2016 Pebble Beach Preservation

The ever-growing popularity of preservation cars is evident at Pebble Beach with both "pre-war" and "post-war" classes. The following early cars were exhibited in the pre-war preservation category with the 1902 Thomas winning the class.

1902 Thomas Model 17 Detachable Rear Entry Tonneau. Owned by Kirk Bewley and Stu Laidlaw, this car was formerly owned by John D. Rockefeller and Glen Gould. It is one of two known remaining Model 17's.  [Photography by the Author] 

1913 Mercer Model 35J Raceabout. Owned by Sam Mann, this car is one of an estimated two dozen remaining pre-1914 Mercer Raceabouts.  [Photography by the Author] 

2016 Pebble Beach Brass Cars (Closed)

Monterey and the Pebble Beach Concours had much to offer enthusiasts this year, and there was a large assortment of early cars. In fact, Pebble Beach split the class into "Open" and "Closed" cars - you rarely see closed cars from this era. The following are some of the cars from the "Closed" class. Pat Craig's 1915 Piece-Arrow (with a two decade old restoration) won the class.

1915 Pierce-Arrow Model 48 Coupe. Owned by Pat Craig, this car has had only three owners from new.  [Photographed by the Author]

1912 Packard Model 30 Four Brougham. Owned by the Matthews Family, this car is one of very few remaining Model 30's with closed coachwork.  I had the pleasure of seeing this car earlier in the year at the Pierce-Arrow Society event in Northern California.  [Photographed by the Author]

1911 Oldsmobile Limited Series 27 Clark Carriage Limousine. Owned by The Nethercutt Collection, this car was previously owned by D. Cameron Peck and Otis Cahandler.  [Photographed by the Author]

1913 ALCO Model Six Berline Limousine. Owned by Crawford Auto Aviation Museum, this car is one of few surviving ALCO's and even fewer Model Six's.  [Photographed by the Author]

1912 Delaunay-Belleville La Carrosserie Industrielle Omnibus. Owned by the Mullin Museum, this car was built to carry the Russian Czar's guests between palaces.  [Photographed by the Author]

2016 Pebble Beach Brass Cars (Open)

Just back from a week in Monterey and it never seems to disappoint. The Pebble Beach Concours had more brass cars on display this year than I can ever remember - in fact they split the class into "Open" and "Closed". The following are some cars from the "Open" class, with the Keller Collection's 1911 Mercedes the class winner. 

1911 Mercedes (70 hp) Seven Passenger Touring by Vanvooren. Owned by the Keller Collection, this car was originally ordered by a nephew of Sam Colt (Firearms manufacturer). The Keller's acquired the car from Scott Isquick (long-time Mercedes collector). [Photographed by the Author]

1909 Pierce-Arrow Model 24 Runabout. Owned by Richard Anderson, this was the car's first showing.  [Photographed by the Author]

1911 American Underslung Traveler Touring. Owned by the Natural History Museum of LA County (they have a couple very nice cars), this car had been on loan to the Petersen Museum.  [Photographed by the Author]

1911 Benz (50 Hp) Tourer. Owned by Gerhard Schnuerer, this car was originally ordered by Chicago Railroad investor, Charles Hayes - who went down with the Titanic before he could take delivery.  [Photographed by the Author]

1912 Moon Model 30 Raceabout. Owned by Leland Powells, this car was found by Henry Austin Clark and later owned by William Harrah.  [Photographed by the Author]

1901 Panhard et Levassor Type B1 Race Car. Owned by Rob Kauffman, this car's history has recently come to light.  Researched and restored by Evan Ide, the car was built specifically to race in the United States competing in the 1901 New York to Buffalo race.  [Photographed by the Author]

2016 Greenwich Concours

This was my first visit to the Greenwich Concours, on the anniversary of their 20th year, and Mary Wennestrom (and her family) put on a wonderful event. Organized over two days, Saturday hosted mostly American cars, with Sunday featuring European cars. Vehicles are roped-off in circles by era or make, including: Classics, super cars, Ferrari, BMW, etc. The following are a few cars that caught my eye. 

