Find all the Palos Verdes Concours winners at end of article.
By Wallace Wyss
Pictures by Richard Bartholomew and Wallace Wyss
Palos Verdes is a peninsula that sticks out into the ocean between LA harbor and Redondo Beach in Southern California. It can be a spectacular place, especially when the weather is acting up on the way there, as it was September 16th when the Palos Verdes show kicked off. It was dewy, cloudy, sunny, and variations of all of these every five minutes, but was very photogenic. Fortunately once we got there it all turned out to be the best weather imaginable–82 deg. or so with clouds hanging on the top of the hills. I bet those who didn’t go because they saw bad weather outside their window regretted it later.
French cars were honored and there was a lot of attention paid to postwar French cars, which, alas, due to maybe the previous intransigence of the French or Americans, seldom made it to America.
Which makes them all the more collectible.
We saw Talbot Lago, Ford Comete and Monte Carlo, Facel Vegas, Simcas 8, 9 and Sport, a Pininfarina-designed Peugeot, and a Citroen SM.
Miniature '49 Ford? Nope. A Ford-powered car built by Jean Daninos who later built Facel Vegas.
Of course the most spectacular cars were the prewar French cars, able to take advantage of Valhalla-like views of the ocean to be totally resplendent. It was a heavenly-like setting for cars meant in their time to be the most heavenly designs.
In the battle between which concours in Southern California will be regarded as the “Pebble Beach of the South”, this writer has to say that the Palos Verdes Concours has a huge advantage because their view of the ocean is even better than Pebble Beach because you are elevated a few hundred feet above the ocean and can see a lot of coastline, plus beautiful hills in the background. This is all at the Trump National Golf Course. The clubhouse which has a nice restaurant, isn’t too shabby either, the match of those in the Del Monte Lodge, which are impossible to get into in August, while we saw some tables available at the Trump.
Back to the theme of “French Curves” We saw Delages, Voisons, several Bugattis , Delahayesand even a Packard with French coachwork by Letourneur et Marchand.
French Curves for Delage and Delahaye were meant for Palos Verdes,
Of course the ones with skirted front fenders looked the swoopiest, but the detailing on the dash of many prewar French luxury cars was to die for. The choice of colors was also very fashionable, reminding me of when the late Phil Hill told me that before the war, there were two-tone and three-tone cars, but in the post war restoration years, many cars were only painted one color. This meant an important facet of the style was lost.
We even admired a two-tone silver and black XK150S Jaguar which the owner proved was a paint theme available back in the Fifties on Jags, and showed us a book to answer our question.
In the Rolls-Royce class, there was a nice Sedanca de Ville Silver Wraith by James Young, looking a little more elegant than the later Phantom V with James Young coachwork, if only because it was two-tone.
Old Ferraris were a bit thin on the ground, but there was one 250GT Europa and a Daytona. It looks like Boxers might now be old enough now to be considered classics, and there were three mint ones which, it turns out, looked more “classic” than the later Testarossas with their unfortunate side strakes (Andrea Pininfarina once admitted to me those strakes were a “mistake” they regretted).
The owner of this black Ferrari 330GT says it was a barn find. It had been in storage since 1979, the victim of someone who took the engine apart to fix it and never got around to it.
One has to remember Boxers were persona non grata as far as the U.S. government, so it’s an accomplishment to have bought one back then, because it usually meant hiring the nefarious services of a “gray marketer” –some of whom ended up in jail for mis-representations to the U.S. government on “legalizing” the grays.
There was also a tribute to American cars with fins, and we got a kick out of the dark red Plymouth Fury convertible with its huge tailfins. We didn’t remember tailfins were so high, but I guess Chrysler looked at the ’59 Caddy and just had to top them.
Lotsa fins, bigger and bolder than we remembered them.
There were a few booths including one by a fine artist named Magill, who manages to combine architecture of the era with the cars he paints ($750 for a portrait of your car), and an accessory booth from World Class Motoring. There were several booths selling fine things for m’lady, which I think gives another reason for a guy to talk his wife into going to a “car event.”
The Palos Verdes Concours shows some skill at involving the local community, and we were pleased to see a bank having a hospitality suite for its customers (alas, we didn’t look like customers, so didn’t get in on the eats). Several real estate ventures also had booths including one building luxury homes right on the Peninsula with the same spectacular view.
