Joseph Cassini purchased his first collectible car—a yellow 1956 Thunderbird with black top and Continental kit—while on a California road trip in 1976. These days, his collection of modern sports cars and art deco classics resides mostly in a circa-1895 carriage house adjacent to his family home in West Orange’s exclusive Llewellyn Park community.
On October 18, Cassini is inviting the public to view his cars, and as many as 90 other gleaming classics, at the inaugural Edison Concours d’Elegance, on the grounds of Glenmont, Thomas A. Edison’s Llewellyn Park estate. The Concours concept of showcasing elegant vintage vehicles has its roots in France, where early car shows combined fashion with automotive design. “I wanted to create a unique kind of show that lets people see cars they never get a chance to see,” says Cassini, a retired attorney and former state Superior Court judge.
Classics and exotics manufactured up to 1959 will compete in 16 classes at the Concours. Cassini knows a bit about such competition. His cars have twice won best in show at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, America’s most prestigious car show. His 2013 Pebble Beach winner, a one-of-a-kind 1934 Packard convertible, will be on display at Glenmont, as well some of his other classics, including a 1931 Duesenberg, 1933 Chrysler Imperial and 1930 Stutz Monte Carlo.
A self-confessed car guy (“I can futz around with a carburetor”), Cassini, 64, was born in Newark and raised in Llewellyn Park. He and his wife, Margie, purchased their own home in the gated enclave in 1995. Cassini says the home—which formerly belonged to the Wilkinson Sword razor-blade family—“was pretty run down. We sort of saved it.” In addition to sheltering his cars, the immaculate wood-paneled carriage house is adorned with automotive memorabilia and car-show ribbons. Among his other cars: a 1964 Cobra and a 1956 Mercedes-Benz 190SL, a favorite of daughter Caroline, 23, who is helping select the cars and the judges for the Concours.
The show will run from 7:30 am to 5 pm. Admission is $25; children under 12, free. Proceeds will benefit the West Orange Scholarship Fund, the Edison Innovation Foundation and the Llewellyn Park Preservation Foundation. Attendees will be invited to tour the Edison home and the newly restored Edison garage (housing four of the inventor’s own cars) from 9 am to 12:30 pm.