Carmel Concours stages a strong comeback

The Carmel Concours on the Avenue came back stronger than ever this year, with somewhere around 200 cars crammed into every nook and cranny of downtown Carmel, Calif., and a crowd many were saying was the biggest the event has ever seen. Under unusually blue skies and warm temperatures, the sunscreened faithful ogled a varied and eclectic lineup, from Ferraris and Porsches to the Ford tractor owned by Carroll Shelby's doctor. Beat that, Pebble.

"There was a lot of enthusiasm among the entrants, the town and the spectators for the show's coming back,” said emcee Ed Justice Jr., president of Justice Brothers Inc.

Last year was a tough one for the Carmel Concours, but organizer Doug Freedman rallied the troops and came up with a good showing. This year was it was as if there had been no recession at all.

While most entries were limited to the years 1940 through 1973, Porsches and Ferraris were allowed in all the way up to 1989. And there were a lot of Porsches and Ferraris.

Best in Show went to two-time Pebble Beach Concous d'Elegance winner Bob Lee, who brought his beloved 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Boano Convertible, "The one with the tailfins," as it's known. Lee saw the one-off car at the New York auto show that year and asked Ferrari importer Luigi Chinetti if he could buy it. Chinetti said that it was going back to Italy and wasn't for sale. Lee telegrammed Enzo Ferrari himself, whom he had met a year before, and wound up buying the car for $9,500.

Every entry in the show had a story, but that might have been one of the better ones.

There was a whole row of Daytonas, a gathering of top-flight 356s and even some Can-Am cars, including the original Dan Gurney Lola T70 that won the second-ever Can-Am race.

“Rick Rawlins had a great Alfa that won a special award, Stanley Gold won an award with his 356--there were just some really killer cars,” said Justice.

Plan now to get to Monterey early next year and check out the show. It's held the Tuesday before Pebble. You can justify getting there early with the knowledge that this concours is a free event. Visit www.motorclubevents.com to find out more.

The Monterey Week is packed with car shows, vintage racing and car auctions. Autoweek will be there providing streaming photo galleries and live coverage of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, historic racing at Laguna Seca, the Monterey car auctions and much more. Go to autoweek.com/monterey for complete coverage and live updates.

By Mark Vaughn