Sunday, June 17, 2007 - Wretched Excess (of the automotive sort)

The Rodeo Drive annual Concours D'Elegance

Well, the announcement was there for all to see –

The Rodeo Drive Committee will again present the annual Concours D'Elegance on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 17 from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm in Beverly Hills.  More than thirty thousand people line the sidewalks of Rodeo Drive on this special day to celebrate the automobile equivalent of Rodeo style. This year’s event will have a "Cars of California" theme, celebrating the art of California car culture and elite design and exemplifying the spirit of California. From convertibles to Woodies, more than one hundred private cars are expected to exhibit at this year’s event.

How could one resist?  There's always something amusing there, and the last one was cool. The day was sunny, hot and clear – and it was only a few miles west. Why not? Los Angeles is the land of the automobile, for better or worse. And Rodeo Drive is a bit of a self-referential joke about extreme and silly wealth, smack in the heart of Beverly Hills, with the its exclusive stores where one shops by appointment only for that fifty dollar pair of socks or that fifteen thousand dollar suit, if that is what you seek (noted previously here). The cars were likely to be over the top. They were.

Here's this year's collection.

Old Rolls

Rita's Ride

It's a Deusy! (a Duesenberg and a Packard, actually)

French Elegance – (the 1937 Talbot Lago)

The Brits – Jaguar and Lotus

American Iron

Obscure Hollywood

Detail, Details

The Ultimate (The Bugatti Veyron)

All text and photos, unless otherwise noted, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 - Alan M. Pavlik