In between crass jokes about altar boys, a mimosa-swilling man dressed as a priest explains his 1976 Ford Pinto works miracles: It has been rear-ended twice without catching fire (an unfortunate weakness of the car’s design). Where the Concours d’Elegance gets its bloomers twisted over historical accuracy-putting a modern bolt inside a 1920s engine is an easy way to lose points-this show blurs the line between fact and farce. The week culminates in the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, where rare Ferraris, ancient Rolls-Royces, curvaceous Bugattis, and the like compete for a best-in-show ribbon that seriously augments the worth of the car on which it's pinned. Its organizers describe it as “an ugly oil stain on the Pebble Beach Auto Week,” the time of year when some of the finest automobiles and fanciest folks on the planet come together in neighboring Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea for a romp of champagne-soaked, caviar-stuffed excess. Their surprisingly proud owners have gathered on a recent August morning on the lawn of the City Hall in Seaside, California, for the annual Concours d’Lemons. Rust, vinyl, and faux wood dominate the palette. “That is a very good example,” he says, “of a very badly built car.” Coker is one of the judges tasked with assessing the field of vehicles through which we're walking, each crappier, or weirder, or both, than the next: Yugos, K-Cars, Pintos, Cosworth Vegas. Its owner, a tall American guy, stands proudly by his car, encouraging an even taller man to climb inside and see the unexpected roominess of the East German car, made in 1980.Ĭorky Coker is impressed. Its puny engine is running at idle, enough to visibly shake the small, boxy, creamy white car, made mostly of cotton waste.
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