Concours on the Avenue, the free, hip and arguably most enjoyable component of Monterey Auto Week, has been canceled this year due to what owners call an “insurmountable financial gap.”
“It’s suspended for 2010, but we have every hope that the momentum that we lose can somehow be regained,” said Doug Friedman who ran the show with his wife. “We’re eternally optimistic, even at this tough moment. We have to look to the future. I’ve never given up on anything, so we won’t give up on Concours on the Avenue and Carmel deserving its own signature moment.”
Held for the past three years in downtown Carmel, the Concours on the Avenue featured a variety of collectible cars and motorcycles on display in a 14-blocked centered on Ocean Avenue. It was scheduled Aug. 10 this year.
The Friedmans funded the show, and Carmel Mayor Sue McCloud attempted but failed to raise $200,000 to keep the event on this year. It was held once for two days at the start of Monterey Auto Week in August and twice was held as a one-day event. Friedman said he hopes to resurrect it.
Article Last Updated: August 2, 2010.
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A sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004.
In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for Gulfshore Business, a magazine in Southwest Florida.
An author and contributor to many newspapers, magazines and online publications, co-hosted The Weekly Driver Podcast from 2017 to 2024.
