CELEBRATE 100 YEARS OF THE ICONIC DUESENBERG AT THE DANA POINT CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE

1936 Duesenberg SJN

The iconic Duesenberg is just that – iconic. And the Orange County Collector Car and Motorcycle Week^TM is proud to celebrate its centennial anniversary at the 31^st annual Dana Point Concours d’Elegance^® this weekend. Held on Sunday, June 23 from 9:30am-4:00pm at the Monarch Beach Golf Links adjacent to the St. Regis Monarch Beach, the acclaimed Concours will present an extraordinary assembly of Duesenbergs to pay homage to this legendary vehicle designed and manufactured by the Duesenberg Automobile and Motors Company. In addition to the Concours’s featured automobile marque, the event will also honor anniversaries for these in the automotive industry: Aston Martin (100 years), Porsche 911 (50 years) and the BMW M3 (25 years in the United States).

Highlighting the 2013 Dana Point Concours d’Elegance is the 1936 Duesenberg SJN Convertible Coupe that starred in the original 1949 “Great Gatsby” film and it has collected numerous awards including this year’s Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance – First in Class and Best in Show. Representing Aston Martin, the 1957 Aston Martin DB 2/4 Mark III and the 1961 Aston Martin DB4 will command a crowd. The 1964 Porsche 901 and the 1967 Porsche 911 Coupe will be turning heads as well. Finally, for BMW, the 1989 BMW M3 is a must see.

The more than 200 vehicles and motorcycles at the event have been generously provided to the Concours by individual owners and collections such as Crevier Classic Cars, Mercedes-Benz Classic Center, the Nethercutt Museum and the Petersen Automotive Museum.

It’s such a privileged to celebrate these timeless vehicles at this year’s Dana Point Concours d’Elegance. With America’s love affair with the automobile, and specifically here in Orange County, you will enjoy a broad spectrum of these automakers and their models. And no doubt, it’s our passion to year after year bring together the very best show field in Southern California.

Join us! It will be a great day of automotive and motorcycle enthusiasts coming together to support three Marine Corps charities – the Semper Fi Fund, MARSOC (U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command) Foundation and the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation.

 

ORANGE COUNTY COLLECTOR CAR AND MOTORCYCLE WEEK HONORS 110TH ANNIVERSARY OF HARLEY-DAVIDSON

1940 Harley-Davidson WLA

The Orange County Collector Car and Motorcycle Week^TM, featuring the celebrated Dana Point Concours d’Elegance, ^® will present a special collection of exciting and rare Harley-Davidsonmotorcycles to commemorate the 110^th anniversary of the legendary company. The group will be displayed at this weekend’s Concours on Sunday, June 23 from 9:30am-4:00pm at the Monarch Beach Golf Links, adjacent to the acclaimed St. Regis Monarch Beach.

The Harley-Davidson story all began in 1901, when, at the age of 21, William S. Harley completed a blueprint of a single cylinder engine that would fit on a bicycle. By 1904, the company swung into full production. In the years that followed, Harley and Arthur Davidson experienced a meteoric rise to fame, propelled by the brilliant and inventive design of these talented men. Initially used as racing bikes, the company quickly expanded their market, embedding themselves into American culture with their image of determination and hard grit. Today, the Harley-Davidson name still stands as a symbol of individuality.

The celebration of 110 years of Harley-Davidson is occurring alongside an assortment of other stunning motorcycles from the 1938 Brough Superior SS100 to the 1973 Kawasaki H1 500 MACK III.

We’re pleased to host such a fantastic collection of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. These iconic motorcycles will showcase the company’s heritage by recognizing the brand’s passion for freedom, self-expression and adventure. Don’t miss out on this unique display!

 

ORANGE COUNTY COLLECTOR CAR AND MOTORCYCLE WEEK TO HOST FREE HOT ROD AND CUSTOM CAR SHOW

1961 Chevy Impala Bubbletop

The Orange County Collector Car and Motorcycle Week^TM continues to grow with new features to complement the celebrated Dana Point Concours d’Elegance^®. For the first time, the Sea Terrace Park, located adjacent to the St. Regis Monarch Beach, will host the free, Hot Rod and Customs in the Park this Saturday, June 22, 2013. Drawing families, military personnel and automotive enthusiasts, the event offers the area’s coolest hot rods, custom vehicles, muscle cars, special coach bodies and a historic collection of military transportation from 9:00am-2:00pm. The 2013 Orange County Collector Car and Motorcycle Week is a multi-day event that celebrates Southern California’s automotive heritage, while also honoring the U.S. Marine Corps.

Festival goers will see a variety of vehicles spread across the rolling hills of the park complemented by its picturesque ocean views, while the band, Outer Wave, and DJ, Rick’s Tune Saloon, entertain the crowds. The food truck craze that has swept the nation will also make a stop at the event, featuring Stuff n It, Tornado Potato, Mustache Mike’s Italian Ice and Dogzilla to name a few.

Plus by attending Hot Rods and Customs in the Park, visitors are supporting the Semper Fi Fund, MARSOC Foundation and the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation. These charities will benefit from the proceeds generated at this festival, as well as the rest of the week’s events.

Entries will be accepted until the morning of the event. Event day registration is located at the Salt Creek Beach parking lot on Ritz-Carlton Drive and Pacific Coast Highway from 7:00am to 9:00am.

So, join us for this free and fun family event!

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!

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

The Motorcar Society Captures Interview with 2011 Best of Show Winner

Yesterday we shared with you the three new vehicles that Jack and Helen Nethercutt will display during the 2012 Dana Point Concours d’Elegance.

Thanks to our good friends at The Motorcar Society, we received this video of the outlet’s interview with Jack Nethercutt from last year’s Dana Point Concours d’Elegance regarding his 1931 Bugatti Type 51 that took home the coveted Best of Show award. Enjoy!

