1954 Chrysler GS-1 Ghia Coupe
Cohort poster JC has uploaded a large number of shots to his Flickr page that were taken at last week’s Auto Week in Monterey, CA. I’m not sure exactly which even this was, as there’s so many now, but he caught a long parade of superb classics rolling by. I’m surprised I’ve never gone there, but then I’m not too keen on big events and lots of people, so imagining myself standing there as they come by is a nice alternative. I really enjoyed this parade.
1964 Mercedes 230SL Pininfarina Coupe
1919 Packard 3-35 Twin Six Graff Laundalet
1976 Lamborghini Countach LP400 ‘Periscopica’ Bertone Berlinetta
1952 Ferrari 212 Inter Pinin Farina Cabriolet
1919 Pierce-Arrow 51 Four Passenger Touring
1953 Maserati A6GCS Fantuzzi Spyder
1967 Iso Grifo GL Bertone Coupe
1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Spider
1940 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 S Touring Coupe
1953 Ferrari 250 Europa Pinin Farina Coupe
1963 Iso Grifo A3/L Prototype Coupe
1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing
1933 Rolls Royce Phantom II Brewster Convertible Sedan
1961 Alfa Romeo Sprint Zagato Coda Tronca
1952 Ferrari 212 Inter Pinin Farina Cabriolet
1954 OSCA MT4 1500 Morelli Spyder
1954 Porsche 356 Pre-A Reutter Coupe
1957 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Scaglietti Berlinetta
1966 Ferrari 365 P Pininfarina Berlinetta Speciale
1964 Ferrari 250 GTO Scaglietti Berlinetta
1953 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing Prototype
1956 Maserati A6G Zagato Coupe
1952 Mercedes-Benz 300SL W194
That 1937 Alfa Romeo is one I don’t recall seeing before. It’s absolutely stunning.
Love those Packards. Also, Pinin Farina at his best was a genius.
In one or two cases you wonder what the designer was on at the time.
If only Detroit had been more influenced by that Ghia Chrysler, the world would have been a saner place.
Pinin Farina at his best was a genius.
Yes, but he had a lot of practice with that fascia. Pininonanon.
I’d like to see the Brewster Rolls with the top down. Never seen a mashed side strip like that before. I wonder who ordered it and why.
While that Rolls-Royce Brewster appears to be a convertible sedan, it is in fact a sport sedan known as the Special Newmarket of which three were built. It is in design essentially a close-coupled, four door sport sedan version of the Henley roadster design. One was for sale in the Chicago area recently, the other one in a major Southeast U.S. collection maintained by an acquaintance who shall remain nameless to protect his privacy.
But, yes, they are magnificent!!!
Wow, at first glance that 1964 Mercedes looks like a regular Pagoda coupe that was left in the oven too long, but it sure is an interesting car when you get into the details. Forward leaning grille for instance.
Too bad we can’t hear these go by…
I only live about 35 miles away but never go to the fancy events, though I’ve been to the free Concours d’Lemons, more CC-worthy, a few times. The real thrill is seeing one of these cars on the highway in traffic, driving to or from one of these events. Camry, Camry, RAV4, Ram truck, Dino 246!, Civic, F150, Tacoma, MGA!, Camry, 300SL! etc. It must be Monterey Historics time.
Hahaha, wow! That would be a sight to see!
I love that Mercedes-Benz 230sl PinninFarina coupe, the lines are wonderful. Except those taillights seem to be out of place, they look better on a Ferrari.
Wonderful to “see” all these parade by—the kind of stuff that’d never appear locally. I won’t pretend that I’d have identified them all, so thanks for the captions (nice CC Effect with the recent Iso Grifo).
If I had the means, perhaps I’d put my riches into owning one of these–I wonder which one would catch my fancy?
The 1964 Ferrari 250 GTO bodies drive me nuts. Did they really ruin the aerodynamics of the original GTOs just to make them look like 250 LMs? There’s no way the tunnel back window helped the car’s performance, and the results seem to confirm that the year’s engine and chassis development could just about offset what was lost to that roofline.
It must have been a real treat just to listen to all of these cars motor on by. Not a turbo heat pump or electric motor in the lot!
Supposedly the aerodynamics were improved with the “notchback” Series II body, though whether that’s drag or downforce is unclear. I’m sure it wasn’t to emulate the mid-engined LM looks.
