What I Saw/Heard and Think

For those who missed it, here is the 1956 Nash-Rambler Pinin Farina Palm Beach Concept Coupe. Sorry I did not get a photo of the interior; it was beautiful.
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I have and will always enjoy walking around vintage race cars at Laguna Seca...it's great to see the cars exposed, engines open to the public and mechanics working on them, and wives scrubing, detailing, cleaning cars with a tooth brush (see pic).

Pebble's Concours was the best ever as far as the cars go, although over crowded...and the "walking signs" were bad also..wonderfull collection of Bentleys, though...just beautifull. Lots of foreigners too....I saw/heard lots of Portuguese, German, Italian, French people walking around..

The Auctions (RM and Russo/Steele) were weak, with lots of cars unsold. Saw a Black Ferrari 355 spider sell for $40k at Russo's inside the Marriot.

I am not sure if I will go to the CI next year...maybe will try another Venue that day/Friday.
Seing 11 GTO's was worth (pic) the admission price, though...

Cheers.
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Even more annoying than the raffle signs were all the dogs walking the event. It's already overcrowded, let alone tripping over animals. If people want to bring a dog and take up space, let them buy a ticket for fido.
ed

 

And if you wanted to hear Paul Woudenberg's eloquent descriptions of the winning cars at Pebble Beach for the last time after thirty years...

 

This car belongs to a friend I introduced to you Sunday Jim, and believe it or not guys, it was on the lawn at Pebble (albeit in the preservation class). Definitely not over restored!
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yeah, those barn finds were not appropriate for pebble. many of those cars were not preserved but neglected.
ed

 

I think the barn finds and also the preserved cars are the best part of Pebble, the obliterated patina, more perfect than original, lawn cars are only part of the preservation notion. Why is it that these different strokes are a debate onFC, they are all valid notions of old car interest.
Malcolm

 

malcomb, there is a huge difference between patina and neglect. think of neglect as obliterated patina.
ed

 

I had to be perceived as an elitist, gawd knows I'm not, but I'm still not comfortable with the Hyundai's lined up outside Pebble on Sunday. Just doesn't seem to be in keeping with the overall event/theme.

Jim - Keep them coming and keep being patient with all of us who admire your collection and the time you dedicate to it/us.

 

If you wanted to find interesting owners/car handlers willing to spend however long you wanted talking about the cars, you could find it - as always.

If you wanted to find wine at the tasting rooms at half off, you could find it.

If you wanted a seat (sans wait) for yourself, wife, stroller and baby on the shuttle from Carmel to the show and back, you could find it.

If you wanted to find the best collection of the year of books, etc, at the races you could find it.

If you wanted to find a baseball cap at the races with this year's logo - forget it.

If you wanted to find hotels in Carmel that had increased prices and lost ALL their regular tennants and now had vacancies, you could find it.

If you wanted to find the clearest day I have ever seen in Carmel (Friday), you could find it.

If you wanted to drive right in to the race track with absolutely no wait, you could find it.

If you wanted to find a place to picnic while watching some of the world's most incredible cars go by mere feet from you, you could find it.


Great weekend.

Jennie loved it too.
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Best of Shows---predictable. The Siata was deserving.
Ed

 

Interesting journey the LF-A concept/racer is on.......

 

Do they allow camping on the beach?

 

Some non-Ferrari models sold for record highs this weekend. If you're not a Ferrari collector, I'd say it appeared more like "business as usual" - there was plenty of money in Monterey this weekend, they were just not focusing on Ferrari.

The Tuesday Conours on the Ave. was FANTASTIC. An extremely well attended show, which begs the question "Does anyone who lives in Monterey actually work during the week?"

Quail felt more crowded than it was last year - probably more like 3500 guests. The food was not as good as last year. I thought the show was excellent, though.

There were still so many people at Pebble that you could not see the cars between 11AM and 2PM. Things mellowed out nicely at 3PM. There was really only one contender for "Best of Show", so there was no real surprise when the Horch was announced.

 

I did not see anyone play "fetch the ball" with their designer canine, but I thought it was strange to see so many of them being walked around.
I was mildly amused by the poodle that was sitting inside the Delahaye. Its blue ribbon matched the main hue on the paintwork. It would have preferred a dye job, silver and blue spray paint across the white fur. That would have made "PETA Best of Show".

Quail was awesome, with the German tent being my favorite (could have lived without the pig head).
Did not go to any of the other shows this year, and next year I am bringing my Ducati to get around. Waiting for the stupid lights on HWy1 was silly. Normally, with big events...CHP shows up and adjusts the timing of the greens.

 

I went to the Monterey weekend every year from 1977 to 2001 (OK I missed 1991). I was trying to recall, with the exception of the first few years, has a post war car ever won Best of Show at Pebble?

Cheers,
Kurt O.

 

Jim......

Sounds just like Las Vegas......heh. Got back yesterday from a 4 day stay. Great post BTW.

 

I believe 1968

 

How was the AFAS art show? Did anyone catch it?

 

A commentary as entertaining as it is, no doubt, accurate. Thanks!

 

Thanks for the summary for those of us in far away places! My list of events to go to is growing rapidly....