MotorCars on Main Street has been a rite of spring for more than 30 years as greater San Diego-area collector car owners gather in Coronado to show off their rides and compete for prizes within a stone’s throw of the world-famous Hotel Del Coronado.
San Diego’s sunny skies and moderate temperatures are normally the centerpiece of this event which celebrates not only the end of winter but also the start of Southern California’s dry season and months of dependable outdoor fun. Unfortunately, Mother Nature can’t read, and was oblivious to the fact the calendar has flipped into May, a virtual guarantee of perfect weather for car shows or anything else under the skies.
Instead she sent a nasty low pressure weather system into SoCal for the weekend bringing with it the car collectors’ worst nightmare—unseasonably cool temperatures and, yes, even rain. While not exactly a deluge, the rain was enough to get the beautifully prepared show cars dirty and wet and slicken the roads enough to dampen the show field and keep some of the old cars and their owners at home.
So what was planned as a mini Lincoln fest at Coronado ended up being just two LCOC classics—Elayne Bendel’s ’64 convertible and Halsey Posadas’ 1972 Mark IV, along with Marjo MIller’s late model Thunderbird, a pinch hitter for her 1956 Mark II, which remained safely at home. LCOC’s Jim Medina arrived later but he, too, left a Mark II at home. Another LCOC member who planned to come in a Mark VIII also fell victim to the weather.
With all these issues one would think it would be a busted weekend, but nothing could be farther from the truth. After trundling down from Orange County a day early to be ready for a 6:30 a.m. meetup on show day, Elayne and friend Janice Furman arrived in Coronado in time for lunch and then boarded a trolley for an impromptu guided tour of San Diego’s most famous attractions—Old Town, Balboa Park, Downtown, the Gas Lamp District, Little Italy, the Embarcadero and last, but not least, the Hotel Del. We couldn’t have planned it better if we had tried for a month!
Halsey Posadas proved the perfect host for Saturday dinner at the Black Angus in Chula Vista, where each of us enjoyed a different steak adventure. Rain continued during the night and as dawn broke on Sunday the streets were still slick and misting continued. Halsey, Elayne and Marjo convened as planned at 6:30 a.m. at the Marriott to arrive en masse at the show. Marjo conducted us to her special parking area, a circular drive surrounding a park where some of her Packard Club members convened.
Cleaning and show prep continued between the raindrops throughout the morning, but it never seemed to be enough. Just when the sun gave a tantalizing glimpse between the clouds, the skies would darken and the rain would begin again. I blamed it on Halsey, begging him to stop continually toweling off the Mark IV so the rain would stop.
Elayne and Janice huddled inside the convertible (top up, of course) looking like Jessica Tandy in the movie Driving Miss Daisy as she graced the back seat of her Cadillac waiting for Morgan Freeman to drive her around. The ’64 Lincoln has ample rear seat room and we greeted spectators who cheerfully stopped by to chat.
A pre-planned lunch at Brigantine engineered by Marjo including Elayne, Janice, Jim and Marjo as well as her Packard friends and a few others was a welcome, lingering interlude. A bottle of sparking wine added to the wonderful seafood menu. Luckily I ordered only a half shrimp and crab cobb salad, which was still big enough for lunch and some to take home.
All too soon it was time for the awards and it appeared that neither Halsey’s nor Elayne’s cars had ever been judged. Confusion reigned. Ultimately, we discovered that both had been judged though neither of us had been present at the time. Coronado Mayor John Duncan presented awards to all winners. Somehow Elayne ended up with a 2nd place award for street rods. No one knows how her virtually dead stock Lincoln placed in this category, but an award is an award, and it was a win for LCOC on a day that Mother Nature was most definitely in charge, so we all celebrated.
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