An amazing thing happened in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the fall of 2019. A couple of automobile enthusiasts proposed the Chattanooga Motorcar Festival and convinced the city to allow it to happen. There was a time trial, rally, and concours. It was to be an annual event, but Covid-19 interfered and it was postponed in 2020. The second Chattanooga Motorcar Festival happened in October 2021, and it was even more successful than the first one. The last day of the three-day event was a concours d’elegance held on the streets of Chattanooga’s West Village. There were some spectacular automobiles on display, but one somewhat unspectacular car caused the people who read the history of the car to take a second, closer look. The car, a 1928 Buick Country Club Coupe, had been purchased new by Barney Oldfield, the “Speed King of the World,” for his former wife, Bess, who had been his second wife and would become his fourth in 1945. Sometimes an unremarkable automobile can be pretty remarkable when its story is known.
Donald Dunbar Buick
No Subscription? You’re missing out
Get immediate ad-free access to all our premium content.
