This was the gretest car show I have ever been to. Eat your heart out Pebble Beach! The drive was great. We left at 5:30 am Friday morning. It was Thomas in his 1980 Fiat X1/9, Me in my 1984 Fiat Strada (Ritmo) Cabrio and my sister Francesca in my 1974 Ford Pangra. Chris (black 73 Pinto wagon) met us on the way up the 101. We took the 101 to the 1 all the way through Big Sur until we got to our hoe-tel The Blue Lagoon. Wow, that was a dump. It was clean but thats about it. My favorite part was the alarm next door that went off for 3 days....any way.... we drove through 17 mile drive to Pebble Beach and then up through downtown Carmel on Friday afternoon with about a dozen cars form Concours d'lemons. I'm sure it has been a while since a Pinto graced its streets. A man in a Ferrari gave one of the Pintos a thumbs up. Yes, hell did freeze over. The show the next day was amazing! Everyone loved seeing and eating Lauren and Kristin's Fiat Ritmo Cake! I got an award with the Strada, which i think is actually a bad thing. I was interviewed for about 30 min about the Pangra for a TV show. Like I always say, a Pinto never leads you wrong. Thomas got an award which is fitting, his X1/9 is probably the cleanest one in the country. The next day was great, I went to Cannery Row and paddle boating with my sister, girlfriend Kristin and her sister Lauren. We saw and Imax film and then got dinner. Thomas went to Laguna Seca with his boss and a friend of ours, only known as RacerX. Monday was relaxing and we ate our best meal of the trip! The drive home was amazing! The X1/9 got 36 mpg, the Cabrio got 32 and the Pangra, with its one dead cylinder (burned valve) got 26 MPG (thanks to the addition of a T5 transmission care of Allison Auto)! All three cars ran like champs! A wonderful trip, a wonderful car show and wonderful people!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26161002@N03/sets/72157621954933779/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26161002@N03/sets/72157621954933779/)
check back at the end of the week. I am getting more images from two other cameras!
I couldn't agree with you more Alberto. This was one fun car show and certainly on the top five of my favorites of all time. Let's hope the organizer is able to continue next year and make it larger with the same fun factor. For those of you not there, they had 75 cars pre-registered and about 20 entries day of show. Alan seemed pleased with the turnout given this was the first event. The location was super; grass covered show areas, many shade trees, trailer parking close by. The only negative was its location which was quite a distance from the local population. It didn't stop a great number of people from showing up to look at our cars. Now the good part; we had 9 Pintos show up and they positioned us in the middle of the show area. We were by far the largest class and had incredible interest from show participants and attendees. Most of us spent many enjoyable hours talking about our cars and listening to others relate some really great Pinto stories!! And on top of all that, several in our Pinto group won trophies. A special thank you to Mike Streets (PCCA member) who was instrumental in working with the promoter well over a year ago to make this show a reality. I can hardly wait for next years event; if you get a chance to attend, you will not be dissapointed. FUN_FUN_FUN Joe in Morgan Hill, CA
More photos-Joe
Is that the "disco Pinto" I see in one of the pix?
I wish I could've gone but finances and now two crippled Pintos dictated that I couldn't. Were there any Mustang IIs?
I don't know where the mustang IIs were!
No Mustang 2s, however a lot of strange and very cool cars from around the globe, a great time was had by all. I agree with Joe & Alberto one of the best shows ever.
Paul
Looks like a lot of fun! Man, I sure love that Squire wagon! Gotta get me one of those someday!
Dwayne :smile:
GREAT NEWS! This show just made it to the NEW YORK TIMES!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/automobiles/collectibles/23LEMONS.html?_r=1 (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/automobiles/collectibles/23LEMONS.html?_r=1)
AND my Girlfriend also made it in there with the cake she made as my bribe!
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/08/21/automobiles/0823-lemons_2.html (http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/08/21/automobiles/0823-lemons_2.html)
And the beat goes on !!! A friend sent me an article from AUTOWEEK dated Sept.7, 2009. It was a half page article written by Mark Vaughn and covered the Concours d'LeMons car show. About half the article covers general items and the other half covers all the PINTOS at the show. He also stated the Ford Pintos were most popular- I'm not sure if that's good or not? The article is a good read- it's on page 18. This show is definately on my not to miss car show next year. Joe In Morgan Hill, CA
I read that article in AutoWeek. Outstanding, good job.
Tercin
Just got the November 09 issue of Grassroots Motorsports magazine and they had several Pinto photos from the event. There may be a future Pinto article in the magazine as indicated by the following picture partial caption. "Mike Streets and his 1973 Boss Pinto won GRM's corporate award for the car least likely to be featured in the magazine. As a result, we'll present the car's full story soon. From the American Libres to the twin side-drafts, it was pretty darn cool."
The magazine goes on to state: "Looks like the Lemons Concours will not be a one-time California affair. It's heading east to be part of our Speedfest at the Classic Motorsports Mitty April 29 -May 2 at Road Atlanta."
