One of the largest and most popular car show events in California’s desert communities is the annual Palm Springs Casual Concours.
In 2017 Casual Concours IX was held October 21 on the spectacular grounds of the Desert Princess Country Club in nearby Cathedral City, with a dramatic backdrop of the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa mountains just a few miles away. For many years the event took place event in Los Angeles. However, more recently, it was in the more relaxed Palm Springs environment (hence, “Casual” Concours). The event led off with an evening reception at the McCormick Car Auction building, Palm Springs, followed by the car show the next day and a gala dinner at the country club where some cars received people’s choice awards in lieu of formal sanctioned judging.
The nearly perfect October weather there makes this show extremely popular among nearby residents and car owners from well beyond the local area. Proceeds from the 2017 Concours benefitted Angel View, a non-profit organization that helps hundreds of adults and children move toward independence through three primary programs: Residential Care, Day Program and Angel View Outreach. The show’s sponsor is Great Autos of Yesteryear, which boasts almost 1,000 members, owning over 2,600 cars. Casual Concours is open to all makes, which leads to a very diverse and fun event.
Casual Concours IX saluted 100 years of Lincoln and the Lincoln display was given prime exhibit space at the far end of the show field. Represented were sedans, coupes and convertibles from the ‘50s, ‘60s and 70’s as well as an early ancestor of these models, a 1928 Lincoln L owned by Harold Phillips and John Burns, which finished second in the Lincoln class. The class winner was a 1964 Continental sedan owned by Giulio Dedini with gorgeous original brocade motif upholstery with tiny silver Lincoln star logos woven into the fabric. Third place in the class went to Doug Huth’s 1971 Mark III.
A number of LCOC Western Region members participated in the 2017 Casual Concours. Among them are Ron Cressy and Ray Gonzalez, Jim Ayres, Brian Burns, Elayne Bendel, Jim Powers, John Burge and Mike Steiner. (Jim, Ron please add any I forgot)
Ron and Ray displayed a fantastic 1964 Mercury Colony Park station wagon and 1964 RoadRunner travel trailer combination that was reminiscent of mid-20th century American suburbia. Adding to the overall look were picnic and suitcase items from the period. These vehicles are so iconic they might well have been seen in a Leave it to Beaver or Father Knows Best episode.
Ron says the wagon had only one owner before it was sold to Ron and Ray with just 58,000 original miles. The RoadRunner camper trailer was manufactured in Utah and built to do well in the hot deserts, cool mountains, national parks, and cold winters of the Rocky Mountain West.
Concours event participants and voters must have channeled their inner nostalgic child while casting ballots for these great vehicles and awarding each of them a tie for first place in the 1960-64 class. The following day, both the wagon and trailer were used in an October Modernism Week event, the Cul-de-Sac Tour, where appropriate mid-century vehicles were parked in driveways of homes dating from the same period.
The car-trailer combination not only makes one look back with joy to a bygone era, but also ahead to the next Casual Concours at the Desert Princess. And, Ron advises, both car and trailer will be at the Cul-de-Sac Tour again this year on Sunday Oct 21, in case you missed them last time.
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