Photo Gallery «Sour makes you happy - Concours d'Lemons Amelia Island 2023»

Name: AMC Pacer 1973
Brand: AMC

The simple folk saying "Sour makes merry" is the motto of the Concours d'Lemons, the counter-event to many a Concours d'Elégance. We visited the automotive lemon badness competition, which took place as part of the 2023 beauty contest on Amelia Island, and came across some amazing things ...

Here is an inconspicuous classic, a symbol of automotive malnutrition in America: Fiat Mirafiori, on the US market from 1975 to 1981 - as a 131 with 1.8 liters and as a two-liter Brava

Lemons are once reviled models of everyday US culture, which today enjoy dubious cult status as tiresome ridiculousness - such as AMC Gremlin and Willys Jeep.

The absolute icon of American lemon culture is the AMC Pacer, although flops from other brands...

... like this 2005 Chevrolet Malibu with toenail-colored, aged headlights are no less welcome.

Highlight for trash fans: the "screaming chicken" of the Pontiac Firebird from the late seventies.

Upcoming Lemons star: the Chevrolet HHR, here as a candidate in the class of domestic garbage trucks from the "Rust Belt", the industrial northeast of the USA.

America's mobile atrocities here also include well-kept rarities of the full-fat variety, such as this 1976 Mercury Marquis Brougham Hardtop.

Next species at the Concours d'Lemons: organically worn oldies in unadorned regalia - like this well-behaved Chevy Nova from 1965...

... or an early representative of the BMW 5 Series E12, the 530i...

... with clearly visible traces of a long life close to the lake.

Many imported models that enjoyed (and still enjoy) respect in the Old World also circulate in the USA as automotive staircase jokes. For example, the Renault 12,...

... which landed in North America in small numbers from 1971 to 1977, or...

... the extremely rare British GM representative Vauxhall Velox in America, ...

... here from the 1959 model year with panoramic windows.

The Americans love quirky details, such as the roof finish...

... of the radically designed Citroën Ami 6.

But candidates from other extra-continental climes also make it to the Concours d'Lemons. Here is a Hyundai Sonata from South Korea, ...

... as a VW Gol Saveiro from Brazil...

... with air-cooled four-cylinder boxer engine à la Beetle and front-wheel drive, ...

... a 50 cubic meter Honda Zoe Zipper three-wheeler built in 1984.

Incidentally, the Concours d'Lemons is not just a place to meet quirky and colorful characters in bodywork form.

In fact, the audience is just as diverse, original and multi-layered as the rolling competitors.

Run-down models supplemented with alien waste are traditionally the stars of the lemon thrift ring. Here we see a very individually modified VW Transporter...

... from 1959, which has little to offer on the inside.

In contrast, this T1-generation bus is much closer to series...

... and more useful. Whereby its transportation capacity is...

... impressively wins the ancient single-axle box trailer of the Deutsche Bundesport.

The visible decay has also been synthetically enhanced in this Mazda MX-5...

... and the Chevrolet C/K pickup from 1964.

Solid birch wood adorns this Mercedes-Benz 300 D long from 1978 - at the front as a bumper, ...

... aft as an aerodynamically disdainful rear spoiler.

The interior, meanwhile, has a completely wood-free chaos party look.

Early Mazda MX-5s are popular victims of rampant creative senselessness in the lemon scene. Here, a high-tech rear wing adorns a completely bombed-out Miata, ...

... this is where the classic roadster performs as a fast two-seater for use at the front in between; ...

... although its extra ground clearance is truly amazing.

This 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier Coupé is also unusually off-road capable, ...

... which also features other tasteful details with a very personal touch.

This Honda Civic Coupé, which was given a very free interpretation...

... has to do without the traditional hood for reasons of space.

This 1999 VW Golf IV pays homage to the "Golden Girl" Netty White (1922-2021). However, the traffic sign made from the front spoiler has just as little to do with this...

... like the interior, which is a colorful testament to a motorsport career.

The next subspecies of Lemons: hot rods with a Mexican interpretation. A 1962 Cadillac de Ville is obviously suitable for such modifications, but also...

... the Ford Falcon Futura of the early seventies - here upgraded with a dancing chassis.

Playing old and looking silly or even ridiculous: A 1999 Ford Thunderbird with a retro body kit can do this no less convincingly than a...

... this VW Beetle, tastefully upgraded by kit car builder Gazelle Classic Motor Carriages to an almost completely original 1929 Mercedes-Benz SSK.

Almost landed in first place in the race for the coveted "Worst of Show" trophy: Britt Mann from Brooksville (Florida) with his...

... burnt-out Dodge Dart from 1975, which ...

... was additionally embellished by the fire department during the extinguishing attempt, while...

... the flames caused only minor damage to the interior.

"Worst of Show" and thus proud winner of the Concours d'Lemons 2023 on Amelia Island: Wayne Francis from nearby Jacksonville with his economically motorized construction site toilet.