2009 Pebble Beach...

[Cliff Beer]

Is it just me or does anyone else think this is just silly vanity?

I mean, I like golf, and I've played Pebble Beach and it's beautiful there no doubt. But th last thing I want to do is stand on the fairway in my blue blazer, khakis, and boat shoes with a glass of champagne while confetti and cannons and trumpets ring in the next 2009 Concours d'elegance winner.... I'd feel like a total goof sitting in my Horch toasting myself with champage while everyone is golf clapping their approval....

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&fg=rss&from=&vid=78d2b008-f7f6-4de7-a223-ca0f4208c572
I don't mean to be negative but wouldn't you much rather just take your car for a nice drive on a twisty road? Or fiddle with your webers? Or replace a leaky master cylinder?

 

[Jack Houpe]

We went one time back in the early 90s, my wife and I showed up in jeans and sneakers, I had a T shirt on she of course looked good but we both felt like street people and besides back then it was $100 bucks to walk through the door. Give me a lawn chair in the shade and a good car show and I am happy. I like Italiana!

 

[WEGENER Engineering]

Cliff - You are so right. Unfortunately cars have become the fine art of the new decade. The good thing about that is that craftsmen all over the nation can find work doing what they like. The downside are the car owners and spectators this new world attracts and the circus that caters to them.
Plus the crowds, the stop and go driving, everything from food to motels has sucker pricing and the fact that I feel empty and alienated when I leave.
This year was the last year for me. Maybe I'm just too old......

Jack - I know exactly what you are saying. My ex always dressed up for these events and I would be next to her looking like myself. One guy in a blue blazer asked her what car her husband brought to the show. Man I must have looked like her personal assistant/bellboy or something as he did not assume that we were a couple.
I like vintage Italiana - modern italiana is too much drug dealer/hip hop for me......

 

[40 Bud]

You guys have nailed it. Pebble and the historics have become a venue for the wealthy to be seen. It costs more to go to the historics than it does to see the IRL run at Sears Point. The Motels in the Monterey area want 4 night minimums at triple (or worse) their normal prices. Getting to the Pebble Concourse is a nightmare of stop and go plus a long long long walk from were you find any parking. After all of that I still have to admit that there are usually some cool cars there. I used to beat the rat race by going to the pre-historics but that is also becoming a pain in yhe rear. I quit going last year!

 

[BigB98]

You guys have nailed it. Pebble and the historics have become a venue for the wealthy to be seen. It costs more to go to the historics than it does to see the IRL run at Sears Point. The Motels in the Monterey area want 4 night minimums at triple (or worse) their normal prices. Getting to the Pebble Concourse is a nightmare of stop and go plus a long long long walk from were you find any parking. After all of that I still have to admit that there are usually some cool cars there. I used to beat the rat race by going to the pre-historics but that is also becoming a pain in yhe rear. I quit going last year!

I camped in the parking lot down at the wharf in Monterey for two nights instead of paying stupid prices for a hotel. Ford Expeditions have enough room for a full sized air mattress, so I was super cozy. Actually slept more comfortably than in a lot of hotels. Spent the rest of the time taking pictures at the track and then Sunday night the rates for hotels was reasonable and made a little trip out of it. I'm not poor, but I'm also not stupid. :stunned:

 

[Ron Earp]

I don't mean to be negative but wouldn't you much rather just take your car for a nice drive on a twisty road? Or fiddle with your webers? Or replace a leaky master cylinder?

I know I would rather fiddle than wax or hunt down some rare part. But some of these guys don't even do those things - they just write checks.

As much as the wine and cheese restoration crowd isn't my thing I do appreciate their efforts and I really appreciate them if the owner actually does some work himself. Looked at another way if everyone was the fender-banging-drive-it-like-you-stole-it crowd there wouldn't be many, if any, of these cars around to look at. So, those folks serve a purpose and preserve some history.

Bottom line, I definitely appreciate folks that own classic cars and drive them more so than the folks that drive them on and off trailers. But I suppose we all have our place and are upholding some segment hobby.