For those of you who do not know, the Concours d’Lemons celebrates the “un-best” of the automotive world. What this looks like is a show made up of the greats from AMC, Renault, Chrysler, Ford, and other brands, cars which in their day were, at best, unexceptional, or at worst, simply terrible. Yes, that’s you I’m thinking of, Trabant.
Probably the finest example of a Trabant in the world. Yes, a dubious honor.
In past years, the event has been a mix of good cars in terrible condition and bad cars in good shape, but the majority of vehicles have been in the former category.
A true show-quality Edsel
This year, things were different and for the best, with the majority of the cars on display being truly excellent examples of cars that if not bad, were definitely of questionable quality when new. In my judging class of Rust-Belt American Junk — Ford, the winner was an Edsel in absolutely show-quality condition. If there was a class at Pebble Beach for Edsels, this car could have been proudly displayed there.
Judging the cars with my colleagues
We took our judging somewhat seriously, though I had Dan Neil (who accepted quite a bit of the bribes offered, which included Jell-O shots and moonshine) from the Wall Street Journal on my team. Yes, bribes are a part of Lemons; the best practice is to not eat anything that you cannot identify. The judging was fun and actually quite challenging due to the quality of the cars we had in our class. This is the first time I have said this about judging at a Lemons show. I hope that next year is more of the same.
Demo derby veteran. The tailgate was secured with a rusty chain.
Another standout in our class was the Ford station wagon demolition derby survivor. Somehow, this car was not only legally registered but also driven to the show. It was, by far, the car in the worst condition I have ever seen at Lemons that arrived under its own power.
Amazing Citroen and Renault Turbo
In the French class, there was a truly great display of a Renault Turbo that was delivered to the show on a rusty Citroen transporter. While not the four rare Ferraris on a Fiat transporter like I saw a day later at Pebble, it was the coolest display I have ever seen at Lemons.
Worst of Show-winning Franklin that drove all the way from Maryland
The Concours d’Lemons is the most fun show during all of Monterey Car Week and always offers a number of surprises as well as some crazy stories. The absolutely wackiest of these was the one about the Worst of Show, a 1932 Franklin Club Sedan that was driven from Maryland to Monterey the week of the show. While that already sounds a bit risky, the owner bought it the Monday before Lemons and then immediately drove it cross-country. I am brave in my approach to collector cars and road trips, but that is way beyond what I would ever consider. The owner deserved the Worst of Show award if only for that.
If you think the cars are weird…
As I have said often, if you have not attended the Concours d’Lemons, you really owe it to yourself to go. There is no more entertaining car show on the planet.
