At the last minute, I decided to take some vacation and attend the
Concours d'Elegance at Pebble Beach last Sunday. I kick myself for
not planning ahead and going for the entire weekend. Saturday
there were vintage car races at Laguna Seca including one sponsored
by my car club (AMOC). Oh, well...
The Concours was an interesting experience on several levels. This
was the first time that I've attended. Firstly, it is held at the
Pebble Beach Golf Course which is one of the most incredibly
beautiful and posh places on the face of the Earth. Gorgeous!
If you've got a few million dollars to blow on something, this
club is definitely worth it.
Secondly, the cars in the Concours were, as expected, perfectly
restored museum pieces. I was a bit disappointed that the field
of cars seemed rather small compared to accounts of previous
years. There were approximately 100 cars; most of them were
antiques from the 20's, 30's, and 40's. These included Mercedes,
Packard, Rolls, Bugatti, Hispano Souza [sp?], and a few others.
The rest of the field was devoted primarily to custom-bodied
Italian sports cars of the 50's. This includes Feraris,
Lamborgini (one had the license plate: ENZO WHO), and several
Siatas. Besides the Rolls, there were very few Brit cars in the
Concours. As I was looking at a 1931 4.5L Bently with a Rootes
supercharger, a distinguished gentlemen wearing a club member
badge (i.e. very rich) and his wife were examining the flying
"B" logo on the radiator.
Gentlemen to Wife: "It's *obviously* a Bugatti. Just look
at the 'B'".
Wife's reply: "The headlights say Lucas on them. I
don't think that's Italian".
Gentlemen: "It *has* to be a Bugatti. What else
could it be?".
I didn't say anything. But clearly, a large part of the crowd
was the country club set that no idea what they were looking
at. Also, the majority of exhibitors were classic car restorers
or brokers. I sensed a little of the used car lot atmosphere.
Thirdly, the parking lot was every bit as entertaining as the
Concours itself; actually, it was more interesting. I am not
exaggerating in estimating that there were billions of dollars
of automotive exotica parked in the polo field. Examples:
>10 Testarossas (I stopped counting)
1 new GTO
2 F40s
2 beautifully restored MGAs
1 DB2/4
1 Logonda S2
1 Bently Turbo R
1 Jag D type (it looked real to me; not a fake conversion)
3 Cobras
4 Espadas [sp?]
1 300SL Gullwing
2 Vectors (4 Sale)
1 nice Tiger
no Loti
no other AMV8s or Virages (...when you Aston, you Aston alone)
too numerous to mention: BMWs, MBZs, Porsches, XJSs
I drove the AMV8 down and back on Sunday about 350 miles. This is
the first significant trip that I've taken in it since the engine
rebuid. Everything went quite well. A tiny oil leak around the
oil temperature sensor comes and goes. I might have to resort to
teflon tape on the threads. At 80mph, the engine is just loafing
at 3000rpms. The engine did not even close to overheating.
However, the AMV8 does expend a lot of heat. Most of it goes out
the exhaust; some of it comes through the floorboard. I have got
to get the A/C fixed soon! The ride back was just too hot and
tiring.
All considered, it was a good experience. Next year, if I can
only go for 1 day, I will probably opt for the vintage car
races at Laguna Seca on Saturday. If I can do the entire
weekend, I would go to the Concours again. In the mean time,
I hope to make to Brit Car Day in Palo Alto on the 8th.
Ron Knipper
DSC Optilink
707-792-7238
uunet!optilink!knipper
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