ORANGE COUNTY COLLECTOR CAR AND MOTORCYCLE WEEK REVS UP ITS ENGINES TO SUPPORT MARINE CORPS CHARITIES

The Orange County Collector Car and Motorcycle Week^TM, featuring the celebrated Dana Point Concours d’Elegance^®, is revving up its engines to support three extremely deserving groups of Marine Corps charities including Semper Fi Fund, MARSOC (U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command) Foundation and the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation. Each charity will receive a portion of the proceeds raised during the week-long automotive celebration held June 21-23, 2013, adjacent to the acclaimed St. Regis Monarch Beach resort.

The celebration will also include an exclusive tour of Camp Pendleton, the Corps’s largest West Coast expeditionary training facility. The tour will leave the St. Regis Monarch Beach and follow the historic Basilone Road, which is not open to civilian traffic, and wind its way through the 125,000 acre training facility and end at Camp Pendleton. At the base camp, tour members will be treated to a full-day of activities including a rare opportunity to cruise through the base, enjoy lunch at the School of Infantry (SOI – West) mess hall, and end the day with a private dining experience at the respected Pacific Views Event Center.

More about the charities:

Semper Fi Fund: The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund (SFF) provides immediate financial support for injured and critically ill members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit, the Semper Fi Fund gives financial relief to post 9/11 service members for hospitalization and recovery requirements, as well as assistance for those with long term perpetuating needs. The Semper Fi Fund acts quickly in a service member’s greatest time of need with a 24 to 72 hour response time for resources. Since establishing the organization in 2004, the Semper Fi Fund team has issued more than 55,000 grants totaling $72 million to more than 9,100 of our heroes and their families.

MARSOC Foundation: The MARSOC Foundation was established in 2011 to provide benevolent support to active duty and medically retired MARSOC personnel and their families, as well as to the families of Marines who lost their lives in service to the United States of America. Today, MARSOC is deployed in more than 40 countries around the world, and the Foundation aims to meet the needs unmet by the government with an emphasis on building personal and family resiliency and supporting the full reintegration of MARSOC Marines and Sailors following wounds, injuries and extended deployments. To date, the foundation has delivered over $81,000 in assistance to MARSOC personnel and their families.

Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation: The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation provides scholarships to the children of Marine and Navy Corpsmen attending accredited community colleges, universities, and vocational/technical institutions, with particular attention given to those with a parent who was killed or wounded in action, or who have demonstrated financial need. The Scholarship Foundation is the nation’s oldest and largest provider of need-based scholarships to military children, having awarded more than 30,000 scholarships valued at over $75 million since 1962.

To purchase tickets for the week’s events – including the Rallye Basilone Historic Tour – please visit www.danapointconcours.org. Event information can also be found on Facebook and Twitter (@DPointConcours).

Complimentary tickets to Sunday’s Concours are available to active military and DOD personnel, as well as $15 tickets for their family.

Please join us as we honor those in the armed forces and their families at Southern California’s premier automotive and motorcycle event!

Dana Point Concours d’Elegance Goes Crazy for Barry Meguiar

Car Crazy TV host and Meguiar’s president Barry Meguiar will be the ambassador of the collector car hobby in So Cal this summer when he accepts the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance® Automotive Icon Award during the big event on Sunday, June 23, 2013. Celebrating the hobby with thousands of fellow automotive enthusiasts, Barry and the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance® team will review more than 200 of the best classic cars and vintage motorcycles So Cal has to offer. One vehicle will be given the Meguiar’s “Finish Fantastique” Award chosen by Barry, and one honorary judge, who will pick the vehicle with the highest quality paint finish.

A true enthusiast, Barry has been passionately involved with cars since he was a child. Working summers at the family business, Barry would cover for production assembly employees when they went on vacation. After climbing the ranks, working in all aspects of the business from accounting to client relations and even advertising, Barry took the reins of the company in 1973. Today, Meguiar’s is the worldwide leading producer of cleaners, polishes, waxes, conditioners and protectants for every type of vehicle on the road and in the water.

