2016 Concours d’Elegance: Crowd Scenes

Added by Debra Tash on August 27, 2016.
Saved under Feature, Great Stories
Tags: autophiles, cars, Concours d'Elegance, Monterey Bay, Sheryl Hamlin

By Sheryl Hamlin

Concept Cars

With hundreds of classic cars, the organizers of the show have not forgotten the future. In fact, the first group of cars upon entering the show is called “Concept Cars”. These are prototypes of potential designs or engineering ideas. The scenes below show just a few of the “concepts” and the interested crowd, a personal limo, a Bugatti concept and an electric Corvette.

Bugatti Concept

Concept Cars

Electric Corvette

This Mercedes-Maybach 6 – another all electric car- gathered watchers. It is supposedly the largest remote controlled car on the market. Read here. Remember these are only concept cars used to probe the market potential and titillate autophiles.

Mercedes Concept

Police Cars

The “dawn patrol” of the Concours brings out press and judges. In the early morning scenes below, a television station interviews the owner of the 1961 BWM Isetta 300 Sport Coupe which was ordered by the West German police in 1961. The owner explained that he found the uniform, which fit him perfectly. The flashing rear sign on the Isetta says “Bitte Folgen” (“please follow”)…. what a civilized way to be pulled over by the Polizei. Also from the 1960’s is the 1969 BMW R60/2 Polizei Motorcycle. Jawohl!

Judging

Judging is a detailed process undertaken by automobile specialists. This blog in Car and Driver explains the process. As the article says, the judges wear navy blue jackets; however, one long time Judge, Ivan Zaremba, one of the founders of Reilly Motors in Marin, dons a red jacket regularly.

The blue car ‘8’ is a 1935 Ringling & Stevens Pirrung Special which ran at the Indianapolis 500 in 1935 performing at an average speed of 100.598 mpg finishing 9^th overall. The spotted car ‘54’ is a 1931 Ringling & Henning Wonder Bread Special also raced at the Indianapolis 500 finishing 12^th in 1931. Yes, it is the Wonder Bread logo!

Monterey Bay Perfection

Never forget for one moment that you are on the 18^th green of one of the most desirable golf courses in the world surrounded by the world famous Monterey Bay. The cars at the edge of the bay showcase the bay’s beauty.