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.

Honoring a Legend & Celebrating a Golden Birthday

  

Founded on passion and a competitive spirit, Shelby American Inc. was established by legendary automotive designer and racer Carroll Shelby. Accomplishing what many gear heads dream of doing, Shelby was the only man to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a driver, team owner and manufacturer.

Shelby’s impressive career included winning Le Mans in ‘59, behind the wheel of an Aston Martin, as well as competing and claiming victory in ‘64 and ‘66 as a Shelby American team owner and a manufacturer with the Cobra Daytona Coupe and Ford GT40.

On Thursday, May 10, however, the automotive world lost an icon, teacher, competitor, enthusiast and brother. Carroll Hall Shelby, considered one of the last of the great independent car builders / drivers passed away at Baylor Hospital in Dallas, in his home state of Texas.

So it only seemed fitting that for this year’s Dana Point Concours d’Elegance, scheduled June 23-24, we recognize this American icon and his accomplishments in conjunction with our theme “Legends of Le Mans: Racing in the ‘60s.” Shelby American built its legend, as well as some great cars during the 1960s.

To honor 50 years of Shelby American and the man who started it all, the Concours will highlight vehicles from the manufacturer, including a Nightmist Blue on black 1967 Shelby GT500. Restored to factory-specifications, this GT500 is fully documented by Shelby American Automobile Club and is one of only four delivered to Spain for the festival of Seville in 1967.  The Shelby was then used as a display car at the Festival of Barcelona that year along with Cobras, GT350s and more.

Also on display from an exhibitor will be a 1964 Shelby Cobra equipped with a Ford V8 289 c.i.d. engine with Downdraft Webers. Reaching over 300 horsepower, this striking daily driver turns heads everywhere it goes and makes for an amazing drive through the mountains.

This 1967 Shelby GT500 and 1964 Shelby Cobra are just a couple of jewels that will be on display at the Concours. Guests interested in seeing these magnificent beauties can purchase tickets online or at the gate. Come help us celebrate the biggest party of the year and honor Carroll Shelby’s impressive career that has shaped the automotive world today.

Those interested in helping continue Carroll’s legacy, the Carroll Shelby Foundation, can click on the link and donate today in honor of one of the greatest icons the automotive world has known. As one of the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance charities, the Foundation will also be on-site during the Concours on Sunday, June 24.

We hope to see you this summer!