A vintage ad bills the Lozier touring car as one made for the “man of affairs” and the man “whose time is measured in big money value.” The price was listed at $5,000, a hefty sum when Ford Model Ts of the same era were running only a few hundred dollars.
Bill Walsh uses his Lozier — versions of which have sold for around $1 million — for trips to the ice-cream parlor.
More than 100 years after it was assembled, the vehicle built in 1912 also was ideal for Walsh's visit tothe second-ever Atlanta Concours d'Elegance, a very high-end car show at Chateau Elan Winery and Resort in Braselton that's expected to attract up to 8,000 visitors this weekend.
“It’s a damn good ice-cream car,” Walsh said Saturday, a wide grin emerging underneath his mustache.
Walsh and wife Pat, residents of the Philadelphia area, were standing on a fairway at one of Chateau Elan’s golf courses, surrounded by another handful of Loziers — of which very few remain — and dozens and dozens of other vintage cars.
“This (Lozier) has been his desire forever and ever and ever,” Pat Walsh said.
Saturday’s events included a display of “high interest and unique cars” owned by enthusaists from around the country. Everything from Loziers to muscle cars and more modern offerings were included, and judges later selected their “Magnificent Seven,” deeming them worthy of participating in Sunday’s main Concours d’Elegance.
That featured event will include more than 150 rare, museum-quality cars from the first half of the 20th century. Cars like a 1937 Mercedes 540K valued somewhere north of $9 million, and cars like the 1922 Moon Six-40 Touring owned by Loganville’s Gary Moon.
Moon is a very distant cousin to the founder of the St. Louis-based car company that lasted from 1906 to 1930. He and other eventual concours participants took part in a Saturday driving tour from Chateau Elan to nearby Road Atlanta and the scenic surrounding area.
Moon has been to various concours around the country but enjoyed having an event in his own backyard.
“I didn’t have to take it too far,” he said.
Buford resident Mark Nichols didn’t have to take his 1937 Packard Super 8 very far from home either. But for him, that may have been a bummer.
The metro Atlanta native is a Cadillac collector but said he fell in love with the Packard — think Chicago mobsters — decades ago. He finally got his hands on one about three years ago.
“Personally, I’m not a big show person,” Nichols said. “I like driving them.”
The Atlanta Concours d’Elegance
When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday
Where: Chateau Elan Winery and Resort, Braselton
What: More than 150 classic, museum-quality cars will be on display. Visitors may also drive new models from Mercedes-Benz, Bentley, Ferrari, Maserati, Porsche and Tesla.
Tickets: $90 at gate
Details: atlantaconcours.org
About the Author