His love for the automotive industry is apparent in everything he does. In 1973, after four years of market research, business planning, new product formulating and package design, Barry launched Meguiar’s into the consumer market with their now famous Cleaner Wax. He was actually responding to the pent-up demand for Meguiar’s products among car guys since the car hobby began.

Not resting on his laurels, Barry introduced Car Crazy TV and Radio programs to reinvigorate a declining hobby. With his help, the gap between the older and younger generations has grown smaller and smaller. Today, after being the longest running show on SPEED Channel, Car Crazy is now aired on Discovery’s Velocity Channel.

Barry is also recognized around the world as a prominent role model in the collector car hobby. He’s donated time, funds and expertise to the community, including a recent donation to help build a ramp and stage for the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance® award ceremony in 2012. He attends automotive events worldwide as both an exhibitor and a judge, including the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance and the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

He received the inaugural Petersen Automotive Museum’s Automotive Icon Award, is a Route 66 Hall of Fame recipient, and was the Copper State 1000 Grand Marshal, the Coronado Speed Fest Man of the Year, Cranbrook Concours d’Elegance Person of the Year and Palos Verdes Concours d’Elegance Grand Marshal.

The Dana Point Concours d’Elegance® is proud to have Barry as its friend, colleague and fellow gearhead. That is why the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance® is crazy for Car Crazy’s Barry Meguiar.

Orange County Collector Car & Motorcycle Weekend Kicks-off Fourth of July Festivities by Honoring the U.S. Military

Image provided by Cpl. Christopher Duncan

The Orange County Collector Car & Motorcycle Weekend^TM and the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance® are scheduled to host thousands of collector car and vintage motorcycle enthusiasts from across Southern California two weeks before Fourth of July festivities get underway.

To kick-off the patriotic celebration that will sweep through Orange County, the Dana Point Concours team will honor U.S. military men and women at home and overseas through its 2013 theme: “Salute to Military: Past & Present War Vehicles,” from Friday, June 21, to Sunday, June 23.

Besides offering active duty military and DOD personnel free admission (and a $15 discounted ticket for a friend or family member) to Sunday’s Concours d’Elegance on the Monarch Beach Golf Links at the St. Regis Monarch Beach resort, the Concours team will also display some of the most impressive and rare military vehicles ever used in combat.

And that’s just part of the amazing surprise! The Orange County Collector Car & Motorcycle Weekend^TM and U.S. Marine Corps Installations – West / Marine Corps Base have teamed up to host a never-before-offered, guided tour of the West Coast’s largest U.S. military base on June 21. Only a select group (200 to be exact) of vehicles who sign up for the Rallye Basilone Historic Tour will have the opportunity to cruise down the famous Basilone Road, which was named after the only Marine to be awarded both the Navy Cross and the Medal of Honor during WWII – U.S. Marine Gunnery Sergeant  John Basilone.

Jumping out of your seat yet!? We are! We hope you will join us for the inaugural Orange County Collector Car & Motorcycle Weekend^TM!

As a reminder, the Rallye Basilone Historic Tour is set up on a first come, first serve basis until all seats are filled!

To learn more, visit www.danapointconcours.org.

Image provided by Ren Wicks

For years, the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance® has been the epicenter of the collector car celebration in Southern California. Now, for its 31st year, the team has expanded the Concours d’Elegance into a three-day event – The Orange County Collector Car & Motorcycle Weekend^TM.

As part of the celebration, the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance® will honor the 100th anniversary of the Duesenberg as the featured automobile marque during Sunday’s event, while the Harley-Davidson will be honored for its 110th anniversary as the featured motorcycle marque. Other special car classes include:

• 100th Anniversary of Aston Martin
• 50th Anniversary of Porsche 911
• 25th Anniversary of the BMW M3 in the U.S.
• Factory Concept Show Cars

We’re also proud to announce some returning activities which have been a huge hit, including the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance® Art Exhibit and Saturday evening’s Concours Reception. But, we’re even more excited to tell you that new, family-friendly activities are in the works for the festival, including a never-before-seen guided tour of one of the West Coast’s most revered U.S. military bases.

