How to kill a car show
Three ways to guarantee the failure of a car show (not including the weather, which is beyond the control of the event planners) – 1) change the date/time of year, 2) change the location, and 3) take a year (or two) off between shows. Despite having changed the date from October to May, changed the location of the event (for the third time in recent years) and taken more than a year off between shows, the organizers of Eurofest 2025 have defied the odds. The 26th annual Eurofest held April 11-12, 2025 was nothing short of superb!
The new host hotel, Greenville-Spartanburg’s Hotel Hartness, was outstanding. This recently -built boutique hotel located close to the GSP airport, is ranked #1 in South Carolina, #3 in the U.S. and #24 in the world by Travel & Leisure magazine. The accommodations were quiet and tasteful, and Friday night’s welcome part and Saturday night’s wine down included entertainment and great food with an attention to detail.
Many entrants liked the change from October to May as the “car calendar’ is less busy in the spring than in the fall. Certainly, the perfect weather of both Friday and Saturday with brilliant sunshine, blue skies, and temps approaching 70 degrees, helped make it a great weekend.
Just a short walk from the hotel was the large showfield which enabled the 300 cars to be displayed artfully with plenty of room for spectators and entrants to enjoy them. This year, the all-European show featured Hybrid Cars. No, not Toyota Priuses, but European cars with American powerplants. Appropriately, Best in Show was awarded to an all-original, unrestored 1973 DeTomaso Pantera owned by Tom and Annette Burger from Greenville, SC.
In total, there were thirty-nine classes of cars and motorcycles with Best in Class and Second in Class awarded for each marque ranging from BMW to Porsche – the two most popular – to more peculiar classes like Opel and Austin Mini. Among the more unusual vehicles was John Rigby’s 1974 Reliant Scimitar GTE made in the U.K. Most had never seen the Ford-powered vehicle despite a production run of 22 years. Scott Lorick showed his Wankel-powered NSU Ro80 1974 Sedan. Andrew Krueger’s 1964 Austin Mini was restored to perfection and Jennifer Barrows displayed her beautifully prepared 1993 Porsche 968, one of the more unusual Porsches on the field. Ivan Ruiz’s 1968 Corvette-powered Iso Grifo also designed by Guigiaro while he was at Bertone is always a favorite
The weekend event benefits the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Carolinas. Check out www.euroautofestival.com for more details. Better yet, join the fun in 2026 and be there in-person!