Monterey Classic Car Week - The Events and Auctions
Thursday July 9, 2009
The annual pilgrimage to Monterey, California for the mother of all classic automotive events is about to begin. This year marks the 59th anniversary of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance – the world’s premier celebration of the automobile that will bring hundreds of thousands to the Monterey Peninsula.
Not only is Pebble Beach the most anticipated Concours of the year, but the entire week preceding the event is a buzz with multiple activities, glamorous parties, auctions, historic races, and exhibits. With so many things taking place, we always put together a calendar of where we need to be and when.
Here’s what this year’s schedule looks like:
Tuesday, August 11th
Wednesday, August 12th
- The Quail Rally - 8am to 10:00pm
- Automobilia Monterey - 10:00am to 7:00pm
Thursday, August 13th
Friday, August 14th
Saturday, August 15th
Sunday, August 16th
Check back next week for our look at some of the very special vehicles that will be either on display or on the block in Monterey.
The 36th Annual Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races
Wednesday July 8, 2009
Four hundred fifty entries have been accepted for the prestigious Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races that is set to take place on August 14th to 16th at Mazda Raceway in Laguna Seca. Of those, 145 are Porsche cars, helping to celebrate Porsche as this year’s featured marque and lending live-action perspective on the company’s impressive racing heritage.
With practice on Friday and warm-ups Saturday and Sunday mornings, racing will begin after noon for 15 race groups that span nearly every era of motorsports history. “For enthusiasts, the 2009 Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races will be very special,” said Steve Earle of General Racing, Ltd., which owns and organizes the event. “You’ll be going back in time, not just standing around admiring these cars. They are racing, and the sights and sounds are the real thing.”
Notable drivers include England’s Sir Stirling Moss, often called “the greatest driver never to win the World Championship,” driving a 1960 Lola MK I, South Africa’s Desire Wilson (one of only five women to have entered an F1 World Championship Grand Prix), driving a 1952 Glockler Porsche, and USA’s John Morton driving a 1985 Nissan GTP.
For more information on the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races, visit www.montereyhistoric.com.
The Best of the Worst is Coming to Pebble Beach
Tuesday July 7, 2009
Anyone who has been to the Annual Classic Car celebration in beautiful Monterey, California in August will tell you that this is the place to be if you want to see extremely rare and historic automobiles. Cars considered to be the “
Best of the Best” gather every year to be bought, sold and judged by enthusiasts from around the world.
This year it seems the “Best of the Worst” wants to stake their claim and be recognized for their contribution to the car world just like those gracing the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The event is called the Concours d’LeMons and they will be celebrating the oddball, mundane and truly awful of the automotive world.
Concours d’LeMons is organized by the same miscreants behind the 24 Hours of LeMons and Billetproof. Entrants will have a multitude of classes to choose from like Rust Belt American Junk, Needlessly Complex Italian and Soul Sucking Japanese Appliance. There is even one class titled Most Effluent in which the car with the highest emissions wins!
So if you feel the need to see an AMC Pacer, Ford Pinto or Chevy Vega again, head down to Toro Park in Monterey, Calif. on August 15th. All the details can be found on the Concours d’LeMons website.
Is the All American Auto Going to be the Next Rare Collectible?
Thursday July 2, 2009
With recent events of American auto makers going bankrupt, could a genuine all American car soon be hard to find? Come to find out, they’ve been hard to find for a while.
The American Automobile Labeling Act (AALA) mandated that virtually every new car display the percentage, by cost, of its parts that originated in the United States and Canada. This measurement index provides documentation that a 100% American made car is all but extinct because not one has exceeded the 95 percent point.
For example, in a recent article from Cars.com, they report that based on sales through May 31, 2008, of the 35 most popular U.S. built 2008 and 2009 models, only 43 percent of GM, Ford and Chrysler contenders had domestic content ratings of 75 percent or higher. Although the labeling of a car's domestic parts content can be debated, from how many US workers an automaker employs to where the company's profits end up, none have been given the label 100% American made.
So the worrying question is; have we already seen the end of the All American Auto?” Or, could a car maker focus on making “All American” limited edition production automobile to attract sales, and would anybody buy one?
In other words do you think there could be a new market segment which preserves the lineage and purity of the “All American”?