Stay tuned as we send out announcements and updates via our blog and social media accounts in the next couple of weeks!

We hope you can join us for another fabulous year of cool classic rides, vintage two-wheelers and camaraderie among fellow gear heads.

Happy Holidays from your friends at the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance

History Buffs and High Performance Junkies Descend on Southern California

There aren’t very many places where you’ll find a combination of high performance and history in the same place. But rest assured speed junkies and history buffs because the Dana Point Concours is lining up hundreds of Southern California’s finest classics, exotics, sports cars, hot rods, muscle cars and motorcycles at the St. Regis Monarch Beach resort June 23-24, for its 30^th  annual Dana Point Concours d’Elegance®.

History buffs and automotive enthusiasts will have the opportunity to see this year’s theme, “Legends of Le Mans: Racing in the ‘60s,” symbolized through a 1964 Sunbeam Lister Tiger that will arrive at the Concours on Sunday morning. This Tiger is one of two race cars commissioned by Rootes Group, and built by Brian Lister of Cambridge to compete in the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans. The original race engines were built by automotive icon Carroll Shelby. Today, the Tiger is fitted with a SBF, 289 cid motor equipped with four Weber carburetors.  Who doesn’t love a good tale of competition and thrill?

Also to be among the favorites is a 1933 Marmon Model 144 two-door convertible, which is a beautiful example of an American pre-war classic. It bears historical significance because it was the last unit ever sold by the company. The Model 144 was traded to William Ansted, owner of Metal Auto Products, for the forgiveness of a $70,000 accounts receivable from the near bankrupt Marmon Motor Co.

The Dana Point Concours d’Elegance is not just a car show. It’s a group of people from around the world who share the same passions – history, automobiles and racing. And they know there is only one place during the summer where they can find it all – the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance.

Mark your calendars. We’re only eight days away from launching one of the best car events in Southern California. Let the countdown begin!

MOTORCYCLES REV UP EXCITEMENT AT DANA POINT CONCOURS d’ELEGANCE

1966 Ducati 250 Monza

Motorcycle enthusiasts are a unique breed. They revel in the little things, like the adrenaline rush of taking a sharp turn, the wind sweeping through their hair and the feel of wrapping their fingers around the handle bars grips. Those are the sensations that motorcycle enthusiasts live for when they get on a Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Ariel, Honda or any two-wheeler machine. It’s a freedom that no convertible or V8 muscle car can provide. It’s the pure enjoyment of letting the little rebellious voice inside lead you down the highway or the road less traveled.

To celebrate this motorcycle culture, the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance have added several new motorcycle classes for the 2012 event, scheduled June 23-24, at the St. Regis Monarch Beach golf links. More than 50 vintage motorcycles from the early 1900s to the late ‘70s will adorn the golf links, each competing for top awards in 20 different motorcycle classes.

To add to the excitement of the weekend, the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance will also honor 86 years of Ducati high performance, one of the world’s leading motorcycle manufacturers. Ducati will be the featured motorcycle marque of the weekend, and there will be no shortage of ultra-cool vintage Ducati bikes on the green.

1965 Ducati 250 Mach I

A few of the most interesting include:

• A 1955 Ducati 125 Bialbero Gran Prix sporting a 125 cc Twin Cam engine; it is one of the original group of motorcycles equipped with the first Twin Cam motor designed by Chief Engineer at Ducati Fabio Taglione

• A 1966 Ducati Monza 250 manufactured for the American market; this Monza 250 was a barn find in Indiana before the current owner purchased and restored it

• A 350 cc single cylinder 1970 350 Desmo;  a trademark of the Ducati brand, the Desmodromic valve system was introduced in 1970 with a head that operates the valves without valve springs

• A 1965 Ducati 250 Mach I Desmo that was restored to excellent condition

Interested in seeing even more motorcycle marques at our event? Don’t let this event speed by your to-do list. Purchase your ticket today! The price for a general admission ticket is just $30 online and $35 at the gate.

See you this summer!