Carmel kicks off concours craziness

Consider the Monterey car week begun! The Carmel-by-the-Sea Concours-on-the-Avenue launched with its best-ever crowd and what many were calling the best-ever show for the free-to-the-public event held every Tuesday before the Pebble Beach Concours on Ocean Avenue in Carmel. Eighteen blocks total were shut to traffic and jammed with collector cars, everything from classic 911s celebrating that car's 50th anniversary to Ferraris, Trans Am racers and a whole block of Shelby Cobras.

“It was terrific,” said founder and chief wheel Doug Freedman at the end of the day. “We had 28 classes, everything ranging from 11 911 race cars that convoyed over the hill from [Mazda Raceway] Laguna Seca under a full Highway Patrol escort; at 10:00 we had nine Moal Coachbuilt creations arrive en masse. At 10:30 14 Trans Am racers came back with another highway patrol escort for the third convoy of the day, arriving in the midst of the other 170 vehicles we were staging; it was terrific.”

Doug and Genie Freedman are the reason this event exists at all. After a couple tough years in the depths of the recession, it was they who kept it going and they whose enthusiasm has made it into the best reason to arrive on the Monterey Peninsula early in the week.

“The Freedmans are just a wonderful couple,” said

By Mark Vaughn