It seems that anyplace with a sufficiently green golf course is hosting a classic car show these days, but even though The Bridge is just four years young, the quality and diversity of the vehicles on display—as you can see by the Triton submersible, it’s not just sports cars that gather here—have made this one stand out. Having been to three of the four so far, I can vouch for the quality being consistent without being repetitive on a per-car basis. You won’t see the same group arranged in a different pattern year to year.
Hosted on the old grounds of the Bridgehampton Race Circuit (which have morphed into a country club), the Bridge made full use of the rolling hills and striking architecture of the clubhouse as a complement to the 250 cars that were chosen to attend. There was a lot to take in and many a base was covered between lithe Porsche 904s, split-window Stingrays, and modern hypercars like the Koenigsegg Jesko, but the venue never felt overcrowded. Clumps of people gathered around the vehicles as you’d expect, but there was enough breathing room here that you weren’t constantly rubbing elbows either.
After spending some pre-show time with the dewy cars as they emerged from their plastic covers, the show got underway with Lamborghini making a very Lamborghini entrance and parading 20 of their vehicles onto the grounds to be parked in front of the glass-walled clubhouse. Bugatti celebrated the company’s 110th anniversary by placing an EB110, Chiron, and Veyron in a nice little visual timeline of their quad-turbo-powered efforts.
The staples of vintage car shows—the 300SL Gullwings and F40s and such—are always nice to see, but there was a welcome contrast provided by the presence of the next batch of poster cars, like the P4-esque De Tomaso P72, Aston Martin Valhalla, Pininfarina Battista, and the aforementioned Jesko. The classic side was far from trite though, with quality representations of nearly every decade and country of origin.
To see these pre-production models being shown off alongside classic concepts like the Aztec pictured below at an event that is only in its fourth year speaks—at the very least—to the faith that various marketing and PR departments have placed in The Bridge. To someone attending who can’t afford the submarines and jet airplanes and helicopters that are displayed alongside the latest in fast luxury cars, it’s still a fantastic day spent among cars that are rare in their own right, and even rarer to be seen together.
Every car has it’s own plot on the green that the organizers feel would highlight it best, but once they’ve arrived the owners and volunteers take ownership of the section—sort of like wedding table assignments. The impressive group of cars as a whole is thanks to the work of Jeffrey Einhorn, Shamin Abas, and Robert Rubin, the three individuals behind The Bridge. Say what you must about the nature of exclusive events, but there’s no knocking what showed up at this one. Besides, the organization also hosts a Cars & Coffee that’s open to all, and as you can see below, it’s not too shabby either.