The Monterey event link http://www.concoursdlemons.com (http://www.concoursdlemons.com) claims they are having another event on 8-14-10.
Awesome! I'll be there again with a Fiat and a Pinto!
Thanks so much to the Pinto owners for coming out in force for the Concours d'LeMons !!!!
and for getting that we arent making fun of the cars, but the car show world in general. Owners of the "unloved" marques/makes/models are no less passionate, and in some cases more so, than the owners of the multi-million dollar museum pieces.
The show was EXTREMELY well received by the automotive press. I've got a stack of magazines that mention, if not feature the show. The show was featured on all of the local tv stations, newspapers and even the New York Times.
We will be back next year in CA with two shows and one in Atlanta Georgia held in conjunction with the Classic Motorsports Mitty 2010.
I'll post up a separate thread about the upcoming shows.
Thanks again for your participation and hope to see even more examples of pristine Pinto's, Bobcats and Mustang II's next year.
Grassroots Motorsports magazine finally got around to printing the "full story" article on Mike Streets' 72 Boss Pinto as mentioned above. It is a four page article with great photos. It even plugs FordPinto.com. It is in the August 2010 issue. Some how the year of the Pinto changed between the two articles but it is definately a nice looking Pinto.
Concours d'LeMons Monterey
Aug 14, 2010
Toro Regional Park
501 Monterey-Salinas Highway 68
Monterey, CA
Due to surprisingly enthusiastic demand for horrible automotive design the Concours d'LeMons is BACK in 2010!!!
The 2010 Concours d'LeMons Monterey will feature a salute to the Mini-Van and SUV. Do you have an early Jeepster? Land Rover? Aerostar? Oldsmobile Silhoutte? Now is your time to be a star! All of the usual classes will be back to drip oil all over Monterey. So bring your heap to the show and thumb yer nose at the snobs.
Also this year we are adding an AutoJumble!!! Thats a SwapMeet for all you colonials.
Do you have:
Piles of Pesky Porsche Parts?
Rusty Renault Remnants?
A Clapped out Cooper?
Bring them to the Concours d'LeMons AutoJumble at Toro Park on Aug 14, 2010 and sell them off to those who are much more optimistic about their automotive projects than you are. Clear out the garage and make a few dollars to put towards your next hopeless project.
Spaces are just $40 12x20 space, much cheaper than a divorce.
Conversely:
Are you auditioning for "Hoarders"
Do you think parts in dusty OEM boxes make christmas tree ornaments?
Have 12 non-running projects that need that one unobtainium part?
Then come to The Concours d'LeMons AutoJumble at Monterey and meet other people mad about rusty parts. Just $20 to get in and find the parts you need and get "that damn car' running, much cheaper than a divorce.
CAR CLUBS GET A FREE AUTOJUMBLE SPACE!!! Just contact agalbraith@concoursdlemons.com to claim your club's spot.
You can register now!
http://www.billetproof.com/billetproofnewsletter/t.aspx?n=28&l=10 (http://www.billetproof.com/billetproofnewsletter/t.aspx?n=28&l=10)
LOL! You crack me up Choptop! lol.
I'm waiting for a SoCal (it would be just lovely if it were in America's Finest City... San Diego... or at least San Diego County. We don't get too many fun shows down here for our fun little cars. ;D
We just got word that The Discovery Channel will be at the Concours d'LeMons filming an episode of "Chasing Classic Cars" with Wayne Carini. He'll be buying a car out here in CA and bringing it to the show.
Anyone have a Pinto for sale? ;)
My 1971 V8 Pinto is for sale although I can't imagine why Wayne would want a car like this ( Ford 289, C4, Ford 9" rear, etc.). If anyone is interested, send me a PM for additional info and photos. Joe in Morgan Hill, CA FYI-I'll be bringing my 74 wagon to the show- the show last year was fantastic!!
Time is running short to register!!!
Would love to have a good Pinto showing again this year!!!
See you all there!
I may have an extra PINTO regestration. Anyone need one? I wont be sure until thursday but im just throwing that out.
Hi Alberto: Glad to see you are making the trek. Anyone else coming from SoCal? Been busy this week polishing up the 74 wagon. See you on Saturday. Joe in Morgan Hill, CA
I'll be there in Monterey this weekend, and actually bringing my wife for the weekend!
I would have brought my new funky wagon but can't be sure it would make it ...plus the wife would refuse to go on a 3 hour drive in a car with no interior, radio, lights, shocks.......I guess I wouldn't either! Hopefully this will be my last show before the new paint job. Just have to save another 1K to get it done.
Joe
I googled Pinto Kabboom and found this link. My license plate is making me famous!!
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/monterey-2010-second-annual-concours-dlemons (http://www.autoblog.com/photos/monterey-2010-second-annual-concours-dlemons)