Milwaukee, Wis. (June 30, 2016) — Chief Judge Colin Comer has announced the following six experts will join his team as Honorary Judges for the 2016 Milwaukee Concours d’Elegance on Aug. 28, 2016, in Veterans Park. “The wealth of knowledge covering every aspect of the collector car hobby contained within this group is incredible,” Comer said. “I hope every exhibitor gets a chance to visit with these gentlemen on the field and is as excited as I am to have them on board.”
Peter Cunningham is the Championship driver and team owner of RealTime Racing, the legacy race team he founded in 198
7. RealTime Racing was Honda’s, and now Acura’s, factory team in the SCCA Pirelli World Challenge Championships. As a driver, through January 2016, Cunningham had won 91 sports car races in 10 professional series, a record unmatched by anybody in North American sports car racing history, as well as 10 Drivers’ Championships in SCCA Pro Racing series, and five more in everything from ice racing to SCCA Pro Rally.
Cunningham, a life-long resident of the Milwaukee area, also is a vintage car enthusiast and collector. Putting his vast experience with both competition and collector cars to good use on the show field, Cunningham will serve as the Lead Judge for the Race Car class.
Donald Osborne is an automotive consultant, historian, Accredited Senior Appraiser and a member of the American Society of Appraisers. He is the Principal of Automotive Valuation Services and advises on collection building, vehicle acquisition, and sales. He travels extensively in the U.S. and Europe, attending major events, rallies, and auctions. He has appeared as co-host of the nationally-broadcast TV show “What’s My Car Worth” and has judged at major concours events including Amelia Island Concours and many others.
Millions see him as host of the segment “Assess & Caress with Donald Osborne” on the CNBC Primetime show Jay Leno’s Garage, where he shares his knowledge of classic car values weekly with Jay and the viewers. Osborne is a contributing editor and auction analyst for Sports Car Market magazine and has written for many publications including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Business Week Online, Hagerty’s, and Road & Track magazine. He is an active participant on many seminar panels and symposia. Osborne is a quintessential car guy who loves sharing his automotive knowledge with other enthusiasts.
Osborne is the author of a new book “Stile Transatlantico / Transatlantic Style: A Romance of Chrome and Fins,” published by Coachbuilt Press. It tells the story of the creative exchange between Italy and America in mid-century automotive design.
Noted enthusiast, collector and concours judge Roger Morrison will serve as an Assistant Chief Judge at the 2016 Milwaukee Concours d’Elegance.
Morrison’s judging experience includes an impressive 31 years as a Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance judge as well as judging numerous other national and regional events.
With his wife, Sissy, he has participated in tours for more than 25 years including events such as the Cobra 1000, GT350 Anniversary, Colorado Grand, Copperstate 1000 and the North American Vintage Bentley tour. The Morrisons have logged more than 45,000 miles in their 1924 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost in Silver Ghost Association tours in the United States, United Kingdom, Europe and New Zealand. Morrison is former president of the National Advisory Board for the McPherson College Restoration program, president of the Silver Ghost Association and has contributed articles for publication in several single marque club publications as well as mentoring young persons in the auto restoration field.
Morrison’s eclectic collection includes representatives of Shelby, Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, vintage Bentley, Porsche and authentic period built hot rods.
Jonathan Klinger, vice president of public relations for Hagerty, the world’s leader in classic car insurance and valuations expertise, will join the judging corps at the 2016 Milwaukee Concours d’Elegance. In his current role at Hagerty, Klinger has increased Hagerty’s position as the influential source of classic car knowledge, which has led to significant national media attention. Additionally, he has expanded awareness and support of Hagerty’s advocacy programs by introducing young people to the classic car hobby, providing career opportunities to keep restoration skills alive and starting a national dialogue to protect automotive heritage.
Prior to joining Hagerty, Klinger was the director of development for the Automotive Restoration Program at McPherson College—the world’s only college that provides a four-year degree in Automotive Restoration. He has a technology degree in Automotive Restoration and a Bachelor’s of Business Administration, both from McPherson College. Jonathan currently serves on the McPherson College Board of Trustees.
In October of 2010, Klinger challenged himself to drive a stock 1930 Ford Model A as his only form of personal transportation, with no exceptions for distance or weather conditions (living in northern Michigan). His goal was to prove to younger generations that classic cars are meant to be driven, can be reliable, and can be purchased for less than $10,000. He maintained a daily blog and created a community of driving enthusiasts who followed his daily adventures throughout the 17,000 mile, year-long journey.
Klinger continues to strive to educate and engage the next generation of collector car enthusiasts, which is critical to the survival of the hobby.
Kim Wolfkill, editor-in-chief of Road & Track magazine, also will be joining our 2016 event as an honorary judge. Prior to his 2016 return to Road & Track, Wolfkill was most recently senior business and partner manager for Microsoft’s Turn 10 Studios. However, Wolfkill is no stranger to Road & Track, having served as senior editor from 2003 to 2006. He wrote, edited and managed the production of major cover stories and features, including road tests, multi-car comparison tests, and first-person racing accounts. Wolfkill also spent four years prior to that managing the editorial content on RoadandTrack.com as online services editor.
Since 2010, Wolfkill was responsible for establishing and managing partnerships to support the Forza Motorsport game franchise on Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console. Prior to that he held various positions at Microsoft including channel manager and publisher of MSN Autos from 2006 to 2010 and executive editor at MSN Carpoint from 1995 to 1999.
Beyond his knowledge of both cars and technology, Wolfkill is also an accomplished racer. He has taught auto racing professionally and competed in professional racing series including the Grand-Am Cup, SPEED World Challenge, Rolex Sports Car Series and Porsche Michelin Supercup. Career highlights include racing in the 1998, 1999 and 2004 Rolex 24 at Daytona sports car endurance race, and multiple wins at the NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill race.
Tom Jones also will serve as an honorary judge. He covers the full spectrum of the motoring hobby as he exhibits in concours, has raced in vintage events and has participated in touring events in the U.S. and Europe. The Jones collection shows his wide range of appreciation with early Classics such as Packard, Cord and Bentley, as well as muscle and sports cars. His unrestored Ferrari Daytona is part of this year’s V12 feature class. Jones has served on the CCCA (Classic Car Club of America) national board of directors and currently holds the position of President. Together with his wife Connie, they launched and continue to chair the Keeneland Concours in Lexington, Ky., now in its 13th year.
Meet all of these judges Aug. 28, 2016, in Veterans Park, Milwaukee, during the 2016 Milwaukee Concours d’Elegance. Learn more about the Milwaukee Concours d’Elegance weekend of events online.