This was the very first Palm Desert Concours de’ Elegance, held on the fairways of the Shadow Mountain Golf course, in Palm Desert, CA, on a beautiful Sunday in March. This high-end event was brought to us by the same people that produce the Concorso Italiano every August in Monterey, CA. Unlike the Concorso Italiano, for this show they made greater efforts to also showcase non-Italian cars, such as the Brits, Germans, the U.S. and beyond.
The theme of this year’s Desert Concorso was a celebration of the 100th year of car maker Maserati.
This Maserati MC-12 from the Riverside International Auto Museum came out for this celebration. The MC-12 was a two-seater sports car that was built to allow a racing variant to compete in the FIA Championship. This car went into production in 2004 and only 55 examples of this car were ever made.
Superperformance, from Irvine CA, brought out a Zagato design with Corvette LS running gear. This was a beautifully finished complete car, not just a kit car any more. 33sr Track Roadster
Jim Elkford calls his 33sr car a Track Roadster, but in many respects it is more like a dry lakester Bonneville car. Everything on this scratch built custom car is a hand crafted specialty item.
It has a 425 cubic inch bored to 435 “nailhead” vertical valve Buick, with Hilborn fuel injection, like Tommy Ivo’s dragsters. It is bolted to a 5 speed transmission with a quick-change rear end. Disc brakes on the front are hidden within Buick finned drums, with Hildebrandt wheels all around. The smooth front end was achieved by moving the radiator and fans to the trunk of the car.
Gary Roberts of Costa Mesa loaned a bare Ferrari 275 GTB body shell and bumpers for display at this event. We just never see anything quite like this sitting around to look at and dream.
There was an entire field full of red Ferrari’sP
This 1995 Ferrari F-50 won Best mid-engined V-12 and is owned by Chris and Gail Margarites
Model cars from Big Boys Toys
Lotus 38 Jag D Ferrari 250
Lambos are always so colorful when Bulls of different colors gather together.
This red 1960 300 SL Roadster won the Karl Benz Trophy for the car that most exemplifies the spirit of the founder.
A 2006 Mercedes McLaren SLR – you don’t see these beauties out that often. It has a 622 horsepower supercharged V-8, with a top end of 206 miles an hour.
The new McLaren 650S from Symbolic Motors in Irvine, CA, was on display. This 641 horsepower, 7 speed beauty was just introduced at the Geneva Auto Show this past February.
Pagani Huayra , pronounced , is the Incan “God of Wind”. Wind was the main element in mind for this sleek aerodynamic design. This is a 720 hp Mercedes-Benz AMG twin turbo, twin intercooled V-12 connected to a 7 speed transaxle, does 0-60 in 3 seconds and has a top speed of 238 mph. They are built in a relatively small facility in San Cesario sul Panaro, near Modena, Italy, employing the talents of just 55 skilled craftsman.
When you start with a mid-engined platform with aerodynamics and pleasing proportions in mind you can easily look like some of the successful predecessors. As an example, we are reminded of the very successful Porsche 962 car, with it’s windshield rake and roofline profile. Horatio Pagani, the company principal, worked with Lamborghini on numerous composite projects in the late 80s, so we also see some Lambo lines and proportions in this new exciting design.
They also planned from the beginning of this design to include active aerodynamics. Flaps are activated according to the study of results gathered through calculations and aerodynamic testing. Variable airfoil flaps are used for both cornering and braking. The whole car is shaped as a wing so it was necessary to create a high front to reduce the length of the upper part of this wing to counteract lift. The active suspension in the front and the 4 flaps allow the car to optimally balance the drag coefficient and down force during high speeds, cornering and braking.
An earlier Pagani design, the Zonda R, which we mainly saw in basic black, was essentially a running gear test mule for this far more elaborate Huayra. The main body and monocoque chassis is fabricated from carbontanium – a combination of carbon fiber and titanium for light weight and structural stiffness. It is staggering to consider that a small company near Modena, Italy can produce such an elegant, edgy car with such a comparatively small team.
The Pagani Huayra has a dry weight of 2976, so with a driver, fuel and oil we can expect an operating weight of approximately 3315 lbs – with 720 hp that yields 4.6 lbs/hp. This combined with a stiff frame, active suspension
and aerodynamics yields world class results.
The Best of Show and the Symbolic Motors Fangio awards were won by the 1957 Maserati 450S Sports Racer, a V-12 owned by Tom Hollfelder, a noted collector and vintage racer. This car was number 10 of 10 built and was once owned and driven by Carroll Shelby and Jim Hall. This was the last car built as well as one of the most valuable due to its matching engine and well known history. This historic race car was selected as the centerpiece of the Concorso.
Desert Concorso made tremendous efforts to display unique cars and one-off exotics that are not often seen. This was a high quality automotive display from the first shot right out of the box. From all indications, this Concorso was a rousing success. They are already talking about doing this again next year. But for now, all efforts are directed to preparing for the Concorso Italiano at the Blackhorse Golf Club in Monterey, CA this August.