Jaguar-MG Concours d’Elegance: Classic Automobiles at the Vanderbilt

 The Jaguar Drivers Club of Long Island and the MG Car Club-Long Island Centre will hold their annual Concours d‘Elegance and All-Marque Concourse Sanitaire, a show of vintage and new automobiles, on Sunday, September 10, from 11:00 to 4:00 at the Vanderbilt Museum. (Rain date: September 17.) The Vanderbilt Museum is located at 180 Little Neck Road, Centerport.

(Above: Vintage Jaguars and MGs in the Vanderbilt Mansion courtyard. Vanderbilt Museum photo.)
To register a car for the show, call Mike Carroll at 516-607-6074. The Vanderbilt Museum has honored William K. Vanderbilt II’s automotive legacy by hosting classic-car shows on its grounds for more than three decades. Car show attendees pay general museum admission at the door: $7 adults, $6 seniors (62 years and older) and students with ID, $3 children 12 and under. There is no additional charge to attend the car shows. Food will be available for purchase from Smoke-a-Burger’s of East Northport, N.Y.

(Note: General admission includes estate-grounds access to the Memorial Wing natural-history and ethnographic-artifact galleries, Nursery Wing, Habitat Room, Egyptian mummy and Stoll Wing animal-habitat dioramas. For a Mansion tour or a Planetarium show, add $6 per ticket. On summer Saturdays and Sundays, tickets for Living History tours are $8.) This year the car clubs will include a youth judging program, in which children and young adults can learn about a variety of classic cars. They will be invited to participate in a simple, fun judging process. With hats, shirts and name badges to identify them, the young judges will evaluate a small group of select cars based on a variety of categories, while engaging with the owners of each vehicle. When scoring is completed, the young judges will personally introduce the winners at the end of the event. Mr. Vanderbilt, a pioneer race driver who competed in Europe, brought auto racing to the United States. He inaugurated the famous Vanderbilt Cup Races in 1904. That same year, he set a new land-speed record of 92.3 miles per hour in a Mercedes at a course in Florida. He also spurred the development of the American auto industry and built the prototype for the first toll road, the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway on Long Island. 

* * * * MUSEUM AND PLANETARIUM INFORMATION  ******

(Museum administrative office hours: Monday through Friday, 10:00 to 4:00. Closed weekends and holidays. For information, call 631-854-5579.) Hours – Museum and MansionThrough September 3: Tuesday through Sunday 11:00 to 5:00. Mansion tours are given at 11:45, 12:00, 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 and 4:00. Last mansion tour begins at 4:00. (The Museum and Mansion are closed Monday.) Hours – Charles and Helen Reichert PlanetariumThrough September 3: Daytime shows Tuesday through Sunday at 12:00, 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 and 4:00. Evening shows on Friday and Saturday at 8:00, 9:00 and 10:00. (The Planetarium is closed Monday.) 

PLANETARIUM SCHEDULE – Summer 2017Through September 3 Friday Nights8:00 – Long Island Skies9:00 – From Earth to the Universe – New Show! 10:00 – Laser U2 – New Laser Show! Saturday Nights8:00 – Night Sky, Live!9:00 –  Pink Floyd: The Wall – New Laser Show!10:00 – Laser U2 – New Laser Show! Tuesday through Sunday Afternoons (closed Mondays)  12:00 – One World, One Sky1:00 – Earth, Moon, and Sun2:00 – From Earth to the Universe – New Show!3:00 – Sunstruck! – New Show!4:00 – Stars: Power House of the Universe
ObservatoryYear-round viewing of the night sky (weather permitting), on Fridays, 9:00-10:00, and on Saturday after the 8:00 p.m. Planetarium show. Observation is free. 

Museum Admission, General museum admission is $7 for adults, $6 for students with ID and seniors (62 and older), and $3 for children 12 and under. General admission includes estate-grounds access to the Marine Museum (closed temporarily for renovation), Memorial Wing natural-history and ethnographic-artifact galleries, Nursery Wing, Habitat Room, Egyptian mummy and Stoll Wing animal-habitat dioramas. For a mansion tour, add $6 per ticket. (A video tour of the mansion is available on request.) Mansion ToursGuided tours of the Vanderbilt Mansion — listed on the National Register of Historic Places — are available Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday at 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 and 4:00. Planetarium AdmissionDuring the day, visitors to the Planetarium pay general museum admission ($7 for adults, $6 for students with IDs and seniors 62 and older, and $3 for children 12 and under), plus $6 each for a Planetarium show. For evening Planetarium shows on Friday and Saturday, visitors pay $10 for adults, $9 for students with IDs and seniors 62 and older, and $8 for children 12 and under. Location and WebsiteThe Vanderbilt Museum is located at 180 Little Neck Road, Centerport, NY. Directions and updated details on programs and events are available at www.vanderbiltmuseum.org. For information, call 631-854-5579.) ImagesAvailable upon request. Call Patrick Keeffe at 631-854-5562. The Suffolk County Vanderbilt MuseumThe Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum — a unique combination of mansion, marine and natural history museum, planetarium and park — is dedicated to the education and enjoyment of the people of Long Island and beyond. This mission is achieved through the thoughtful preservation, interpretation and enhancement of the Eagle’s Nest estate as an informal educational facility. Many exhibition and program themes focus upon Long Island’s Gold Coast Era. Programs also concentrate on William K. Vanderbilt II’s desire that his marine, natural history and ethnographic collections promote appreciation and understanding of the marvelous diversity of life, other cultures, and scientific knowledge. Planetarium programming, more specifically, focuses on scientific knowledge and seeks to capture Mr. Vanderbilt’s sense of adventure and exploration through state-of-the-art entertainment.  ###