In 1939, 11-year-old Malcolm Pray spied a stunning - and improbably Delahaye automobile at the French Pavilion of the World's Fair in New York City.

The city boy was so captivated by the rolling work of art that he later sketched it in a mechanical drawing class - and burned the memory of its lines into his brain.

Twenty-five years later, Pray, by then a successful car dealer in tony Greenwich, Conn., bought the Delahaye from the estate of the first and only owner, an American who rescued the car after Paris fell to the Nazis in 1940.

Although Pray, 79, now has 65 valuable and rare automobiles in his collection (trimmed down from 80), the 1937 Delahaye remains his favorite, both for its swoopy, sexy bodywork and its place in his personal history.

This weekend, the ivoryand-deep-blue Delahaye will be among 120 automobiles and 60 motorcycles displayed on the No. 2 and No. 18 fairways of The Broadmoor's west golf course, like diamonds strewn across green velvet.

And Colorado Springs residents have a chance to walk among the gems.

The second annual Rocky Mountain Concours d' Elegance kicks off Saturday and ends Monday, with several events designed to raise money for three charities.

The highlight of the weekend will be Sunday, when the public is invited to view some of the most expensive and rare vehicles in America. The day will culminate when 35-plus judges declare awards to the crème de la crème.

Among the most historic automobiles on display: a 1935 Duesenberg, a 1928 Bugatti 37A Grand Prix car, a Lamborghini 350 GT, a 1928 Isotta Fraschini owned by adventure-thriller author and collector Clive Cussler, and a 1930 Isotta Fraschini 8A Flying Star, one of two known to exist and built to the exact specifications of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Famous racers Bobby and Al Unser - with deep roots in Colorado Springs and atop Pikes Peak - are bringing six Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and Indianapolis 500 cars.

Collecting such vehicles, which range in value from $500,000 to $5 million, and restoring, maintaining, insuring and storing them usually requires a mighty deep pocket. But concours founder and chairman Dan Kane said you don't have to be a millionaire to enjoy the jazz music, food and ambiance of a concours that has a collection of cars that rivals those seen at the most prestigious events, held in Pebble Beach, Calif., Amelia Island, Fla., and at Meadow Brook, a Michigan mansion built by the widow of an auto magnate.

Nor do you have to know much about pistons, crankshafts and early 20th century coachmakers to enjoy a stroll among the autos and bikes.

Pray said this week he himself is not as interested in the mechanical details of his cars as in their evocative power.

"It's the lines for me," Pray said. "Every car I have has some form of beauty, not unlike a beautiful home, or a lawn or the setting at The Broadmoor. Look at the beauty. Don‘t look at the value. Let it speak to you."

Pat Holmes of Colorado Springs, chief judge of the motorcycle category and a collector, said he is more technically minded, and those who appreciate fine craftsmanship will be agog over the quality of work of early motorcycle pioneers.

Among the motorcycles on display will be three American boardtrack racers, a Jefferson, an Indian and a Harley-Davidson. The bikes, lacking brakes and a throttle, rocketed riders around steeply banked, wooden, oval tracks throughout America in the 1910s and '20s, often at speeds approaching 100 mph. Holmes said the concours will also feature rare Henderson, Excelsior, Triumph and BSA motorcycles, including an unrestored but great running 1936 BSA Y13 V-twin, the only one in America.

The show will honor Vincent motorcycles, a fabled English marque among motorcyclists. Arrayed on the fairways will be both singlecylinder and V-twin Vincents built from 1928 to 1955, including the storied Rapide, Black Shadow and Black Lightning models, some of which can fetch more than $100,000 today.

Holmes, a restorer for and friend of the late collector and Los Angeles Times publisher Otis Chandler, said the mechanical creations to be displayed Sunday were often created by a few men working in a shed somewhere, painstakingly making exquisite parts that had an even chance of being a breakthrough in internal combustion travel or a technological dead end.

"They're intriguing because people were designing parts at a time when no one really knew what worked or what it was supposed to look like," Holmes said. "Unlike today, each vehicle was designed by an individual, not a CAD system in a computer. The vehicles reflect the personality and artistic content of the designer.

"They are forms of art."