When life gives you lemons ...
08/26/2022
... make lemonade out of it. This modern-day proverb, which is intended to encourage people to make the best of every situation, no matter how stupid, was probably once the basic idea behind the annual "Concours d'Lemons" in Monterey. As a counter-event to the Concours d'Elegance at Pebble Beach with its highly polished wheel spokes and its almost surreal-looking collection of expensive special bodies, everyday cars and likeable loser cars met here for a cultivated normality.
What we call a cucumber, the Americans call a lemon. And so once upon a time, pop-rivet repaired Toyota Corolla and bluesy full-size Amis gathered here, as well as repainted AMC Pacers and well-maintained Cadillac Cimarron. That grotty attempt by General Motors in the 1980s to offer luxury for the people is now regarded as one of the worst US cars ever built. But never mind. Where, if not here, were it and its owner welcome? Here you could still be proud of your embarrassing car.
Unfortunately, the "Concours d'Lemons" has moved further and further away from this principle of everyday mediocrity over the years. Namely when some started to deliberately build up grotty cucumbers. What began quite harmlessly with red and white painted steel letter wheels, yellow fog lights and artificial rust paint on galvanized classic cars has now become a garishly colourful absurdity competition for DIY enthusiasts.
The freak show now goes so far that some people spax huge plush horses on the roof or a vice on the front fender just to attract attention. It doesn't matter if you can hardly drive the car in everyday life afterwards. This no longer has anything to do with the recognition of being normal. This is no longer about honoring the (un)rightly neglected automobiles of history. It's all about self-promoters who want to show everyone how "totally ironic and positively crazy" they are.
Conversely, word of an Edsel's loser reputation has now spread so far that these cars are restored to a level of pore depth that would easily allow them to hold their own on the noble green of Pebble Beach and have moved miles away from the status of unloved stepchild. But it was a girl on a kind of moving beer crate, equipped only with a Dodge emblem, a driver's door and a severed head in a goldfish bowl, who took the cake.
Anyone missing the sensible middle ground between the two extremes should take a look around the visitor parking lot. Meanwhile, the real "Concours d'Lemons" takes place there - only nobody notices.
We would like to thank Frank Wilke from Classic-Analytics for the photos of the event!
