Auto Shows-Museums

Sandra Button: Queen of the Concours d’Elegance

The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance was doing fine 30 years ago. It had honored the 100th anniversary of Mercedes-Benz and celebrated milestones of many other carmakers along the way: Bugatti to Ferrari to Maserati. Sandra Pruin (now Button) had also been hired as special events coordinator for Pebble Beach Company to help organize dog shows and golf tournaments, and the Concours d’Elegance part-time. The Concours was already internationally prominent and it remains the apex of Monterey Auto Week. But Button has now orchestrated the event for three decades. And she’s been a keen observer as the peninsula’s importance as an automotive-themed destination for events ranging price-gasping auctions to memorabilia shows has expanded. Niche events have come and gone several times,

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Car art thriving at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

The artistry of automobiles is among the focal points of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Books to movies to songs, the style, history and craftsmanship of cars is celebrated in different ways. The Automotive Fine Arts Society (AFAS) will observe the 30th anniversary of its members’ preferred method, automotive-themed fine art, during the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. An estimated 250 works of art by about two-dozen artists will be showcased with the more than 200 cars on display. The work of three guest artists and two visiting artists from Japan will also be exhibited. An invitational-only preview is scheduled at 4 p.m. Saturday night followed by a full-day’s display with the presentation of automobiles from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

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Hyundai among 14 concept cars at Concours d’Elegance

Concept cars, sometimes called prototypes or dream cars, are made for many reasons. At car shows, they can attract vast attention as one-of-a-kind, far-fetched machines never to be driven by the public or even seen again. But concept vehicles can also allows manufacturers’ to gain public reaction to vehicles just before they’re launched. The vehicles offered, like some of the current 14 concepts scheduled to be showcased at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, could only a few minor differences from the vehicles that will soon be public.Either way, car enthusiasts thrive on concepts, often the more outrageous the better. According to Sandra Button, chairman of the Concours d’Elegance, concept vehicles returned and were featured with new manufacturers’ models in the

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Concours d’Elegance: Derek Hill is the new voice of iconic show

As a spectator, participant, judge and son of the most distinguished individual in the event’s history, Derek Hill has attended the Concours d’Elegance for as long as he can remember. This year, seven years after his father’s death, Hill will have a new role: master of ceremonies. Hill, 40, a prominent professional driver in numerous disciplines, will assume the responsibilities of Edward Herrmann, the former actor, director and automotive enthusiast who died last December. Hill’s father Phil, the 1961 Formula One world champion and three-time 24 Hours of LeMans titlist, died in 2008 in Salinas at age 81. He was a judge at the Concours d’Elegance for 40 years and won Best of Show in 1955 with his restored 1931

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Ferrari has nine of top-10 most expensive auctioned cars

With Monterey Auto Week and its collection of high-end car auctions on the horizon in mid-August, it’s always interesting to see how much car enthusiasts will pay for rare automobiles. They’re often Ferrari models. What’s surprising is that some vintage cars attract little attention and sell for reasonable amounts. And, of course, there are cars that attract international investors willing to pay whatever amount it takes. The current highest amount paid at auction is for a 1962-63 Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta. It sold for $38.1 million in August 2014 to an investment group at Bonham’s Quail Lodge Auction in Carmel, California. As described in an article on thestreet.com, the 250 GTO has a unique history. Henri Oreiller, a retired Olympic

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2014 LA Auto Show: Tech madness; Youthful colors rock

As the first major international automotive industry gathering of the year, the LA Auto Show annually attracts a full spectrum of carmakers and automotive enthusiasts. The 2014 LA Auto Show, which recently ended at the Los Angeles Convention Center, offered the usual collection of entry level cars from Ford, Chevrolet, Mitsubishi and the like. And there were high-end automobiles from Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Porsche and Bentley. There were several themes in this year’s show, most notably connectivity and a retro approach to bright paint colors. Dozens of cars had global or North American debuts. And what’s an auto show without ambassadors, the attractive manufacturers’ representatives? The connectivity component of the show was a full day, the day prior to the unveiling

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Wild and crazy car colors at the 2014 LA Auto Show

Most car buyers play it safe when it comes to car colors. White is the most popular exterior color, followed by black, silver and gray. Boring, right? But many manufacturers, seeking to appeal to young buyers, also offer limited edition to full-fledged models with wild color patterns: Plasma Purple to Tangerine Scream and Bronze Fire to Sun Fusion. The new wild and wacky cars colors have been inspired for several reasons, according to several manufacturers’ brand representatives at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show. “The new colors appeal to younger buyers and those young at heart,” extolled a young man whose company is about to introduce a limited edition two-tone Scion Tc dominated by the color Magma. A young woman

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Women of the LA Auto Show: Sexy, smart, fun

The tradition of car show product  specialists, including the women of the LA Auto Show, dates to the 1930s. The attractive young women do what they do while standing in front of new model cars. Books have been written about the tradition and a feature about the young women was featured as a segment on National Public Radio. The practice of hiring attractive young women has also been criticized, but the women of LA Auto Show seemingly thoroughly enjoy what they do. The tradition during the recent media days for the event was healthy and well. Toyota to Porsche to Honda to BMW, the manufacturers’ stunningly attractive product specialists were doing what they enjoy doing. The history of the car

