2016 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance: Concours d’LeMons Educates (Accidentally)

August 21, 2016

With the 2016 editions of Monterey Car Week, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca upon us, Crave will be on the scene to explore the worlds of elite classic automobiles and modern supercars.

Both the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the 2016 Concours de’LeMons deal with cars, but the latter wins the race in the fun division. Of course, while the modest car show’s attendees are having that fun, they have a chance to learn a few things about cars of old.

Also: 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance: 2017 Lexus LC 500 Arrives for Duty

The Concours de’LeMons is supposed to a joke — a fun day out at a city park for average folks free of pretentiousness, while other folks full of it stiffly mill about an elite golf course just across the bay. Folks drive or push their versions of the automotive industry’s greatest mistakes to win awards like “Most Dangerous,” “American Rust Belt” and “Swedish Meatball” for prizes picked up at 99 cent stores.

But, the Concours d’LeMons ends up (perhaps inadvertently) offering a sort of free outdoor museum as little known or long lost cars from around the world limp together to remind us they existed. Where else are we likely to see a lost make like a Wolseley alongside one of the few four-wheeled models once built by Vespa behind a consumer car intended to double as a boat?

Someone designed these cars. Someone built them. We shouldn’t just forget them. For a glimpse of lost (and sometimes sad) automotive history, we offer a gallery of fresh lemons below.

2016 Concours d'LeMons

While it's supposed to be a silly look at hunks of junk far removed from the elitists at the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, the Concours d'LeMons highlights some automotive history.