Along California’s central coast, car lovers encounter a unique spectacle where the finest and most modest automobiles gather over a single weekend.
No event celebrates automotive elegance quite like the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Much like the effervescence of champagne, these cars have emerged as some of the most coveted and valuable in the collector’s world.
This exclusive gathering is overseen by Sandra Button, who maintains a serious demeanor fitting for such a prestigious occasion. Button eloquently describes the ownership of these automobiles as akin to possessing a piece of art.
“As time progresses, it’s crucial for us as caretakers to preserve their authenticity. Our focus is truly on the cars,” Button stated.
Meanwhile, just a short distance from the pristine lawns of Monterey’s famous 18th fairway lies a different kind of celebration at Seaside City Hall.
The Concours d’Lemons offers a more whimsical experience, paying tribute to the less glamorous, oft-overlooked vehicles that populate everyday driveways.
Alan Galbraith stitched together this monstrosity in 2009. He calls himself the “head gasket of the Concours d’Lemons.” Like Concours d’Elegance, it’s an annual celebration of cars where the vehicles ooze with mediocrity instead of pedigree.
“We kind of figured if there’s a top, there needs to be, you know, rock bottom, and that’s what we do,” Galbraith said.
The car categories say it all. There’s the Swedish Meatball class, the Soul Sucking Japanese Appliance class, and the award for Rust Belt American Junk.
Will Hughes was dressed just as questionably as his award-winning entry — a 1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass — the “gutless” as he calls it.
“It started out from the factory with 75 horsepower. Now it’s 50. Sounds like you hit a dog when you get up to 50 miles per hour,” Hughes said.
Galbraith means no disrespect in holding the annual event. It’s just the opposite.
“A lot of people, they’ll see a VW Bug and, you know, you can come up with the story of, ‘Ah, me and six of my idiot buddies went to a concert. We all crammed in that car and went there,’” Galbraith said. “Not everybody has that story about a Duesenberg or a Ferrari, right? So there’s a little bit more of a connection with some of these cars.”
There’s no Best of Show here – only Worst of Show. This year, Chris Wollard took home the top prize for entering what can only be described as an unidentified driving object. Past winners have included a double-ended Honda and a fur-covered Lincoln Continental named Buttercup.
When asked what it’s like to drive his car, Wollard replied, “It’s terrifying. It was a terrible idea. But it looks cool.”
As the silly-stringed festivities were coming to an end, Galbraith began shifting gears for the job he’d start the following morning. For all the love he has for Ford Pintos and AMC Pacers at the Concours d’Lemons, he respects the Bugattis and Bentleys at the Concours d’Elegance. In fact, he’s a respected lead docent there.
“He’s such a trickster and it was just so fun to think on this weekend when Pebble Beach is so serious that somebody was having a little poke at us and having some fun and kind of taking the seriousness out of all of it,” Button said.
From the rare to the rotten, Americans’ love affair with the automobile is a bit promiscuous. Enthusiasts will stop and look at just about anything with a motor.
“If you’re laughing, smiling, having a good time, a little bit of levity into what can be a fairly serious thing. If you’re having fun, I’ve done my job,” Galbraith said.
