In which Sid and Doris visit the Pebble Beach Concours early morning drive.
Cars entered for this most prestigious concours are required to drive a few miles just to prove they can. Most of the cars are delivered to Monterey in a covered truck but once here do have to make the distance. So the judges can see them make the epic journey to Carmel and back, around 70 miles, they set off together on Thursday morning, led by motorbikes from California Highway Patrol and followed closely by big Hagerty branded flatbeds wittily vinyled up with Shift Happens stickers.
Some of these are very, very expensive cars. We are assured by an expert (no, not “S”, a proper expert) that the two Ferraris in the picture are worth $100M between them. Sid and Doris fall silent for a minute, pondering on other things to do with $100M. The custard-yellow Dusenberg provides a handy distraction.
It is 7am and the cars and the crowds are already assembled. There is some prestige associated with being on the early rows of the grid, and we secretly suspect that the owners did not get up at 3am to line their cars up in time.
There are a couple of hundred cars, all of great note to someone even if only the owners, and all beautifully presented. This event is really the pinnacle of Monterey week, and the viewing is completely open to the public with no tickets or entry requirements.
Of special note for Sid and Doris are early electric cars, some with slide-out battery trays for instant refuelling. Tesla eat your heart out.
We get chatting with a Mrs Lorenzo Nannini who has brought a 1932 Chrysler CL Imperial LeBaron Convertible Sedan. It is immaculate and we will see if it wins anything. If nothing else the longest name award may be theirs.
The California Highway Patrol bikes are all gleamed up and with the officers wearing neatly pressed if slightly doughnut-filled uniforms.
Our next stop is the Gooding auction tent. Well, we may as well go in now that we are here.
Outside is a VW Beetle with a very cute single wheel rigidly mounted All State trailer, which will haul up the price anyone bids for the basic bug. A good investment on the part of the trailer-commissioner.
The craze for barn finds is undiminished. There is an E Type that has not turned a wheel for 40 years which Gooding think might fetch $300,000. As Dr Ullyatt, Sid’s physics teacher, would ask pupils with wrong answers ‘You, boy, are you maad?’
From another barn a Peugeot saloon that had been converted into town fire truck but is now pretty much derelict. So, should they look at photos of the original or build a fire truck. Sid would keep the Sapeurs Pompiers style.
We play the game of And which one would you take home? There are many very gleaming cars here but mostly they do very few miles each year. In the auction is a McLaren F1 (the three seater Le Mans winner etc) which proudly announces it is on the original 1994 Goodyears. Patina is for bodies and interiors. Tyres are for keeping it all on the road. Sid considers which car to take for European summer touring. There are many lovely Ferraris but looking for reliability Sid plumps for an open Mercedes 300SL non-Gullwing from 1955.
Doris takes a look at a pink Fiat 600 Jolly beach car but in the end decides she would rather go away with the Milburn Light Electric – not for sale but in the Tour d’Elegance. A less exquisite version sold for $62,700 a couple of years ago, which seems like peanuts after the earlier car prices. Sid and Doris need to get back into the real world soon.
Sadly or happily it only has a range of 60 miles, but it is equipped with Non Skid tyres as you will see.
Will the BonkersMobile ever be invited to participate in the Tour d’Elegance? We can only dream.
When we get back to the car park we find a card on the screen from Lee Wolff of www.vintagemotorcarsusa.com with the note ‘Will buy’. But even so we go home to check levels and tidy the Ford for the mighty journey. And for our entry in the Rotary Club show on Friday.