork and high performance engines, the vehicle’s handling and build quality were vastly improved.

Looking for additional expressions of the Corvette brand, design boss Bill Mitchell had a few chassis shipped to Carrozzeria Pininfarina in Italy -- which was renowned for penning the lines Ferraris -- to sketch out something bold and sleek using the Corvette’s already powerful and dependable drivetrain. The result of this experiment was the Rondine, designed by Tom Tjaarda, the only Corvette ever created using steel body panels instead of fiberglass, with an extended nose, exposed quad headlights, and a swallowtail rear end. And instead of the split rear window famously featured in 1963 coupes, the Rondine was given striking wraparound rear glass. This car, the only one ever produced, debuted at the 1963 Paris Auto Show, with chief Corvette engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov quoted as proclaiming “for the first time I now have a Corvette I can be proud to drive in Europe.”

1991 Jaguar Sport XJR-15

The Jaguar Sport XJR-15 was the result of a collaboration between Jaguar and Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR), forged to create a road-going-racer follow-up to the 1988 Le Mans winning Jaguar XJR-9. The XJ-15, with its mid-mounted 450 hp V12 engine was designed by Peter Stevens, who would continue on in his career to co-design the McLaren F1, although it was the Jaguar Sport and not the McLaren that would become the first ever road car constructed entirely out of carbon fiber and Kevlar composites.

The car is essentially a street legal race car – in the same great tradition of the great Jaguar C and D Type vehicles. For the XJR-15, TWR adapted the Le Mans winning chassis of the XJR-9 for the road by widening the cockpit and raising the roof to improve space and access, although it still complied with FIA Group C racing regulations and featured a 191 MPH top speed. AND IT IS LOUD!

 

"The Bridge 2017" photo by Michael Shaffer of Capitol Sunset Photography. Courtesy of The Bridge.

"The Bridge 2017" photograph by Michael Shaffer of Capitol Sunset Photography. Courtesy of The Bridge.

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BASIC FACTS: “The Bridge” Car Show is by invitation only and takes place September 15, 2018 at The Bridge golf club. Select cars will be transported on Sunday, September 16, 2018 to the Bridgehampton Historical Society’s Corwith House grounds for “Cars and Coffee” that is open to the public. The Bridgehampton Museum is located on 2368 Montauk Highway, Bridgehampton, NY 11932.

September Art Fair at The Bridge is an invitation only art fair taking place on September 15 and 16, 2018 that opens with a VIP Preview on September 14, 2018.

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