Monday, May 16, 2011

2011 Marin Sonoma Concours photos


Well, the terrible weather (cold, wind, light rain) kept approximately two-thirds of the registered participants away from the show.  But to the one-third who attended: Thanks!

It's a great sign when the first car you see on display is a Tatra.





The blue paint on this Rover 3500 was outstanding.



The overcast sky really brought out the contrasting colors of the cars.  The Plymouth Superbird is among the few American muscle cars I covet.



There were quite a few microcars, including this Messerschmitt.


This Wankel-engined NSU Spider was one of the show's highlights.




Micro-sized 1959 Fiat 500 Bianchina convertible.



Macro-sized Buick wagon.



Wood dash belonging to Merc 600.



Bantam.


Fiat.


This was my favorite of the day.  It's a mid-50s Bentley R-Type.






The innards of a new McLaren road car.



On the way home from the show, we stopped in Oakland to pick up some bread.  And I spotted this, a 1937 Rolls-Royce.

7 comments:

Gabriele Spangenberg said...

This post is really fun to read! I have never seen an NSU spider. Where they very rare?
Thanks!

Alan said...

God I love Tatras, especially T87s. The 600 Grosser is the ultimate MB, so overbuilt and overengineered it makes your head swim.

longrooffan said...

There may have been only a third of the cars registered there but the ones that did show up are awesome. First sighting ever of that Bentley for me. Nice and thanks for sharing.

Maxichamp said...

@Gabriele: Only 2,375 were ever built. It was the first production car with a rotary engine. The car was very unreliable and expensive and the company was absorbed by Audi in 1969.

@Alan: Can't go wrong with a Tatra, ever. The 600 Grosser is just that-- humungous!

@Longrooffan: The Bentley was an incredible sight.

Jesse said...

full gallery of the Bentley, 1954 type R from Chuck Swimmer's "San Diego Collection" museum. It's a local free museum about 15 minutes from me. http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2008/11/1954-r-type-bentley-from-san-diego.html

Pete Dushenski said...

That Tatra T87 is something else. That fin running along the roof is the most idiosyncratic, and Bugatti Type 37SC-esque, feature. Gorgeous.

John L said...

There were a number of those Wankel Spiders sold in South Australia, all red ones. I'd love to find one now!