Although this year's theme at the Desert Classic is mid-century American design in the Age of Chrome, there will be plenty of exotics, like Jack Vopal's Pegaso Z-102 Panoramica Coupe.
By Michael T. Lynch
Photo courtesy of the Desert Classic Concours d’ Elegance
The first major concours of the 2010 California season, the Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance will take place on Sunday, February 28. To accommodate its growth, the expanded show will have a new home at the La Quinta Resort and Club.
This historic property, which covers 45 acres, varies between lushly landscaped grounds and orange groves, all with spectacular mountain views. Known since its inception in 1926 as a Hollywood hideaway, La Quinta has 41 pools and 53 hot spas surrounded by almost 800 traditional Spanish-style casitas, suites and villas. When you exit your room, a pool is only a few steps away. Over the years a long list of great cars has come through the majestic gates of La Quinta, but never before have so many been assembled there on one day. The cars will be shown on the resort’s mountain golf course, nestled in the rolling foothills at the base of the Santa Rosa range.
The spring flowers are in bloom at the historic La Quinta Resort and Club, the new home of the Desert Classic Concours.
After World War II, many entertainment celebrities built second homes in Palm Springs and other communities in the Coachella Valley. The result today is a region that provides an unintended museum of mid-century architectural gems.
Levering off this legacy, the show’s emphasis this year is on American cars of the 1950s, perhaps the highest point of the American automobile industry in terms of international influence. Two rarities will be a 1955 Mercury D-528, a concept car that later became a film star when sold to Paramount Pictures and renamed the Beldone, and a Packard Caribbean Convertible.
Another non-American exotic to be seen at the Desert Classic will be the Petersen Museum's Bugatti Type 57C. This magnificent Van Vooren cabriolet was built to be a gift to Mohammed Pahlava, the future Shah of Iran, by the French government. The occasion was his marriage in 1939 to Princess Fawzia, the sister of the highly-publicized King Farouk of Egypt.
The organizers’ decision regarding American milestones is timely given the recent reorganization of the American automobile manufacturers and the woes of one of their strongest competitors. Concours founder, Paul Merrigan said, “The event continues the long-held enthusiasm for automotive history in the Palm Springs area. Not only do we have the tradition of the great American cars of the 1950s as driven locally by the entertainment crowd, but also the great 1950s sports racers that took to the course at the Palm Springs Airport. Many of these never left and are owned by residents right here in the Coachella Valley.” In the racing category will be a 1959 Scarab Formula 1 car and a 1955 Porsche driven by French Champion, Jean Behra. Besides the concours entrants, there will be a plethora of interesting cars in the various car club corrals that will adjoin the show field on the golf course.
There will be at least two First Series (1957-58) Cadillac El Dorado Broughams on display at the Desert Classic. Many consider these to be apogee of American post-war styling and luxury. Note the stainless steel roof, lack of B pillars and front-opening rear doors.
The event kicks off Friday evening, February 26th with an invitation-only reception at a local art gallery. There will be a Tour Classique on Saturday the 27th and the cars will be on view in Old Town La Quinta from 8:00 AM before departing an hour and a half later. The tour will end at noon and the cars will then be shown at Cuistot restaurant in Palm Desert. On Saturday evening, there will be an admission-required cocktail mixer at La Quinta Resort and Club, a great opportunity for the public to meet some of the owners and automotive personalities in attendance. Tickets for the mixer must be purchased in advance. The concours itself will run from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Sunday the 28th. Like all major concours today, the Desert Classic is a lifestyle event and will include fine food and wine chosen and prepared by the La Quinta culinary team, live music, upscale vendors and displays of other collectables including jewelry, watches and fine art.
The charity beneficiaries of this year’s Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance will be the Animal Samaritans SPCA and the Boys and Girls Club of Coachella Valley.
For information or tickets contact 760 766-2824 or info@desertconcours.com
I look forward to seeing you on the field. After the weather of this El Nino year, the warmth of the desert sun will be welcome.
regarding pegaso –
i occasionally hear comments from certain people that the spanish are not capable of good engineering (they do have at least one nuclear power plant but that’s beside the point).
my usual response is to tell them to go look @ a pegaso, a world beater before its time.
the usual response is, what’s a pegaso?
well i used to see a few in the parking lot at the glen, this was middle-late 1950’s.
> jack
Pete and Michael, It would be helpful if the city-town location were mentioned in the first paragraph when describing an event. This is especially helpful for your readers that live thousands of miles away and not familiar with So. California. Regards, Steve Snyder
Jack Gordon: Wasn’t the man who started Pegaso extensively trained on the job (Alfa Romeo) in Italy (where he was certainly not appreciated all that much by Enzo). Were the Hispano-Suizas in part Spanish ? And what else ? The SEATs — first Italian and then German. The Nissan Pajeros, may be ?