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Concours d’Elegance embraces rare, expensive cars

After a week of event overdrive, Pebble Beach Automotive Week will conclude, as per tradition, with the 64th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. It’s the Sunday finale to the yearly homage to automobile and motorcycle history. The full-day affair will begin at dawn when an estimated 225 vehicles, including eight featured car and motorcycle marques, begin to assemble on the 18th hole fairway at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Judging begins at 9 a.m. and the Concours is open to spectators beginning at 10:30 a.m. The award presentation will begin at 1:30 p.m. and continue until 5 p.m. Featured Cars Each year, Concours d’Elegance organizers offer a varied mix of historically significant vehicles. This year’s selection is among the most diverse in

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Rare Ruxton gets spotlight at Concours d’Elegance

Like other early automotive experiments, the Ruxton emerged via innovators and investors with big ideas and bigger egos. The marriages were creative, the cars extraordinary and failure quick. The short life of the exotic Ruxton, however, had more than its share of intrigue, resentment, failed financing and multiple layers of lawsuits. The result: the vehicle was named after New York stockbroker William Ruxton who was a friend of Archie Andrews, who owned the prototype. But the duo’s friendship ended when Ruxton, the project’s pending financier, scrapped the funding. He also sued Andrews to accentuate his lack of support for his former friend and his automotive namesake. Andrews failed with several other manufacturers but landed a deal with the Moon Motor

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Concept cars have long history at Pebble Beach

Concept vehicles, sometimes with variant names like show cars, prototypes and dream cars, are made by manufacturers for two related reasons. Car enthusiasts thrive on viewing new cars, the more outrageous the better. Carmakers also rely on concept cars to gauge the public interest in a new vehicle. Can it potentially advance from the bright lights of auto shows to dealership showrooms to public driveways? General Motors designer Harley Earl is generally credited with inventing the first concept, the Buick Y-Job, in the late 1930s. Earl took his increasingly popular concept on the road in the 1950s in Motorama shows across the country. Concepts at the Concours The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance was part of the early concept scene, too.

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Concours on the Avenue: rare cars, rare owners

Porsche, Ferrari, Jaguar and Woodys, the classic surf cars, were featured among the rare cars  and unheralded automobiles Tuesday during the Concours on the Avenue on the streets of downtown Carmel. The first major showcase in the weeklong celebration of automobiles on the Monterey Peninsula progressed August 12 as it has throughout its now eight-year tenure. The crowd of humans and dogs was well behaved . . . perhaps only outdone by the enthusiasm of car owners. They polished their cars, revved their machines’ engines and eagerly talked about their prized possessions. Plenty of pristine Porsche 911 and 356s lined Ocean Avenue and side streets. There were enough Ferrari offerings to comprise a well-stocked dealership. TheWeeklyDriver appreciates Porsche, Ferrari, Jaguar

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Free car giveaway: 2014 Custom Mustang GT

Modern Muscle Design (MMD) is offering the chance to drive away with its SEMA built, custom 2014 Mustang GT. AmericanMuscle and MMD collaborated on the custom design. It’s called Project MMD. Featuring more than $30,000 in aftermarket parts and the sleek, modern design MMD is known for this one-of-a-kind versatile Mustang. It’s a perfect show car or a daily driver. The winner will be selected on August 4, 20014 and will be handed the keys at the AmericanMuscle, the word’s largest all-Mustang show of August 16. Not only is this Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords (MM & FF) May 2014 Cover Car, it’s also the same build featured at Forgestar’s booth for the 2013 SEMA Auto Show. This giveaway car

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Rare vintage cars to rust buckets set for Oklahoma auction

Another stash of vintage cars and trucks, some left untouched for more than 50 years, will go on sale via auction in June in Oklahoma. And the cache of about 250 vehicles may generate a vast amount of attention — similar to a globally popular auction last year in Nebraska. The new auction is a graveyard of scrap metal compared to rarities in the Lambrecht family auction that featured many nearly new and rare vehicle models and attracted buyers worldwide. The auction was broadcast live on the internet. Still, the new collection of Oliver Jordon, all stored on a scrapyard in Enid, Okla., since 1945 and closed in 1953, includes some vintage cars and some expected high-priced sellers. The likely

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gluttonous sink hole eats eight rare Corvettes

Mother Nature has caused a lot of havoc, and her strange ways now include swallowing eight rare Chevrolet Corvettes formerly showcased peacefully in an automobile museum. The National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky., where the sports cars are manufactured, has reported a sink hole 40 feet across and as deep as 30 feet deep has caused what could a total loss of the cars. According to a museum spokesperson, here’s what happened: “We received a call at 5:44 a.m. from our security company alerting us of our motion detectors going off in our Skydome area of the museum. Upon arrival it was discovered that a sinkhole had collapsed within the museum. “No one was in or around the museum

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