This past Sunday, the annual "Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance" car rally attracted a crowd of car enthusiasts to Palm Springs once again. The organization that hosts this event is a non-profit group that redirects proceeds to benefit local charities dedicated to improve the quality of life in the desert community. This year, the proceeds will go to three organizations: Animal Samaritans of the Desert, Desert Samaritans for the Elderly and the Palm Springs Police Department's Mounted Police. Palm Springs has a long history of a fascination with classic cars. As early as the 1930's, Hollywood studio bosses would send their movie stars to Palm Springs for a weekend get away. They would arrive in style, in fancy cars to maintain their glamorous image. Luxury cars of the day would line up in front of the popular hotels and clubs, and would signal the popularity of the establishment. In the 1950's Palm Springs hosted one of the first road races in Southern California, thus the Golden Era of road racing was born. The Councours d'Elegance attracts exotic car owners from all over the country, happy to exhibit their vehicles for charity and a bit of fun along the way. Our desert offers the perfect backdrop for the event; it is held on the beautiful grounds and fairways of the legendary O'Donnell Golf Club here in Palm Springs. All photos here in this post are from the Desert Sun website:
above: the San Jacinto mountains were the perfect backdrop for the classic cars lined up on the fairway.
According to The Desert Sun website, there were 140 classic cars on display at the O'Donnell Golf Club. Among the exotic cars was one vehicle valued at $20 million, which is incredible when you stop and think about that. Why do my cars plunge in value the moment I drive off the lot? The event included judging, with a "best-in-show award" given to a 1961 Alfa Romeo SZ Coda-Trunka coupe (see photo above left), with an estimated value that could be as high as $1 million because there are only 11 other models ever built. Check out the rest of these great photos from the Desert Sun:
According to The Desert Sun website, there were 140 classic cars on display at the O'Donnell Golf Club. Among the exotic cars was one vehicle valued at $20 million, which is incredible when you stop and think about that. Why do my cars plunge in value the moment I drive off the lot? The event included judging, with a "best-in-show award" given to a 1961 Alfa Romeo SZ Coda-Trunka coupe (see photo above left), with an estimated value that could be as high as $1 million because there are only 11 other models ever built. Check out the rest of these great photos from the Desert Sun:
It's not hard to see why I enjoy living in Palm Springs so much. Hope your week is going well.
-Rick Rockhill
12 comments:
Boy, would my son and my son-in-law here both enjoy seeing a display like this! Both of them are "gearheads" -love cars, motors, etc. The son-in-law and my ex-husband too are both mechanics. But they love car shows of any type although they (son and sil) are both big Volkswagon vans -each of them has a restored "bug." That's a totally different class from these vehicles in your post though.
Great job.
oh my goodness, those cars are so beautiful. I can't even imagine a car worth that much by the way. wow.
I love old, classic ares like those. My high school boyfriend drove a 1928 Pontiac touring car; purple with cream pin striping. It was really fun to ride in.
There is always so much going on in your town---and all of it very very interesting! Beautiful Classic Cars and FUN, too!
Now those are some sweet rides!
I am jealous of your fun!
Excellent!!! The elegant Australian Shepherd gets my vote (and I suppose the Austin behind!). What an absolute cutie!
I wake up in cloudy Seattle each day and say, "I should be in Palm Springs!!" I can see why the classic and often convertible cars would be a big hit there.
Ooh! *Puts the Delahaye by Faget-Varnet in her pocket and sneaks off*
That first car is very pretty-is it a reflection that I am seeing or does it have raised designs on the side? I think it's probably a reflection, but either way, it is pretty.
I dream of driving a car like these.
We had a car show last summer and I went to look at the cars and stayed a while to appreciate them because we had "met" on line. That pic of you and your mom looking so pretty has stayed in my mind and I thought of you. I have a new appreciation for these things now. . .
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