(1934 Pierce-Arrow 840 brought by Charles Gillet)

(1929 DuPont Model G brought by Thomas duPont) 

(1963 Corvette Rondine brought by Michael Schudroff)

(2013 Aston Martin Zagato brought by Michael Odierna)

(1967 Maserati Frua Coupe brought by Blake Stevenson)

(1946 Lancia April Barchetta brought by Charles Schoendorf)

(1949 Ferrari 166S Coupe brought by Steve Frary)

(1954 Ford Comete Monte Carlo brought by Steve Wolf)

2016 Copperstate 1000

As I've mentioned in the past, one of the benefits of living in the southwest is getting to see the cars leave for the Copperstate 1000 vintage rally. Now in its 26th year, the event is run by the Men's Art Council from the Phoenix Art Museum. The following are a few photos of this year's entrants - always an interesting group of cars. Enjoy.

This Cunningham C2R was at Pebble Beach last year.

I believe this Cristalia has run the Copperstate previously.

A rally-ready Renault Alpine

A Ferrari SWB 250 Berlinetta

Something out of the ordinary - a Rolls-Royce PII

A Zagato bodied Alfa Romeo

A Iso Grifo

I've had the pleasure of driving this Pantera - it will keep up with anything in this field!

The only Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing on the rally this year.

This Aston Martin DB2/4 looked ready for battle.

This Lincoln made a great sound upon take-off.

A Lancia Stratos

A car you don't see often, the Fiat Dino coupe

1908 American Underslung Roadsters

Another image from the cashe of American Motor Car Company factory photos, shows a 1908 40hp underslung roadster. I'm guessing the photo was taken outside the plant on Meridian Street in Indianapolis and on the back it states that this is the first 40hp underslung roadster. 

Check out where the gas tank is located! I wonder if the car went into production that way - before someone realized how dangerous that could be.

Here's the 50hp underslung roadster - below.

Noted as the first 50hp underslung roadster (1908), the gas tank is in the same position. You can see the difference in the chase length between the two photos. I'm guessing this might have been taken somewhere in Indianapolis' Riverside park.

Trusty Packard & Bulldog

This looks to be a 1917 Packard 2-25 Touring with the owner and his bulldog standing at the ready. There are a couple interesting things about this photo beyond the bulldog riding the running board. This car has disk wheels which I've not seen on a Packard of this vintage previously. Additionally, the car appears to have two-tone paint work, but it's different than I'm familiar with. You typically see the hood and cowl painted that same color as the fenders, but this car seems to have the cowl painted the body color.

Packard offered their 12 cylinder "Twin-Six" starting in 1915, but this is a six cylinder car. Still a desirable and expensive car in the day, this car seems to be well used.

1909 American Gadabout Touring

1909 American Gadabout - from the collection of the author

This is a very interesting picture found among a stack of original American Motor Car Company factory photos acquired recently. The company was founded by VA Longaker in 1906 and this photo shows he and his wife in the back seat. Longaker hired Harry Stutz (prior to Stutz forming his own company) to design a car for the company. Based in Indianapolis, Stutz was a local guy and already known in automotive circles. Stutz designed a hansom, typical large displacement touring car but left the company within a year's time The car shown here is a 1909 Gadabout - a derivative of that original Stutz design (not an underslung). I don't believe any of this model survive.

The other interesting feature of this photo is the driver - none other then Fred Tone himself. Tone was hired as Stutz's replacement and would be responsible for developing the "underslung" model. So popular infact, the company would change its name to American Underslung. When this shot was taken two variations of the Underslung model were already in production. However, it seems that Mr Longaker wished to be driven in the Gadabout this day.

Mystery Car II

Here's yet another mystery car for readers to figure out. This appears to be an American make. The upholstery may be a clue as well as the cut of the fenders. I would put this car at about 1910 or 1911. Leave me a comment and tell me what you think.

The first Pierce-Arrow

This 1901 Pierce-Arrow was used by the factory for promotional purposes well into the 1920's. I'm curious to know who's driving the car as I have other pictures of this individual. If you have any information about him, please comment. 

I'm not sure what has become of the car itself. I have found an image of a car that is the same year, make and model - but I don't know if it's this car or where it resides. All information is welcome. 

Mystery Car

Can you identify this mystery car? It looks European and has an interesting second windshield and top configuration. All thoughts are welcome.