Did I just say (in the last blog) that too many things were happening during the Pebble Beach week? And that it should be split in two? So why am I plugging the newest event on the calendar? Because it's sweet revenge, that's why. Here's what the organisers of the Concours d'LeMons say:
"Brought to you by the same miscreants behind the 24 Hours of LeMons and Billetproof, Concours d'LeMons lowers the tone for the Monterey Weekend. Tired of paying $150 to see 150 identical Ferraris? Concours d'LeMons costs 20 bucks and has 20 Pacers and Pintos. Bored with the same old collector-car canon? Our Warsaw Pact Class should be shot from a cannon. From mint-condition shag vans to Honey Bees, Bricklins, Skodas, and Edsels, Concours d'LeMons is all about stuff that you haven't seen every damn August! The fact that we actually know our cars suck is just gravy. Lots of free parking means no shuttles out to East Jabib. Optional 'Small-Wiener Corral' so your Maybach won't have to sit near a Yugo. Easy back-road directions to bypass Laguna's grand Cluster-F."
Not that I don't love the great classic car shows but I dislike the pretentiousness that accompanies them. The rich are very nice people (except when conning us into ponzi schemes) but as Fitzgerald wrote, they are different from you and me. That's why this is my kind of show. Heck, there's probably not a car there that I haven't road tested or at least driven in my decades as an automobile journalist. Including the Yugo when it was a Fiat. It's contributor Nigel Matthew's kind of show, too. He'll be quaffing strawberries and champagne at the Quail, then judging the Bentleys at Pebble Beach, but insists "the one that will be the most fun will be this event."
The organisers have added this Monterey County-Mandated Warning: No wine, cheese, straw boaters, silicone-augmented cougars, or watercolors of pre-war Grand Prix races are sold at this venue. Now, if only they could find me an affordable motel room.