Intimate by design.
Iconic by nature. 

2026 Grand Marshal: Paul Russell

This year, The Greenwich Concours is thrilled to honor Paul Russell, renowned preservationist and European collector car expert. In 1988, fashion icon Ralph Lauren asked car restorer Paul Russell if he could restore Lauren’s legendary 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic.

Paul gave the kind of answer that explains his entire career: “I told him I wasn’t an expert on that car but that I would become one.” And he did become one, devoting two years and 9,600 hours to the Atlantic, which emerged as a benchmark for how genuinely great cars should be restored.

For 2026, The Greenwich Concours, driven by Hagerty, is honored to welcome Paul as Grand Marshal. Since 1978, Paul Russell & Company has been a standard-setter in the classic car world, preserving and restoring fine European collectibles, including the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 Mille Miglia Spider and the magnificent 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540K Autobahn-Kurier.

“We have a simple philosophy,” he says. “A car has to work well, not just be pretty to look at. We are most satisfied when we are able to preserve a classic car at the highest level of performance as well as beauty.”

Beyond the workshop, Paul has served as a Chief Class Judge at major concours, is an active member of the International Chief Judge Advisory Group, and a passionate advocate for automotive education as National Advisory Board Chair for the McPherson College Automotive Restoration Program.