An Automotive Weekend in the HamptonsElana Scherr - Car and DriverOne of the bonuses about travel is the opportunity to have an adventure and drive in a new place. This can be a positive or negative experience, depending on your comfort level with being honked at and/or crashing into hedgerows, but in most cases it's a fun way to become immersed in car culture in the most vulnerable state, that of the commuter.For all the time I've spent in Manhattan, I've only driven there once or twice, so walking out of the hotel to find a sleek white Mercedes-AMG GT63 Pro waiting at the curb was a bit like getting to the airport for a flight and being handed a HGU-55/P helmet and the start sequence to an F-35. Just like your uncle who is convinced he could fly an airliner, I'm convinced I can drive anywhere. And if not, well, at least the construction crew at the end of the block shouted "Cute car!" at me while I was trying to figure out the first turn.Elana Scherr - Car and DriverDriving in the city is a bit like playing a video game. Not a car racing one; one of those zombie or dungeon-escape ones where lots of creatures are attacking from every angle. Horde mode. Pedestrians, small dogs, large dogs, bicycles, delivery motorcycles, delivery vans, construction, destruction. Which makes it all the more notable when you complete the escape and end up on the winding oceanside roads of the far side of Long Island.Now this story isn't really about Manhattan, nor is it about the GT63 Pro, although you can read about my love for this perfect combo of sports and muscle in plenty of other places on this website. And if you're speccing one, consider the Sage Grey leather interior. It would look spectacular with a black exterior. I was in the pretty GT as a way to get to the far end of Long Island, where The Bridge golf club was paying tribute to its former life as the Bridgehampton race circuit with an invite-only car show (this year's was September 19 and 20).Elana Scherr - Car and DriverBridgehampton was an early road-racing venue, built in 1957 after a series of accidents during races on public roads led New York State to crack down on street circuits. The course hosted SCCA, Can-Am, Trans-Am, NASCAR, and IMSA races, as well as being a test track for the early days of Car and Driver, before it succumbed to rising property rates and wealthy neighbors with no love of a WOT alarm clock. The big-name drivers, who, along with our own David E. Davis Jr. and Brock Yates, included Dan Gurney, David Pearson, John Morton, Denny Hulme, and Mark Donohue, were done by the late '70s, and by the time a young Robert (Bob) Rubin purchased the track in the '80s, there was little support for a racetrack in the tony oceanfront town. Rubin tried for about a decade to make the track work on its own before financial good sense won out over personal preference, and he converted the crumbling facility into a high-end private golf course. "I regret it now," he said during a lunch before the show. "Private racing clubs are popping up all over now, but I was just too early. Even my vintage-racing friends thought it was a bad idea back then."I doubt Rubin's regrets keep him up at night. The Bridge golf club seems to be very popular despite a membership initiation fee of more than $1,000,000. There are enough car fans among the golfers, though, that the members let Rubin shut down the greens for one day a year to host a car show. Rubin's partners in The Bridge's event are Jeffrey Einhorn and Shamin Abas, and among the three they split up the duties of curating car invites, connecting with corporate partners, and designing a show display that moves away from the organized lines and competition categories of most concours to focus instead on an aesthetic and, in some cases, humorous approach to automotive activity.Elana Scherr - Car and DriverLike most high-end concours and shows such as Pebble Beach, The Quail, FAT Ice Race, or Goodwood, you must be invited to bring a car to The Bridge. Unlike those events, which have tickets open to the public (even if by lottery and at outrageous prices), The Bridge won't let you buy an entry. You must also be invited to come as a spectator, usually through someone who is attending with a car. While this is a bummer for Hamptons vacationers hoping for a last-minute automotive excursion, it does give The Bridge the feel of a garden party where everyone knows at least one other person, and many are returning guests with new cars to share.Einhorn does the lion's share of sourcing the cars, often in combination with Rubin's quirky display ideas. He says he looks for applicants who have something unusual, like the 1960 Mismaque Squal, a 2CV-based sports car designed by former Bugatti engineer Guy Mismaque in the 1950s, or a bunch of somethings, like an army of froggy green Carreras. Sometimes he'll meet someone at a non-car event and discover they have an intriguing collection worth adding to the invite list.Where most big concours are early morning affairs with a humming tension of impending judging or crowded rows of show cars, the Bridge is laid-back. It's an afternoon start, and the rolling hills of the course are gold-tinged in late summer light. There's a scavenger hunt feel to the setup. You'll turn a corner and come across a dozen Ferrari Testarossas in a rainbow of colors. Did you know you could get a brown Testarossa?On another green, all the cars are white; only their wheel colors differ. Zigzag around a sand trap ,and there's a Tucker sedan next to a gourmet candy stall, leaving you to wonder which is more of a sweet treat. There's a drive-in movie playing a supercut of car chases. There's a life-size Mason Williams print of a Greyhound bus next to a Greyhound bus, surrounded by yellow supercars all wearing taxi toppers. It's silly but also charming, and even if the majority of cars are ones you could see at most upscale Cars and Coffees, the color coding and interspersing of art and rarities makes the day fly by as you revisit each display from a different angle, admiring the new view and the changing sunset light.Elana Scherr - Car and DriverI put four miles on my step counter, and that's despite spending a half-hour paralyzed with delight after meeting Martha Stewart. She likes cars, but she admitted that her preferred horsepower is the four-legged kind.While The Bridge is only open to invited guests, there are several surrounding rallies and morning meets during the weekend, so if you've ever been considering a getaway to the Hamptons, you can be sure you'll get some incredible car spotting, even if you don't score an invitation.Gift Guide: Best Ride-On Electric Cars for KidsFuture Cars Worth Waiting For: 2025–2029
+37 others