Palos Verdes Concours D’Elegance 2012 Winners
BEST OF SHOW
1931 Bugatti Type 51/Coupe by Louis Dubos
Owned by Helen & Jack Nethercutt
NETHERCUTT COLLECTION
Sylmar
CHAIRMAN’S AWARD
1928 La Salle 303 Roadster
Owned by Richard Stanley
Los Angeles
MOST ELEGANT AWARD
1937 Delahaye Type 135 Cabriolet by Figoni & Falaschi
Owned by Peter & Merle Mullin
Los Angeles
MOST EXCITING OPEN CAR AWARD
1937 Cord 812 Sportsman Supercharged Cabriolet
Owned by Tony Vincent
West Hollywood
BEST DESIGN AWARD
1962 Jaguar E-Type FHC Series 1
Owned by Tony D’Alessandro
Culver City
BEST SPORTS CAR
1949 Jaguar XK 120 Roadster
Owned by Tony Vincent
West Hollywood
BEST PAINT FINISH
1960 Mercedes-Benz 300d Cabriolet D
Mercedes-Benz Classic Car Center
Irvine
MOTOR TREND CLASSIC EDITOR’S CHOICE AWARD
1964 Pontiac GTO 421 (360 HP)
Owned by Tenney Fairchild
Los Angeles
AUTOMOTIVE EXCELLENCE AWARD (ADM)
1912 De Dion Bouton Model DM Roadsterby Flandrau & Co.
Owned by Helen & Jack Nethercutt
NETHERCUTT COLLECTION
Sylmar
BEST PRESERVATION AWARD
1935 Cadillac 355D Convertible Coupe
Owned by Glenn S. Streeter,
Rancho Palos Verdes
CLASS I: DELAHAYE
1ST Place – 1935 Delahaye Type 138/135 Sport Coupe Des Alpes
Tom and Deb Kazamek, Manhattan Beach, CA
2nd Place – 1909 Delahaye Type 32
Gordon and Jennifer Wangers, Fallbrook, CA
3rd Place – 1947 Delahaye 135MS Coupe by Langenthal
The Burt collection, Lake forest, IL
CLASS II: FRENCH COACHWORK
1st Place – 1931 Bugatti Type 51/Coupe by Louis Dubos
The Nethercutt Collection, Helen and Jack Nethercutt, Sylmar
2nd Place – 1937 Talbot Lago Type 150-C-SS Figoni & Falaschi Teardrop Coupe
The Nethercutt Collection, Helen and Jack Nethercutt, Sylmar
3rd Place – 1912 DeDion Bouton Mod. DM Roadster by Flandrau & Co.
The Nethercutt Collection, Helen and Jack Nethercutt, Sylmar
CLASS III: AMERICAN CLASSICS OPEN (1925-1948)
1st Place – 1933 Marmon 2-Door Convertible Coupe
Aaron and Valerie Weiss, San Marino, CA
2nd Place – 1932 Lincoln 248 KB Roadster LeBaron
Tom and Shannon Hartman, Rancho Palos Verder, CA
3rd Place – 1933 Dusenberg Rollston Convertible Victoria
Adrien Labi, A&A Premier Classics, Santa Monica CA
CLASS IV: AMERICAN CLASSICS CLOSED (1925-1948)
1st Place – 1938 Pierce Arrow 1803 ED Limousine
Hoyt Sullivan, San Dimas, CA
2nd Place – 1931 Marmon V16 Close Coupled Sedan
Gary Severns, Long Beach, CA
3rd Place- 1941 Cadillac Series 75 Limousine
Paige and Bill Baker, Jr. Santa Ana, CA
CLASS V: Scratched
CLASS VI: FORD MODEL A
1st Place – 1928 Ford Special Coupe
Bob Burdick, Laguna Niguel, CA
2nd Place – 1929 Ford AA Bus
Karl F. Wehrle, La Jolla CA
3rd Place – 1929 Ford Tudor Sedan
Garrison J. Karr, San Diego, CA
CLASS VII: PRE-WAR CHEVROLET (1912-1942)
1st Place – 1939 Chevrolet Master Deluxe
Alonso Guerrero, Los Angeles, CA
2nd Place – 1942 Chevrolet Special Deluxe
Richard Luna, Wilmington, CA
3rd Place – 1941 Chevrolet Special Deluxe Convertible
Lou Roupoli, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
CLASS VIII: UTALITY VEHICLES
1st Place – 1911 Maxwell AB Fire Chief’s Car
Chuck Richardson and Brian McEntee, Altadena, CA\
2nd Place – 1931 Ford AA Truck
Mike James, Fontana, CA
3rd Place – 1917 Ford Model T Fire Engine
Carl Laski, Cypress, CA
CLASS IX: POST-WAR FRENCH TOURING
1st Place – 1950 Talbot Lago T26 Record Chapron Coupe
Tom and Shannon Hartman, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
2nd Place – 1955 Facel Vega FV1
John Boccardo, Palm Springs, CA
3rd Place – 1966 Peugeot 404 Cabriolet
Chris and Julie Hawkins, San Francisco, CA
CLASS X: POST-WAR EUROPEAN LUXURY
1st Place – 1953 Mercedes-Benz 300 S Cabriolet
Rick Hadley, Rolling Hills, CA
