Bruce Wennerstrom, Founder of Yearly Beauty Contest for Classic Cars, Dies at 89

Photo Bruce Wennerstrom in 2010 at the Greenwich Concours d'Elegance, a competition and auction held annually in Connecticut. Credit Debra C. Argen/Luxury Experience

Bruce Wennerstrom, who became smitten with automobiles as a Queens teenager and, with his wife, inaugurated the annual Greenwich Concours d'Elegance competition and auction in Connecticut for vintage car devotees, died on Wednesday in Greenwich, Conn. He was 88.

The cause was prostate cancer, his brother-in-law, Richard Walukanis, said.

"In their teens, a guy's hormones and gasoline all get mixed up together," Mr. Wennerstrom liked to say. "Most outgrow it. I never did."

Not for decades.

He test drove cars into his 80s. Once he even took a spin in a lunar rover — on Earth.

He owned a 1996 Buick Roadmaster station wagon (with a Corvette engine) for weekend chores, but he favored more exotic possessions: a limited edition 1957 Dual Ghia, notable for its finned, handmade body and Chrysler chassis (other owners included Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.), and his 1983 and 1985 German Bitters. (Fewer than 500 of these were made, and Erich Bitter, the designer, told him that the Wennerstroms were the only family to own two, he said.)

Photo Mr. Wennerstrom and his wife, Genia, at their home in Greenwich with their German-made Bitters.

The Greenwich Concours is one of three such automotive events featured in the North American edition of "1,000 Places to See Before You Die." AmeriCares receives proceeds from the affair.

At the most recent Concours, a two-day affair in June, Bonhams auctioned off a 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Stelvio convertible for $1.45 million.

Another outlet for Mr. Wennerstrom's enthusiasm was the Madison Avenue Sports Car Driving and Chowder Society, a group of car lovers founded in 1957 by Art Peck, the president of CBS Radio, and King Moore, an advertising executive. Mr. Wennerstrom regularly presided over its monthly lunches at Sardi's in Manhattan.

Bruce Kent Wennerstrom was born in Kew Gardens, Queens, on Dec. 20, 1926. His father, John, was a clothing manufacturer. (He made Bruce's uniform when the son went off to the Army, to serve in Washington State and the Aleutians.) His mother was the former Anna Ursula Thompson.

Mr. Wennerstrom graduated from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where he met Genia Walukanis, who became a writer and illustrator and whom he married in 1955. She died in 2011. He is survived by their children, Nord, Leif, Kirk and Bria Wennerstrom; two grandchildren; and his brother, Edward.

Mr. Wennerstrom went to work in publishing. He became chief executive of Previews Inc., a real estate company, and, in 1984, chairman and president of Sotheby's International Realty.

With his wife, Mr. Wennerstrom founded the auto competition in Greenwich, where they lived, in 1996. The family has said the Greenwich Concours will continue, along with its display of eclectic exotica, which has included a World War I tank, a Terrafugia Transition flying car and a Tupolev 007 Russian amphibious craft.

Last year, Mr. Wennerstrom piloted a 1966 two-seat Fitch Phoenix, built by the racer John Fitch, across Greenwich for the Concours. He described driving the car as "a bit intimidating — it's the only one in the world." The Phoenix sold at auction for $253,000.

"Cars are worth what someone will pay for them," Mr. Wennerstrom said. "It's the ultimate free market."

Correction: October 2, 2015

An earlier version of this article misstated Bruce Wennerstrom's age. He was 88, not 89. The headline repeated the error.

Source: Bruce Wennerstrom, Founder of Yearly Beauty Contest for Classic Cars, Dies at 89