Since its inception in 1975, the Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance (www.lake tahoeconcours.com), a classic wooden boat show organized by the Tahoe Yacht Club Foundation, has garnered a reputation for its stringent criteria when reviewing incoming applications. While not as exclusive as some classic car events, like the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance—where participation in the event is determined by invitation only—the Lake Tahoe Concours is just as committed to producing a lineup of mahogany runabouts and cruisers that reflects only the best examples of boats that are as true to their original designs today as they were the day they left the factory. "For people who have been to every other boat show in the country, the Tahoe concours is considered be the finest collection of boats that you’ll find anywhere in the country," says Herb Hall, president of the Sierra Boat Co., which hosts the event each summer.

In what could be viewed as the main event of the show, the Lake Tahoe Concours promotes a "best marque class," a specific category or brand designation that serves as the headlining competition. For the 2011 concours, which takes place August 12 and 13, the marque class is the Gar Wood brand. A notable entry in this category is a 33-foot Baby Gar named Challenger. As one of the earliest Gar Woods entered in the show, Challenger is a rare Baby Gar—a smaller and more streamlined runabout that the brand’s founder, Garfield Wood, built in response to rule changes in the Gold Cup racing circuit of the early 1920s. Equipped with its original, World War I–era, Liberty V-12 engine and boasting all of its original wood, the boat previously won the best marque class twice, first in 1990 in the "gentlemen’s race boats" category and again in 1994 in the "triple-cockpit runabouts" category. "This boat is considered to be one of the most original Baby Gars in existence," says Hall. "It’s a pretty special boat."