The third annual Carmel-By-The-Sea Concours On The Avenue
was held on Tuesday 11 August 2009, and is a show which in its
short lifespan has become a firm fixture as the opening event to
the Monterey historic week activities. The setting for the concours
is Ocean Avenue in Carmel, on the Monterey Peninsula, which
was put on the international map when star actor/director Clint
Eastwood became Mayor, and the town still has his famous
Hog’s Breath Inn amongst its many fine restaurants. The current
Mayor is Sue McCloud, who wholeheartedly supports the event,
and the benefits it brings to the Carmel Foundation, a charitable
organisation that assists senior citizens in a variety of ways, from
home help, through transport and entertainment to affordable
housing.
Last year the concours encompassed two days, the first being
multi-marque, and the second for Ferrari and Porsche. However,
this year the organisers, Motor Club Events LLC, decided to
consolidate the event into a single day, with the concours field
extended by two blocks of Ocean Avenue to accommodate the
expanded entry. The consolidation, with a greater variety of cars,
certainly seemed to work, as local police estimated that there
were three times as many people on Ocean Avenue compared to
last year.
The gathering started with a ticketed pre-show al fresco soirée at
the Bernabus Lodge Winery in Carmel Valley, where, apart from
fine food and wine, there was musical and magical entertainment,
fire dancers, book signings, and some of the concours feature
cars and motorcycles, including a Porsche 904 and a 917,
together with the new Lotus Evora. As is often the case on the
Monterey peninsular, concours day dawned warm but rather dull
and misty, but that didn’t detract from the gleaming paintwork of
the entrant’s vehicles as they gathered on Ocean Avenue. The
range of automobiles on display was very diverse, ranging from
Micro-cars like the 1958 BMW Isetta 300 Bubble car, through the
Historic Race class, which featured everything from a 1948 Kurtis
Midget Racer to the 1968 “Fighting Irish” Dragster, with a 1959
OSCA S-Type and a 1958 Lotus XI Le Mans along the way. A
novelty, and great crowd pleaser, in the American Family
Favourites class was the 1965 Ford F-150 Hackney Ice Cream
Truck, with the driver in suitable period attire ringing the welcome
bell, whilst the duo-tone lilac 1956 Dodge La Femme also
attracted a great deal of attention, as did the always popular Hot
Rods.
Porsche were the featured marque at the Monterey Historic Race
Meeting, therefore it was no surprise that there were many in
town, and there were no less than seventy examples on Ocean
Avenue for the concours, whilst Ferrari was the second largest
group with thirty examples on the entry list. Unfortunately, the
earliest example entered, a 1950 195 Inter Touring Berlinetta, was
a no show due to mechanical problems just prior to the event. The
star Ferrari turn was the 250 Testa Rossa, chassis # 0666, of Jon
& Mary Shirley, which he had run at the pre-historic race meeting
the previous weekend, and was running again in the main event
the following weekend. Despite its race outings, it was in
magnificent shape, and took the overall Best of Show award. The
day concluded with a buffet dinner for entrants and guests at the
always superb Il Fornaio Italian restaurant, situated at the junction
of Ocean Avenue and Monte Verde Street, where everybody was
able to wind down and relate their highs and lows of the day’s
events.
David O’Neill
08/2009
Michael G. Tillson - Chief Judge Multi-Marques
Bruce Anderson - Chief Judge Porsche
Parker Hall - Chief Judge Ferrari
Featuring
Multi-Marques 1940 Through 1973
Porsche 1948 Through 1989
Ferrari 1947 Through 1989
Major Awards
The Dennis A. Levett Best Of Show Award
(for the entry that is the unanimous choice of the Chief Class
Judges selected from the First in Class winners)
|
