About

Since 1996, the Ironstone Concours Foundation has held the Ironstone Concours d’ Elegance.

Our events have resulted in more than $1,000,000 of donations made to support youth in agriculture, including Future Farmers of America (FFA) and 4-H youth activities. We also regularly fund annual scholarships to the California State Fair and the Calaveras County Fair.

In addition, the Ironstone Concours Foundation has underwritten a room at the State FFA headquarters in Galt, California, and we have steadily supported the 4-H Leadership Conference, Guide Dog Programs and Horse Classic.

It is with much gratitude and thanks to all of our loyal entrants, sponsors, vendors and  supporters ​that help us support these efforts each year.

Overview

For over 25 years, the non-profit Ironstone Concours Foundation has presented the Ironstone Concours d’Elegance with the idea of attracting the finest examples of vintage and classic automobiles as well as vintage race cars, trucks, trailers, housecars and military vehicles. Proceeds of the event go to promote and support youth in agriculture.  More than $1 million has been raised for local Future Farmers of America (FFA) and 4-H youth activities. The Ironstone Concours Foundation also donates scholarships to the California State Fair and the Calaveras County Fair as well as the FFA Leadership Conference, Guide Dog Programs and Horse Classic.

History

In the early 1990s, during construction of the remarkable Ironstone Amphitheater at Ironstone Vineyards, owners John and Gail Kautz attended the famous Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. There they met Chris Bock, now Pebble’s chief judge. They returned to Murphys with thoughts of changing their annual youth-in-agriculture fundraising gala into a significant concours d’elegance. As their plans developed, they stopped construction of the amphitheatre and redesigned the stage to accept the weight of automobiles, particularly heavy classics. 

In 1993, the Ironstone Concours d’Elegance held its first show on the last Saturday of September. This tradition has continued for more than two decades. The annual event attracts 300+ antique and classic cars from all over the West, with side displays of vintage trucks, travel trailers, motorcycles, racecars and wooden boats.

Ironstone’s honored marques vary from year to year. Names like Stutz, Packard, Duesenberg, Pierce-Arrow, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Jaguar and other legendary classics are regularly featured. Emphasis is likewise given to sports cars, early Fords, classic Thunderbirds and Corvettes, coachbuilt luxury marques as well as unrestored and original 
automobiles. The event often hosts honored guests like Wayne Carini, Steve Moal, Arlen Ness and others who mingle with the crowd and offer first-hand expertise regarding many of the vehicles on the field.

The Ironstone Concours d’Elegance is hosted and managed by the non-profit Ironstone Concours Foundation. For years, concours proceeds have benefited Central and Northern California FFA and 4-H youth activities, including Horse Classics, Guide Dog and Service Dog Programs, Computer Corps and Citizenship Service Learning.

Within the concours, you’ll find demonstrations and projects populated by young people from local 4-H and FFA groups. There is usually also a petting corral with farm animals. Additionally, the Ironstone Concours Foundation has pledged generous support to the building fund for the California State FFA headquarters in Galt, California, and makes annual donations to the California State Fair Scholarship Fund and the Calaveras County Fair Scholarship program.

The mission of the Ironstone Concours Foundation is to organize and display historic vehicles — to encourage the appreciation of technology, innovation, design and culture — and to support the future of agricultural in California through the involvement and sponsorship of the region’s youth.

Ironstone Concours Board group shot

Ironstone Concours Foundation
​Governing Board

Gail Kautz, Chair
Ironstone Vineyards Owner
Lodi, CA

Christopher Bock, Entry Chairman
Chief Judge Pebble Beach
Nevada City, CA

Joel Carash, Attorney
Past Pres. of Bentley Drivers Club
Stockton, CA

Duane Bulthuis, Treasurer
Certified Public Accountant
Stockton, CA

Wayne Craig, Racecar Chairman
Pebble Beach Docent Chair
Lodi, CA

Don Leutz 
Realtor
South Lake Tahoe, CA

Rod Smith
National Automative Museum, Chief Docent
Reno, NV

Stephen Kautz
President, Ironstone Vineyards
Murphys, CA

 

 

Alan Galbraith 
Founder of the Concours d’Lemons
Sacramento, CA

Stu Laidlaw 
Automobile Restorer
Redding, CT

Michael Lamm 
Automotive Historian and Author
Stockton, CA

Larry Seidell 
Various Historic Car Activities
Murphys, CA

James Sinclair, Chief Judge
Pebble Beach Judge
Placerville, CA

Rob Miller, Tour Chairman
Vintage Collector & Pebble Beach Participant
Santa Barbara, CA

Firman Brown
Classic Car Collector & Pebble Beach Participant
Murphys, CA

Dick McClure
Founder of Fall Colors Motoring Tour & Advisory Board Member of The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering
Stockton, CA

Ironstone Concours Advisory Board

Brian Blain
Vintage Racecar Collector and
Founder of Blain Motorsports Museum
Visalia, CA

Ironstone Concours Auction Committee

Karen Chandler
Bokides Hessletine Real Estate Company

Melissa Estrada
Central Valley Community Bank

Melodee Machado
Central Valley Community Bank

Carole Jensen
Public Notary Community Member

Marianne Kautz
Community Member

Katie Otto
Future Farmers of America

Rebecca Towell
Pan American Insurance Services