"Gatsby" cars back in Chesterfield

The new Gatsby film has an aspect of voyeurism—every scene is a full-tilt explosion into the life of millionaire playboy Jay Gatsby, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. The glitzy homes and the even glitzier, six-figure cars: all are characters in this torrid world of excess and glamor. And while it is unlikely these cars will be available at Ford anytime soon, many will display at the Kemp Auto Museum Concours d’Elegance this weekend.

Held May 18 through May 19, 2013, the concours is a living mural of this popular Fitzgerald adaptation.

Models such as the 1930 Buick, shown pursuing Gatsby in his Duesenberg, will be at the show, along with rows of the hand-built, chrome-frosted cars playing extras.

It is clear from the previews that Cords and Auburns, both manufactured by the Auburn Automobile Company from 1929 through 1932, are the stars of the movie. Cameras, and in some places convincing CGI, showcase a jazz-age New York City rife with these and other luxury American cars, making a consummate study of their curves and pleasing proportions, which is right at pace with the book.

The opening shots of the trailer feature even more sassy, jazz-tooting rides, including  Rolls-Royce vehicles, a handful of Packards, Ford Model A’s, Marmons and even a few Cadillacs.”

At the show, visitors will have a rare opportunity to see an immaculate selection of these very same models on exhibit, usually secreted away in elite, private collections throughout the country.

Highlights of the film-featured rides include:

• 1932 Duesenberg Series J, the green version of the car DiCaprio pilots through the film.
• 1929 Cord, exhibited by Hyman Ltd. This same model is shown in a shot of Times Square, where Gatsby and Nick Caraway (Tobey Maguire) engage in some getting to know you banter.
• 1931 Cord L29 Cabriolet, exhibited by Marshall Miller
• 1931 Packard 833 standard series, exhibited by Daniel Schmidt and Co.
• 1932 Marmon, exhibited by Robert Pass
• 1931 Ford Model A, exhibited by St. Louis Car Museum
• 1925 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost Riviera Town Car, the black version of the Rolls-Royce shot crossing the bridge in “The Great Gatsby.”

According to Kemp Auto Museum Curator Mike Dyer, people will have a better understanding of this provocative period in time if they visit the Concours before or after seeing the movie – or even if they have never see the movie at all.

“Cars were a quiet language during the 1920s and 30s in which the elite declared with the single flow of a fender, their status and power in society,” Dyer said. And with demonstrations such as these at the local clubs and parties where society’s dregs and made men merged, it is not hard to guess why a-have-not like Gatsby would skim and plan until one day he too had it all.

Seeing the cars in person will illustrate what motivated Gatsby and what tempted him.  The twenties were a boom era where anyone can make something of themselves, so long as they didn’t mind losing the morality in the process.