THE ANNUAL Concours De Elegance was at the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes last month, and my daughter and I tootled on down to ogle at the glorious machines of times gone by. I’m very passionate about classic motorcars, but even for the not so enthusiastic, it was well worth the visit. My daughter thought so and she is only six. With Donald Trump’s sense of flair and style the whole affair was magnificent and coordinated to perfection. I have never played golf there, but I’m not a stranger to this Trump golf course as I’m a frequent visitor to the Sunday Champagne Brunch they have there. It is the very best in Southern California, take my word for it, and the setting, with it’s breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean, is alone worth a visit. Leo Lewis who, besides his monthly column, is responsible for advertising in the Union Jack, will be tearing his hair out for me giving this free plug for the Trump restaurant but it deserves the praise.

Carroll Shelby congratulating the AC winner.

The show was a three-day event, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It was the Sunday that I decided to go, but this time not for brunch (reservations would have been filled for that day anyway). The admission charge was $20 and $5 to park. The parking was interesting with several thousand visitors; the course’s fairways were the parking lot for this event, and they were smoother than most roads I’ve driven on. I bet the grounds keepers weren’t too happy though.

The show cars, as stunning as they all were on their own, were made to look exceptionally stunning parked on the magnificent lawns of the Trump course with the Pacific backdrop. They were selective of the marques on display; MG’s Triumphs, Healeys and a host of other British cars were not invited. In fact, our homegrown motorcars were limited to just six makes, but nonetheless they contributed handsomely. There was Rolls Royce (naturally), Bentley, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Lotus and the AC, which was the feature of this year’s show.

The AC Cobra, or AC Ace as it is known back in the UK, is probably the most cloned car in the world. There were quite a few on display, and I wouldn’t have bet money on every one of them being the genuine article. The one man who would have been able to tell was the Grand Marshall at the event presenting the awards for the best AC Cobra. It was Carroll Shelby who catapulted this English made AC Ace to fame and immortalisation by shoe-horning a Ford lightweight thin-wall cast, small block V8 engine into the Ace’s engine compartment and racing it in 1963 at Le Mans. In fact, in 1963 the Guinness Book Of Records listed the car as the fastest production car in the world. Speed alone doesn’t give a car fame but, coupled with the beautifully styled AC coachwork, it was destined for glory and it was noticeable at the show with several of the ACs there having been painstakingly restored to their original condition. As I said before, I wouldn’t swear that all the ACs at the show were original, but the winner was definitely genuine as it had an estimated value of several hundred thousand dollars. The car had some history; hence the value, and the value must have increased somewhat after having won the first place trophy and with the great Carroll Shelby handing out the honours at the Trump Concours De Elegance.

I tried to get an interview with Carroll but he had his hands full. I would have liked to give him a copy of the Union Jack, which had my article on the AC car that I did a few months ago to get his opinion, but it wasn’t to be. If you missed the AC article, by the way, I think it’s still available on the Union Jack website in the Carman Phil archives if you’re interested. http://www.ujnews.com.

Upstaging the ACs in terms of style were the Jags. There were nine E types and everyone of them in concours condition which had me drooling. There were also several XK’s, 120s, 140s and 150s, all in superb condition. There was also an old SS on display, one of William Lyon’s first cars before the company was re-named Jaguar. A few Jag saloons also, which included a 1967 Mk 2. I mention this because I’m a 1967 Mk 2 owner. Unfortunately, mine is not yet in concours condition but it’s getting there slowly; maybe next year it will be ready for display. It takes a tremendous amount of time and work, not to mention money, to restore a classic car to its original (concours) condition. I know this first hand, and I have a lot of respect for the owners of these cars that have put in so much effort to enable their cars to be presented at the Concours De Elegance. I chatted with the Mk 2 owner for a while, Mel Friedman, an Englishman of course, from Morecambe if I remember correctly, and promised to stay in touch. When restoring a classic you need all the help you can get, and as Mel had got his car in good shape I’m sure he can pass along some good advice.

Onto the Aston’s; there were a good few of them and all of them looked stunning. If there is one car that I would trade my Mk 2 Jag for, it would be an Aston Martin. There were Vantages, DB3s, 4s, 5s and 6s with a couple of DB6s in the Silver Birch colour, just like James Bond’s. My daughter, not realising that these cars were not for sale, said, “why don’t you buy this one dad?” looking at one of the Silver Birch DB6s. God bless her heart, six-years-old and she’s got style by the bucketful. There was a 1924 Aston there too; it must have been worth a fortune.

As for the other British cars, not too many Lotus’s but a great looking Lotus Cortina taking the honours there. As for the Rolls and Bentley’s, there were significant numbers but not as many as I had expected. However, the ones that were there were magnificent. There was a great old Bentley Limousine reminiscent of the late Queen Mother’s carriage that looked superb.

There were lots and lots of other great cars on display also. The British contingent was only about 10 percent of the overall entrants, with some of the cars valued at millions of dollars – Bugattis, Cords, Duisenbergs, and a host more. As I said, they were selective of the type of cars permitted at this year’s show but they did choose the very best.

All in all it was a great day out at the Trump establishment and well worth marking next years event on your calendar. The staging of the event was first class, the atmosphere was fantastic and the food, even without the brunch, was excellent, along with the cordials and libations. Hats off to Donald Trump for hosting this great Concours De Elegance event – it was indeed elegant.

Happy Motoring.

You can contact Phil through Leo Lewis at leolewis12@yahoo.com
or PO Box 5691, Oxnard, CA 93031.