ALLARD
An early 1960s British Allard race car. Though considered at best as "different" as far as their appearance, the big cars were successfully road raced throughout the world by top drivers of the day.
An early 1960s British Allard race car. Though considered at best as "different" as far as their appearance, the big cars were successfully road raced throughout the world by top drivers of the day.
Several antique Bentley race cars graced the Rodeo Drive Concours. These were built in the day of W.O. Bentley, company founder, and were some of the most innovative, fastest, most successful and exciting cars of their day.
This 1924 Bentley racer drew a lot of attention on Rodeo Drive, displayed as it was with two other rare and expensive 1924 Bentley racing models.
The building filling the background, at the corner of Rodeo Drive and Wilshire Boulevard, is the "anchor" of Rodeo Drive, the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, best-known from the movies PRETTY WOMAN and BEVERLY HILLS COP among many others.
Known generically as "bubblecars," tiny post-WWII cars like ths BMW Isetta 300 were produced by several European car-makers from the early 1950s through the early '60s. Access to the Bimmer's interior is through the front of the car which doubles as a door; engines were usually existing motorcycle powerplants. The cars were popular in their day and now are considered quite collectible with many bubblecar clubs around the world.
Brooks Bros' Beverly Hills store threw a little soiree for the media covering the Concours and the atmosphere at this festive and casual event, held on a second-floor balcony overlooking Rodeo Drive and the Concours, was definitely So Cal. Thanks, Brooks Bros!
At the 2001 Frankfurt Motor Show, Bugatti launched an almost production ready version of their then-upcoming supercar, the EB 16/4 Veyron. This is one of those 2002 production cars.
This "pro street" Camaro SS sports a supercharger, nitrous oxide and all the other racy elements one would expect in a high-bucks American musclecar used on race tracks and city streets; its appearance on Rodeo Drive was a nice offset to the foreign makes which usually dominate this Concours.
Always favorites at any car show, the Rodeo Drive event sported at least two 1954 Corvettes decked-out in their original finery.
A two-tone convertible 1930s-era Rolls-Royce Phantom II; note the highly-polished wood on the running boards.
Delahaye, Ferrari, Fiat Ghia Supersonic, classic Ford Duece Coupe hot rod, Cobra, Mercedes Gullwing ... did we leave anything out on just this small corner of Rodeo Drive?
Whoever built this monstrosity, a Corvette 4x4 with a completely new and vastly oversized fiberglass body, put in a lot of effort for not much of a tasteful result.
The 1939 Delahaye Type 165 roadster owned by Peter Mullin is a popular semi-regular on the Southern California and national Concours circuits. It proved no less attention-getting at this 2009 Rodeo Drive Father's Day event.
Interior of a 1915 Detroit Electric; note the boat-style wooden tiller used instead of a steering wheel and the fancy seat covering fabric.
This 1915 Detroit Electric sports much of the same technology seen in today's electric cars! These years saw a public discussion about how cars would be powered in the future ... electricity, steam or gasoline. We know which method won and the problems it's caused ...
A fine example of one of the most-popular Ferraris ever, the "budget-priced" Ferrari Dino 308. The car was named for Enzo Ferrari's son, Dino, who died at a young age.
A Fiat "van" from the 1960s called the 600. This owner showed the restored vehicle plus a lot of extra material including correct period picnic and camping items and lots of printed material about the "truck." Wonder if we'll soon be able to buy one of these at our local Dodge dealer?
A beautiful example of a 1948 Ford F-1 pickup, cleaned-up for its big appearance on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, CA.
What's any car show in the Los Angeles area without a copy of the General Lee built for the Dukes of Hazzard TV show? It's a 1969 Dodge Charger with a 426 cubic inch Hemi engine and an Eldebrock torquer intake. This one even has a CB radio with the correct trunk-mounted antenna.
With a two-liter V8 engine, the Fiat 8V was introduced at the 1952 Geneva Auto Show designed to take-on competitors in the two-liter racing classes. Only 114 8Vs were built; those made by body-builder Ghia, and built on the 8V chassis, numbered just eight copies and were called "Supersonic" with the jet-craziness of the times in mind. This is an extremely rare example of an Italian automotive masterpiece and a great addition to any Concours.
Rear of the 1952 Fiat Ghia Supersonic; only eight were built and they came with a two-liter V8 engine, a real rarity then ... and now.
A Hemi engine-equipped hot rod on Rodeo Drive; American muscle proved a big draw at this year's event.
"Eclectic" best-describes this particular Concours; you never know what lies just beyond the car you're currently staring at ...
More always-welcome American muscle at the Rodeo Drive Concours; a flashy hardtop which gets its share of use on the drag strip.
This 1957 Lincoln Premiere ragtop drew a lot of attention from many people impressed by the sheer size of this "sporty" car.
A kid takes a photo of a classic on Rodeo drive - a Mercedes-Benz 300SL gullwing.
That's me in the foreground shooting some video of perhaps the ultimate "gullwing," a $700,000 Mercedes-McLaren SLR
McLaren's SLR supercar draws an eager crowd of curious photographers at the Beverly Hills Rodeo Drive Father's Day Concours, 2009. Even in Beverly Hills, you don't see one of these every day ...
The Mercedes-Benz 300SL was introduced in 1954 as a two-seat, closed sports car with distinctive gullwing doors. Later it was offered as an open roadster. It was the fastest production car of its day. There were several SL hardtop gullwings and SL Roadster droptops at the Concours.
This circa-1920s Mercedes open-top car drew many admirers, often impressed by the car's heft and bulk.
It's even a Nevada plate on this Florida-built Mosler sports car announcing "Area 51," the super-secret government bases in the Nevada desert where futuristic planes and who-knows-what-else are tested and developed.
A grand old 1930s Packard, considered the best mass-produced American car ever built, is on Rodeo Drive and sports Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance plates attesting to its appearance in that show, considered the world's greatest Concours event.
These cars parked along Rodeo Drive on a normal day would be considered appropriate and not draw too much attention.
A two-tone Ferrari (right) surrounded by two red Cobras and a Lamborghini on Rodeo Drive.
Looking north on Rodeo Drive from Wilshire Boulevard towards Santa Monica Boulevard; the Concours covered four blocks of what's often called "the world's most-famous shopping street."
Crowds admire the cars, which totaled about 120 units in all. Rodeo Drive offered perfect weather on this Father's Day, also the first day of summer, 2009.
The view when leaving the Brooks Bros men's clothing store in Beverly Hills, CA, and heading out into the heat, beauty and excitement of the Rodeo Drive Concours.
The day was hot, the crowds were large and the Concours, which began about 20 years ago as a car show at Beverly Hills High School as an event to raise funds for the BH Fire Department's restoration of an antique fire engine, has morphed over the years into this world-class Concours, but has kept its charity outlook and eclectic atmosphere.
Looking south on Rodeo Drive towards the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard on the first day of summer, and a warm one at that, the cars were the stars which brought the crowds to the Concours.
This tubine-powered concept was built in the mid-'50s by Euro design house Ghia and was dubbed Streamline.
Gerald Weigert, center and in dark shirt, was a Buick designer for many years until he left GM in the early 1980s and formed his own company to produce a car called the Vector, an exotic-for-the-time American-made sports car which formed a little cult all its own.
A mid-1980s American-designed and -built sports car masterminded by former GM and Buick stylist Gerry Weigert, Vector appeared in many TV commercials and shows and movies and garnered a lot of attention for a car which never had the necessary money behind it to be produced in any meaningful numbers.
Rear deck of the American-designed and -built Vector sports car, which had a short lifespan of just a few years starting in the late 1980s.