2nd Place – 1960 Mercedes-Benz 300d Cabriolet D
Mercedes-Benz Classic Car Center, Irvine, CA
3rd Place – 1960 Bentley S2 Continental
Santos and Yolanda Guerra, Los Angeles, CA
CLASS XI: AMERICAN FINS (1948-1960)
1st Place – 1960 Plymouth Fury Convertible
Denny Grundy, Trabuco Canyon, CA
2nd Place – 1954 Buivck Skylark
Roland Scott, Long Beach, CA
3rd Place – 1957 Ford Thunderbird
Sandy Blaser, Diamond Bar, CA
CLASS XII: PONY CARS (1964-1974)
1st Place – 1969 Chevrolet Z28 Camaro
Michael and Lisa Kellogg, Playa del Rey, CA
2nd Place – 1964 ½ Ford Mustang
Steven Grant, San Pedro, CA
3rd Place – 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible
John Bateman, San Pedro, CA
CLASS XIII: AMERICAN MUSCLE (1960-1972)
1st Place – 1970 Pontiac GTO 455 (360HP)
Steve Herbert, Agoura Hills, CA
2nd Place – 1970 Buick GSX 455 ( 350HP)
Steve Herbert, Agoura Hills, CA
3rd Place – 1970 Oldsmobile 442 (365HP)
Robert Stokes, Buellton, CA
CLASS XIV: POST-WAR EUROPEAN SPORTS UNDER 3 LITERS
1st Place – 1969 Alfa romeo Spider Veloce 1750
Chuck Schwartz, Redondo Beach CA
2nd Place – 1960 Lotus Elite
Will Nighswonger, Dana Point, CA
3rd Place – 1960/61 Fiat Pininfarina 1500 Osca
Douglas Anderson, Altadena CA
CLASS XV: JAGUAR SPORTS XK 120, 140,150 (1948-1960)
1st Place – 1956 Jaguar XK 140 Roadster
Robert Huntington, North Tustin, CA
2nd Place – 1957 Jaguar KX 140 MC
Hema Ratnayake, San Gabriel, CA
3rd Place – 1959 Jaguar XK 150 FHC
Ren Wicks, Laguna Beach, CA
CLASS XVI: JAGUAR E-TYPE (1961-1974)
1st Place – 1962 Jaguar E-Type OTS Series 1
Stephen and Julie Russell, Pasadena, CA
2nd Place – 1965 Jaguar E-Type FHC Series 1
Ron and Donna Avery, Winnetka, CA
3rd Place – 1967 Jaguar XKE
Lee Minshull, Palos Verdes Estates, CA
CLASS XVII: Porsche 356
1ST Place – 1858 Porsche 356 Carrera GT Speedster
Nick Clemence, Costa Mesa, CA
2nd Place – 1960 Porsche 356 B
Stephen Hoskins, Altadena, CA
3rd Place – 1955 Porsche 356 Pre-A continental
Jack Reich, Rancho Santa Fe, CA
CLASS XVIII: PORSCHE 900 SERIES
1st Place – 1973 Porsche Carrera RS
Scott Handry, Anaheim, CA
2nd Place – 1973 Porsche 911S
Linda and David Yerzley, Burbank, CA
3rd Place – 1984 Porsche 930
Chuck Bartron, Long Beach, CA
CLASS XIX FERRARI
1st Place – 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB\
Mike Adams, Santa Monica, CA
2nd Place – 1971 Ferrari 365 GTB/4
Paul and Sherrill Colony, Pasadena, CA
3rd Place – 1983 Ferrari 512 BBi
Andrew Tymkie, Irvine, CA
CLASS XX MONTE CARLO RALLY TRIBUTE
Display only. Non judged class
CLASS XXI MOTORCYCLES
1st Place – 1937 Nimbus Sport
Mark Christoffersen, Sherman Oaks, CA
2nd Place – 1966 Norton Dominator
Yoshi Kosaka, Culver City, CA
3rd Place – 1974 Honda 750 four Mortocycle
Perry Edwards, Garden Grove, CA
THE AUTHOR: Wallace Wyss is a fine artist who says, inspired by Palos Verdes, will began some paintings of pre-war French cars, “the swoopier the better.”
How strange, No photos of the winners not even Best of Show.
this was the best show yet. also included was an air show with WWII planes. thank you
You should eat at the Trump restaurant and you’d discover why tables are empty! Pebble Beach has the better atmosphere by a long shot….not that Palos Verdes is a bad thing.
Sorry about not showing Best of Show. I will dig through the 400-plus pictures shot by two different photographers to see if we caught by chance the best of show. We did not wait to the end where they announce it, so can onlyhope its aesthetic appeal
grabbed us enough as we passed by to photograph it. This author feels that Best of Show is an emotional decision as well as a historical one (i.e. was it restored correctly).