The 21st Annual Handcrafted Automobile Concourse weekend in San Leandro, California, last fall, gained adulthood in style, with great weather, plenty of door prizes and a formidable 68 cars registered, including 14 Cobras.
Most of the cars appeared Saturday morning as some 500 spectators made the foray into the world of fine cars, despite regional competition from a San Francisco Giants game as well as a 49ers game, both going on in The City.
The event, sponsored by the Northern California Kit Car Club, was different from years past, in that it had a much different mix of cars than the usual, spearheaded by a pair of awesome GT-40s and a trio of beautiful Auburn Speedsters. Additionally, six big Mercedes 500K replicas were on display, and there was a good showing of street rods and kit rods, including a chopped '34 Ford coupe, a '32 Ford Victoria, and two totally "one-off" creations that swept the Special Interest class.
Porsche Speedsters abounded, with two of them making up John Steele's display for JPS Motor Sports from North Hollywood, California.
Bill Emerson, of Emerson Motorsports, was present with three sharp Cobra replicas including the new white race machine built for Terry Geiser.
There was also a splendid Cobra display by Jim Riddell of Renagade Roadsters of Modesto. Returning exhibitor Bill Nalbandian showed his electric-powered Bradley; Tim Figuhr (FiberJet Industries) brought a VW-powered Cobra; and Gary O'Connor's Woodster roadster, which has been featured in these pages before and is made out of-what else?-wood, was a returning favorite.
Ferrari, Bugatti, MG-TD, and Jaguar replicas were well represented. Barry Bristol's long-awaited and extensively reworked Porsche 914 came back as an impressive long-tail Porsche 917 powered by a mid-engine Buick V-8.
To round out the impressive group, Brinton Jones brought his Corvette-powered Manta Mirage and Greg Hampton showed his Blakely Bearcat.
Making the drive down from Oregon was a healthy contingent from the neighboring club to the north, the Oregon Handcrafted Auto Association. They did well, returning home with four trophies.
In the Unfinished Class, Gene Stager took the trophy for his "close-to-finished" bright-red Heritage Mercedes 500K. I had to give the vote counters a tour to convince them it was really not finished.
The "dominator" of the Large Sports Class was Al Bohr's Fino. Its exquisite multi-hued paint job and Cadillac Northstar powertrain took home two awards-First Place in Sports-A class and the Ladies' Choice award.
The snack and beverage time late Saturday afternoon provided a time for all to gather and enjoy a social hour prior to a catered dinner at the nearby Marina Inn. The dinner was attended by 72 people and there were enough raffle prizes to give everyone a 50 percent chance at being a winner.
The event could not have gone off as smoothly without the hard work of Show Chairperson Carolina Williams and without the efforts of the many members of the NCKCC, who worked at their various assignments to make it all happen. Of course, the event was a success thanks, mostly, to all those who brought their cars.
We hope all will return again this fall for the 22nd Concourse. For more information, contact the Northern California Kit Car Club, Shane Williams at (510) 353-9914, shane_1997@yahoo.com; or Steve Cameron (916) 399-9393, 2 Woodriver Ct., Dept. KC, Sacramento, CA 95831, nckcc@usa.com; or Vern Hance at (925) 938-1442, 3317 Ellesmere Ct., Dept. KC, Walnut Creek, CA 94598-304, nckcc@astound.net. Or visit the Web site at: www.nckcc.com. See you in September...bring your car.
Show Awards
FOR 2003
Best of Show:
David Snoek, Ford GT-40
Ladies Choice:
Al and Rhoda Bohr, Fino
Best Manufacturer:
JPS Motor Sports with two Porsche Speedsters
President's Choice:
Dane Slack, Ford Special
Vice President's Choice:
Barry Bristol, Porsche 917