World’s Oldest Sports Car Race Honored at the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance

Twenty-four hours of lightning fast speed, gut-wrenching turns and edge-of-your-seat excitement describes the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race that draws top automotive marques from around the world each year.

An item on every race car drivers’ bucket list, the 24 Hours of Le Mans brings out the very best in not only a car that can be pushed to the limit for a full 1,440 minutes, but a driver that must go for two hour stints at neck-breaking speeds.

To celebrate the world’s oldest and most notable sports car race, the 2012 Dana Point Concours d’Elegance will revive the “golden age” of Le Mans with the Legends of Le Mans Race Car class and the Shelby Cars class.

Visitors of the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance will feast their eyes on three beautiful, vintage race cars that each have a story to tell of Le Mans.

First on the list to check out while you’re on the golf links is a 1961 Ferrari 250 SWB. No stranger to the Circuit de la Sarthe, this Ferrari brought glory to its namesake and won its class at Le Mans in 1961. Placing third over-all, the 250 SWB won the Manufacturer’s Championship for Ferrari.

The first Corvette to ever compete in the 24 hour endurance race will also sit pristinely on the green. Owned and sponsored by Briggs Cunningham in 1960, the team finished eighth over-all and First in Class. An underdog of the group, this 1960 Corvette was a fierce competitor.

A group of Le Mans racers wouldn’t be complete without a Shelby Cobra. Hot rodder and famous automotive manufacturer Carroll Shelby introduced the Cobra to Le Mans in the 1960s, which heated up the legendary competition between Ferrari and Shelby for years to come.

The Dana Point Concours will feature a breath-taking 1962 Shelby Cobra. Although this Cobra was sent to compete in the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans, it never made it to the starting line. The very first production Cobra ever built, this classic was updated by Ford Racing of Europe to FIA specifications and raced successfully in Europe from 1964 -1966.

Whether you love American classics, or European exotics is your ride of choice, the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance will feature vehicles from marques around the world. Exhibitors can compete in more than 35 classes. Interested in entering your beauty into the competition? Log on to http://www.danapointconcours.org/applications.

See you June 23-24, at the luxurious St. Regis Monarch Beach resort!

SO CAL’S SPIRIT OF GIVING

For those of us who love collector cars, the season of giving does not end in December.  In fact, it’s still going strong in the heart of Southern California.  This summer, the 30^th Annual Dana Point Concours d’Elegance will enjoy far more than just the premier celebration of automotive heritage in So Cal. The Concours hopes to raise funds for five area non-profits, including the Carroll Shelby Foundation, South Orange County School of the Arts, Pet Project Foundation, Petersen Automotive Museum and the Art Center College of Design.

The first Concours, originally called the Newport Beach Concours d’Elegance, was started in 1983 by a group of volunteers as a charitable automotive event to celebrate some of the most sought after automobiles. Today, it’s grown to be one of the largest automotive festivals in Southern California and is proud of the charitable contributions it has been able to make because of its volunteers’ hard work, year after year.  This makes the Concours weekend both fun and a way to give back to the community.

From rescuing our four-legged friends to offering children an opportunity to explore their passions are some of the goals these charities strive to promote.  To access more information about each charity, check out our website with pages devoted to each of the organizations at www.danapointconcours.org/charities.  Whether you love animals, like helping kids or passionate about the perseveration of automobiles, you’ll find a charity that touches your heart!

So whether you’re visiting So Cal or a proud resident, make your way to the 30^th Annual Dana Point Concours d’Elegance on June 23-24, at the beautiful St. Regis Monarch Beach resort.  Not only can you check out the breath-taking scenery of the golf links that lay along the beach, you can also view some of the nicest classic automobiles and vintage motorcycles So Cal has to offer.  The best part about it is your ticket purchase of just $30 will go toward the ultimate donation to each of these five non-profits.

Feeling a little bit more charitable? You can also donate ahead of time at https://danapointconcours.webconnex.com/2012tickets.

See you in June!

 

30th Annual Dana Point Concours d’Elegance Celebrates Automotive Legends of Yesterday and Today

Approaching its 30^th anniversary, the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance will celebrate the past, present and future of classic cars and vintage motorcycles in a truly unique way.  With 2012 marking 50 years of Shelby American Inc., the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance chose “Legends of Le Mans: Racing in the ’60s” as the theme to celebrate years of competitive racing among the world’s best automotive Marques.

The 1960s were legendary in the automotive industry with names like Shelby, Ferrari, Porsche, Lotus and Alfa Romeo.  Each competed for the coveted first place trophy during the historic 24 Hours of Le Mans.  This year’s theme will bring back not only racing nostalgia for veteran collectors and racers, but also excitement to the novice enthusiast, now entering the hobby.

We want you to be a part of our historic Shelby and Le Mans celebration.  If you own a vintage race car or Shelby, enter it today!  The Dana Point Concours will introduce special classes for exhibitors to participate, including the Legends of Le Mans Race Car class and the Shelby Cars class.

And what better way to bring the golden era of racing to life than to have a legendary automotive icon (and racer in his own right) honored during the two-day event.  Known as one of the greatest ambassadors to the collector car hobby, Bruce Meyer will be honored as the 30th Annual Dana Point Concours d’Elegance’s Automotive Icon.

No stranger to European roads and tracks, Meyer has driven in the Italian “Mille Meglia,” the French “Tour Auto,” the UK’s “Goodwood Festival of Speed” and on the Bonneville Salt Flats in the U.S.

With excitement mounting for this milestone year, the Dana Point Concours team is working diligently to bring visitors an experience they’ll never forget.

The Dana Point Concours d’Elegance would like to invite you to be its guest!