Drool.
Difficult to pick one over the others. Almost overwhelming – and this is only the 1st batch!
OK, I’ll go for the 1940 Alfa… But with many regrets.
Tatra87,
“OK, I’ll go for the 1940 Alfa… But with many regrets.”
In 1972, a former boss and mentor closed his restoration shop. He collected Packards and pre-WW2 Alfa-Romeo sports cars. He had decided to get married, and the Alfas needed to go. He had [based on my memory] 2 Alfa coupes and a roadster. The roadster was an early 1750, and the coupes were a circa 1940 6C2500, and an 8C2900 [I was told it was a 2900, but not sure today].
The prices were a special deal for me, and I knew because of his immense knowledge of top-end classic cars, I needed to buy one car, and stick it away until I found the time and money to invest into my purchase.
The 8C2900 was $2,500, and not even close to affordable. The 1750 was $1,200 and my pockets still came up short. The 6C2500 was a 2-place coupe with a long sloping back end, sort of like a Bentley Continental. The price was $800. Yea, I could make that happen, so I bought a pre-war Alfa 6C2500.
My boss said it had to be off the shop property by 1 September, so I made arrangements to put it in a barn where I had a couple of Packards stored. I mounted the towbar to the front bumper brackets of the Alfa, hooked it to the trailer hitch on my red 1966 Plymouth Fury III convertible, and towed the Alfa to the barn, where I planned to leave it in residence for a few years. A couple of weeks later I reported for induction into Uncle Sam’s Army, and headed to Ft. Knox for basic training.
9 Months later, the barn was struck by lightning, and with the loft filled with hay, everything in the barn was burned almost to the point of being unrecognizable. Today, the only item I have to remind me of the fire, is a solidified pool of aluminum with various small bits of Alfa-Romeo steel sticking out of it. After the fire I never bothered to get the title from my boss, and I have no VIN information to tell me exactly which car I had.
That said, I do have special memories of a beautiful 2-passenger Alfa-Romeo coupe with wonderfully flowing lines, in direct opposition to my 1940 Packard 180 Limousine.
My choice WAS the Alfa-Romeo 6C2500 coupe.
My choice is this story! Incredible. The molten Alfa bits would get you back your $800 today, and maybe even a little change, so you come out even….
Thank you very much for the compliment. I cannot sell the Alfa “wall art”, as it’s promised to another family member.
Also in the fire was a one-of-a-kind 1956 Packard Caribbean sedan, one of the last senior Packards built, at the time the company was willing to do whatever the customer wanted, and Mr. Lawson wanted a Caribbean 4-door. I was the second owner of the car, it had every possible option except wire wheels. Light blue top & stripe, white body, and darker blue under the stripe. 100% leather interior in white, light blue & dark blue.
There were more vehicles; 1955 Packard Caribbean, all black with a white stripe. Canadian 1965 Pontiac Parisianne convertible, and all the way in the back was a circa 1925 Packard 1/2 ton truck, complete but in need of a restoration. All were totally destroyed. If you’ve seen photos of 1945 Berlin, showing burned out cars in the streets, that’s what the barn & contents looked like. The vehicles and other steel items went to the scrapyard. In the 1990s the farm was turned into a residential neighborhood. Today no evidence the barn ever existed.
Comparing the Gullwing & the 230 SL, I’m noticing a trend that shows up on a number of ’60s sports cars where the proportions changed. Did the beltlines get lower, or did the roofs get higher?
I cannot recall seeing photos of the 300SL prototype before, and it is prettier than the production job. But the 300SL (to me) gains a bunch of its mystique from the fact it does look a bit heavy and brutish: that vague threat, the overwhelming performance for the era, the strange doors and swing axles known to bite are all one of a piece. Not so if it looked as neat as that proto, which is conventionally sweeter.
My lord, what a drive-by.
Fascinating parade, a good way to see the cars instead of being overwhelmed at the Monterey shows.
I like the CC approach, finding one gem at a time. The alternative is a small car show like the one a restaurant/watering hole near us sponsors monthly. Last Sunday, there were about 30 or so cars present. If you skip the modern stuff and clichés like the ’69 Camaro, there was a good selection of cars to examine. (I must admit liking to get up close and personal with the new C8 Corvette — there are very few here as yet.)