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Avert your eyes! These cars are hideous! We warned you!
Last week you read about a certain Ferrari that was awarded Best of the Best from among the world’s greatest Concours. This isn’t that. And while there was one salvage-title Ferrari 458 inexplicably present, the rest should have accepted death with dignity years ago. Instead, they live on, like automotive cockroaches, assaulting the otherwise good taste displayed throughout the Peninsula during Monterey Car Week. Click on, but wear welding goggles.
If you win at Pebble Beach, they cover your car with car-shaped foil
streamers. If you win at Lemons the crowd attacks the car with Silly String. This 1960 BMW 502 was brought to the show by Kahlil Dodi of Dodi’s Auto Sales in Seaside. It won the coveted Worst of Show for 2022. Well done! (Don’t worry, Silly String will not affect the patina.)
How was it picking a winner?
“Honestly it wasn’t easy,” said Concours d’Lemons founder Alan Galbraith. “Does one pick a perfectly restored Mercury Bobcat Runabout Villager or a derelict BMW 502? Pebble Beach judges don’t have to face these kind of tough choices.”
In the end the Bimmer won out and the Silly String flew.
We met this guy and his ’61 Comet three years ago at this same show. The car was for sale then and is still for sale now. I think I mentioned that last time, when we posted a sort of want-ad. No one bought. Shows you the power of the press. Price was two grand originally but since he “won his class” in that previous Lemons, the car now has “provenance,” so the price went up to $2500. Now, three years after its show-circuit debut, he lists it as “$1 Billion OBO.” Seriously, this thing is barely still a cohesive unit, held together by rust and fragments of leaded paint. And yet… I must buy it. Who else wants in? We can share the car. You keep it in the summer and I’ll drive it in the SoCal winters.
Matthew Morillo’s ’46 Chevy 1.5 Ton also functions as a BBQ.
Michael King drove his 1961 Corvair Rampside 95 Pickup all the way from Fresno. The chickens looked none the worse for wear.
Yes, that’s a Kawasaki motorcycle engine powering the rear wheels of a formerly FWD 1st-year Leaf. “The worst year of the Leaf,” said the owner/builder. The front part still works as does the back part. It is genius. SpaceX, hire this guy!
There were Meyers Manxes all over the peninsula. There were several at The Quail the day before Lemons. These were privately owned and well cared for.
April Paynter’s 1972 VW van is either the most comfortable conveyance in Lemons history, or it needs fumigation. Possibly both.
Tyler Hoover’s Ferrari 458 Spider has a salvage title, thus qualifying it for Lemons.
Famous car! This is Jay Lamm’s personal Kellison. Lamm is, of course, head of the 24 Hours of Lemons races, as well as one of the co-founders of the Concours d’Lemons. The car has extensive renovations and made it as far as the show so it must be good. Looks even cooler in person.
’62 Dodge Dart made up in Ghostbusters livery. Very clever use of dryer venting.
1976 Carmichael 6×4 Range Rover.
Like that VW van, this interior will either coddle you or require a visit to your doctor afterward. Perhaps both.
If you ever need a tattoo, we recommend Wild Bill Tattoo in Roseville. Wild Bill has attended many Concours and brought many cool cars.
It looks like any other Dodge Polara—until you see THE HANDS!!!
Amanda Silverstein’s 1974 Marcos Mini.
Patrick Godfrey’s 1962 Daimler SP250.
This father-daughter engineering team took what was left of their totaled Dodge Caravan and added an EMI starter motor and a battery and it still runs!
Alberta Massarotto’s 1976 Mercury Bobcat Runabaout Villager has the wood paneling owners crave.
Anyone who wanted to could climb up on this
Lincoln Mark VII and ride off into the sunset.
Steve Mandell is a regular supporters of Lemons. This year he brought an ACOMA MiniContessa Break.
The UOP Shadow Box was built in 1974.
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