SEE THE ALL-NEW "PHOTO ALBUM" FOR THIS EVENT BY CLICKING ANYWHERE ON THIS LINE! OVER 60 PHOTOS OF EVERYTHING FROM THE "FIRST FERRARI" TO AMERICAN CLASSICS TO ONE OF TEN MASERATI MC12 STRADALES IN THE COUNTRY ... COST? ... OVER $900,000!
The "Inaugural Event" of the "Desert Classic Concourse d'Elegance", held at the O'Donnell Golf Course in downtown Palm Springs, California, was held Saturday, March 1st, and for a first-time Concours, promoters produced a nice grouping of (mostly) very local cars, a large number of vendors and a very nicely-produced, well-written and superbly-designed souvenir program. And as often as we complain about automotive PR people, we have to admit that the PR folks working for this event were helpful, professional and ... amazingly enough for PR people ... not in the least bit aggressive. They let the cars, their owners and the event speak for themselves, judging, we guess, that motor journalists know a car show when they see one. What a concept, eh? Maserati was the featured marque, and a 1956 Maserati A6G/54 Berlinetta Zagato which John Bookout brought from Houston, Texas, won both the "Long Distance" prize, for being the car-owner bringing a vehicle from the farthest point, and its namesake Maserati category.
In the above photo, event organizer Paul Merrigan stands with Ken and Ann Smith of La Jolla, CA, and the
winner of "Best of Show" and the "People's Choice Award," a 1936 Delahaye 135 Competition. The twin wins were a rare and pleasant agreement between the event's judges and jus' plain ol' show-goers (like us). In addition to the show award plaque, the Best of Show winner received a limited edition print from artist Nicholas Watts of the winning Bugatti Tipo 35 in the 1930 Monaco Grand Prix, signed by Watts and the late racer and NYC restarantuer Renee Dreyfus, who won that year.
The event promoters do themselves wrong by writing the following on the "classicrallies.com" website: "Only the most rare and beautiful automobiles will be invited to Palm Springs next year (2009) as a part of a miniature version of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, the world's premier collection of exotic vehicles." I think the Concours could stand on its own ... And apart from a lack of proper punctuation, why use the word "miniature" when describing their own event? And why say it's operating in the shadow of Pebble Beach? People already know that; saying it on their own website only reinforces a "second-best" mentality for everyone involved. But, what do we know, right?
Helping along the first-time event was standard and typical Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce weather: Temps in the mid-80s, dry, breezy and all under a cloudless azure blue sky (with apologies to Bentley). The promoters said that 3,000 people attended (at $20 per person), and more than 100 cars were displayed. The Senior Judge was Bill Krause, and co-master of ceremonies was author Michael Lynch, who has longtime involvement with the Pebble Beach Concours and the Quail Show, held the same week as the Pebble Beach event. His expertise lent a needed authenticity to the event.
As we have the only automotive website in the local area, we're happy to publish the names of the winners
of the event, along with a selection of photos (other than the Best of Show photo, supplied by the event's very professional and helpful PR people, all photos were taken by me using one of our iPhones, which are advertised as having 2meg cameras ... judge for yourselves, but I think they're good enough, at least, for a website, but probably not for print publication, which usually demands at least 7megs of resolution). We also shot quite a bit of video for our own 'CAR NUT TV' show, and for other use by Time-Warner, and we'll post it here as soon as it's edited and ready to show.
The event's location has an interesting "back story", and this is how it was once told to me: Mr. O'Donnell
was apparently a very wealthy Texas oil man, and in the 1930s found his personal paradise in Palm Springs (a trend which continues with the very wealthy, and the hoping-to-be-very-wealthy, to this day). He purchased a large swath of land in the downtown area, right up against the world-famous mountain escarpment which serves as a backdrop to all of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley. O'Donnell built a nine-hole course, made it private, allowed a few friends to join, and today, the golf course is probably in better condition than ever before in its past, and though membership to the club was closed long ago, anyone can play as a "guest" of the club, or of an actual member (if any are still around). O'Donnell's home, built of desert rocks, is located on a hill overlooking the course, and the "driveway" to the house has served as a stationary location for photographers to take many of the best-known photos of Palm Springs throughout its history.
The event had numerous problems, which is only natural for a first-time undertaking. We broadcast our LA-
area radio show from the very first Concours in Greenwich, CT, in 1995, and that event was nowhere near perfect. However, through the years, especially because the promoters (Bruce and Genia Wennerstrom) were willing and able to pour a lot of their personal fortune into it, and as important, if not more so, those same people had great contacts in the world of cars both old and new, that Concours has grown into a great success, known around the world. They can also feature great motorboats, as Roger Sherman Park, where the Greenwich event is held, is located along Long Island Sound, something which would pose problems for Palm Springs. Airplanes, however, are another thing altogether, and the world-famous Palm Springs Air Museum, at the Palm Springs Airport, would be a fitting place to exhibit any historic planes which could "fly-in" for a great addition to the Concours itself.
It's possible that Palm Springs' "Desert Classic Concours" could eventually rise to some prominence. Any
new Concours on the west coast is seen, rightly or wrongly, as raising a challenge to the annual Pebble Beach Concours. While it's true that those collectors planning on taking their vehicles to the Pebble Beach event would probably not see any benefit in showing their cars in Palm Springs in March, there are, of course, hundreds, if not thousands, of Concours-quality cars around the world which will never receive an "invitation" to Pebble Beach (and yes, each and every vehicle shown at Pebble Beach has been invited to do so, and no car has ever been judged there more than once, though some have been exhibited there more than once, without being judged). Also, even if invited to Pebble Beach, the car-owner must pay all the costs for getting their vehicles to and from the event, something which could easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars, if not quite a bit more, especially for those coming from overseas.
Many classic vehicle owners, with cars, trucks, motorcycles and airplanes they'd like to display, would probably see the Palm Springs event as something worthwhile. And if they've been to the area before, they know all the reasons to visit there, especially in March. If they've not been there, then it's about time they came to find out for themselves what all the fuss has been about for the past near-100 years.
Comments