Our pal and Classical Drives contributor Nigel Matthews, when he wasn't judging Bentleys at Pebble Beach, took a 10-mile sidetrip to visit the first annual Concours d'LeMons in Monterey and had just as much fun. Founder Jay Lamm said the show was a celebration of "the oddball, mundane, and truly awful of the automotive world. Concours d'LeMons honors aesthetic and technological underachievement through traditional categories such as Lowest-Quality American Car, Leakiest Brit Pile, and Crappiest Car from a Communist Country." Herewith three laughable examples.



Nigel said of the car above, "I met a couple that had purchased a 1971 Renault 16 on e-Bay for $127.50 using his Visa card. He showed me the receipt. All he did was put on some good used tyres, new brake pads, and has enjoyed 15,000 miles of trouble free motoring in this Canadian-assembled Renault."




Nigel calls this the Disco Ball Pinto. I had to think about that for a moment as it's been a few years since I last danced at a disco. But then the memory came back and I recalled the disco balls overhead with their dazzling light reflections. So where did all those disco balls go? Onto the surface of a Ford Pinto, obviously. It must have taken a lot of work to make a Pinto this ugly.




I always thought the VW Beetle-based pickup was a truly clever vehicle, offering vastly more cargo room than its space-inefficient Detroit counterparts although it was rather slow and had weight limitations. But it would be truly difficult to admire this rusty beast. Did the owner actually drive it there? Did he drive it home again? Maybe, because those low-powered Beatle engines were sturdy and remarkably reliable. Something suspicious about those wheels and that lowered suspension, though.

[Photos: Nigel Matthews]