The Bridge VIII Car Show in Bridgehampton Showcases Some of the Coolest Rides on the Planet

On a sun-drenched Saturday afternoon in Bridgehampton, two weeks after Labor Day, car connoisseurs mingled with tire-kickers and well-heeled East Enders at The Bridge VIII, an automotive exhibition that brought together some of the coolest, most exotic vehicles in the world.

As the Roman numeral in its name implies, The Bridge VIII was celebrating its eighth year. The 2024 event didn’t disappoint, showcasing more than 300 rare and coveted vehicles, all lovingly arrayed around the links of the Bridge Golf Club.

The event was presented by Swiss watchmaker Richard Mille, and it was co-founded by Robert Rubin, a racing enthusiast, car collector and East End vacation homeowner. Rubin’s co-founders include Jeffrey Einhorn, a Manhattan lawyer and automotive maven who also curated the vehicles at the event, and Shamin Abas, whose eponymous firm specializes in communications and experiential marketing for high-end brands.

Steeped in Long Island car culture lore, the club is situated on the grounds of the former Bridgehampton Road Races Corporation Circuit (BRCC), a legendary and challenging track designed by engineers at Grumman and built in 1957, at least partially to circumvent the ban on public road racing in New York State.

According to the official event program, the Bridgehampton track was where “NASCAR stockers raced with Richard Petty,” and where Paul Newman first met Mario Andretti.

“As we approached a fourth-gear, blind, downhill righthander, I thought I’d have a better chance of surviving Custer’s last stand than this,” Newman said, as he described his first ride around the Bridgehampton track with Andretti at the wheel. “When we stopped in the pits, I hurled myself from the infernal machine, belly down, kissed the ground and thanked my maker…”

The last professional race was held at the track in 1970, but it continued to host amateur events for some years after. In 1992, after having spent over a decade funding to keep the track running, Rubin acquired the BRCC in its entirety and eventually transformed it into its present incarnation: a sumptuous golf club with sweeping views of the Peconic Bay.

In addition to hosting the Hamptons’ premier car event, the club pays homage to the BRCC’s illustrious history in other ways. The Millstone Turn, a section of the racetrack’s original circuit, has been maintained as it was when the track was operational. The clubhouse decor is also heavily influenced by racing history – and all 18 holes of the golf course are marked by checkered flags.

As steeped as the location is in auto racing history, the cars themselves were the real stars of the show. Monumentally beautiful and almost unfathomably powerful newer vehicles shared the space with legendary iron from the past, including an assortment of custom modified models.

Event organizers also made sure to acknowledge the inevitable push of electric vehicles (EVs) into the marketplace, noting in their promotional materials, “The automotive world is undergoing a metamorphosis of its own as it considers how it will shift in light of climate change. Manufacturers are embracing the EV, more sustainable manufacturing practices and other measures to move towards a greener future.”

While the contemporary vehicles – both gasoline and electric-powered – were certainly ogle-worthy, vintage race cars and classic roadsters tended to draw the biggest “oohs” and “aahs” from attendees, the majority of whom were closer to Baby Boomer age than to Gens X, Y or Z.

This year’s exhibition paid a special tribute to one of the most important designers in Italian automotive history. Marcello Gandini, who died in March, is probably best known for designing the fabled Lamborghini Countach and creating the original design for the equally revered Lamborghini Diablo. As co-founder and exhibition curator Jeffrery Einhorn points out in his production notes, Gandini also helped birth the first supercar in the form of “the achingly beautiful Lamborghini Miura.”

Gandini’s work stretched beyond Lamborghini to other legendary Italian sports cars, including the Alfa Romeo Montreal, the DeTomaso Pantera 90 Si and one of Einhorn’s favorite vehicles, the Ferrari 308 GT4 Dino, all of which were on display at Bridge VIII.

As one would expect, all of the most famous European nameplates – Italian, German, British – abounded at the show. But for those who lean toward the nostalgia of a misspent youth hanging around with Long Island gearheads – there was certainly no shortage of vintage American automotive muscle on hand as well.

Highlights from this side of the Atlantic included immaculate 1963 and 1967 Corvettes, half a dozen mid-1960s Shelby Cobras and this writer’s personal favorite: a 1970 Chrysler Plymouth Hemi Cuda. Not only is the ‘70 Cuda one of the winningest Chrysler race cars of all time. It’s also a cousin – albeit a distant and much more powerful and refined cousin – to the beat-up 1974 Rallye Red Plymouth Barracuda I lovingly drove around suburbia for a blissful summer in 1981 before selling it to pay my first year’s college tuition.

Anybody with even a passing interest in automobiles would have had a hard time not enjoying this year’s sun-splashed and festive event. Probably the best advice came from Einhorn – advice that should be heeded at next year’s Bridge IX, assuming it comes to pass in 2025: “Take a stroll around the show. Get lost in the exhibition, enjoy the history of this incredible site and grab a drink or snack along your way,” Einhorn wrote. “I’ll see you out there at the world’s best garden party.”