The third annual St. Michaels Concours d'Elegance was held on Sept. 27, 2009, on the grounds of The Inn at Perry Cabin on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The show featured more than three dozen "Best of the Best" automobiles, many of which had won major awards at other concours such as those in Pebble Beach, Meadow Brook, Amelia Island and Radnor Hunt. By limiting the number of entries, the organizers ensured that the relatively small field would be made up of 1900-1942 motor cars of the highest quality.

There were a few no-shows this year. Several days of rain made the show field extremely soggy in some spots and muddy in others. That may have discouraged some registered entrants. In fact, several who showed up parked their impeccable cars on the inn's paved driveway rather than manuever them into the water-logged lawn.

For more information about this fabulous concours and the 2009 results, visit this event's Web site at http://www.smcde.org (this is a new URL; the original one is no longer valid). This annual show is sponsored by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

I shot the photos in this gallery with my handheld Nikon D300 and Nikkor 18-200mm VR zoom. All are as-is, straight from the camera, with no post-processing applied -- except for nine marked CR, BR, CO, WB or ST in their captions. The abbreviations refer to cropping, brightness, contrast, white balance and straightening adjustments. All the pictures have been resized for online viewing.

Note that the images and other content here are protected by copyright laws. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use, copying, printing or direct linking is prohibited.

>>> CLICK ON A THUMBNAIL PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT, AFTER WHICH YOU CAN MANUALLY GO FORWARD OR BACKWARD TO THE OTHER IMAGES IN THIS GALLERY. THE PICTURES HERE CAN ALSO BE VIEWED AS A SELF-ADVANCING SLIDESHOW, BUT MINUS THE TECHNICAL AND OTHER DETAILS. SEE THE UPPER RIGHT CORNER OF THIS WINDOW. HAPPY VIEWING! <<<