Launching Car Week with Style: The Story Behind the Concours at Pasadera

Rick Barnett - Chairman for The Concours at Pasadera

Contact: Rick Barnett at rick@montereymotorsports.com | 8317470112 | Visit Online!

          

This episode of Break/Fix features Rick Barnett, chairman of the Concours at Pasadera. The Concours is an annual event showcasing modern, classic, and vintage automobiles, focusing on the history and artistry of car design, including this year’s spotlight on Ferrari’s 75th anniversary. The event supports local charities like the CASA of Monterey County, the Bridge Addiction Recovery Program, and the Laguna Seca Raceway Foundation. Barnett discusses the event’s origin, its unique approach to car judging, and the significance of the event posters. Listeners are also treated to a poignant story about a fully restored vintage Ferrari Lusso. For those interested in attending or entering their vehicles, Barnett encourages registration on the event’s website. The podcast concludes with a call to action for listeners to participate and support this extraordinary automotive celebration.

• Let’s first start off by explaining to our listeners, what is a Concours d’Elegance? Some people might be thinking… is this just another car show?
  • Concours are a competitive event – What does it take to enter? What level of vehicle prep is involved for a Concours?
  • How does one compete? How are vehicles judged? What is the judging criteria? Are there different classes? What types of vehicles are permitted to enter in a Concours?
• History / Origin of the Concours at Pasadera – now celebrating its 4th year.
  • What was the kickoff, what inspired the “Hey, let’s start a Concours” moment?
  • What are some of the more notable moments in Pasadera Concours history? Special guests, special judges, special vehicles…?
  • Tell us about the event poster, a lot goes into that, who is the artist, how is the art layed out?
  • Tell us about the beneficiaries of the Concours.
  • What can guests expect at the Pasadera Concours? Food, music, vendors? Can anyone attend/buy a ticket/enter a car?
  • Tell us about what makes Pasadera a little different from other Concours events. Discuss the size of the event and why that more intimate scale might be appealing to some.
  • What’s in the future for the Pasadera Concours?

Crew Chief Brad: [00:00:00] Break Fix Podcast is all about capturing the living history of people from all over the autos sphere, from wrench, turners, and racers to artists, authors, designers, and everything in between. Our goal is to inspire a new generation of Petrolhead that wonder how did they get that job or become that person.

The Road to Success is paved by all of us because everyone has a story.

Crew Chief Eric: The following episode is brought to us in part by Garage Style Magazine. Since 2007, garage Style Magazine has been the definitive source for car collectors continually delivering information about Automobilia PETA events and more.

To learn more about the annual publication and its new website, be sure to follow them on social media at Garage Style Magazine or log onto www.garagestylemagazine.com because after all, what doesn’t belong in your garage.

A juried collection of modern, [00:01:00] classic and vintage automobiles gathered from club members and enthusiasts showcased in a luxurious, comfortable setting with awards by Tiffany and company. Guests enjoy an exceptional culinary experience while supporting the countrywide charitable causes of Casa of Monterey County, the Bridge Addiction Recovery Program, and the Laguna Seka Raceway Foundation.

The concourses at Pasadera launches Car Week on the Monterey Peninsula. And with us tonight is Rick Barnett, chairman of the Concourses at Pasadera, to explain the history and future of this beautiful event. So welcome to Break Fix Rick.

Rick Barnett: Glad to be here.

Crew Chief Eric: Like all good break fix stories. There’s always an origin behind the guest that we have on the show, and in this case, I think there’s a double origin here.

There’s your history as a petrol head, as a concourses participant, but also the founder of one of the newest concourses during Car Week in Monterey. Let’s start off first by explaining to our listeners what is a [00:02:00] concourse de gonz. Some people might be thinking, is that just another car show?

Rick Barnett: Concord to Elegance is really a cue for the Pebble Beach event that has been going on now for so many years.

And actually in using that term, it brings me back to my first car show experience. We decided to take a first time date. To a car show, August 23rd, 1979 at Pebble Beach. It was great. It was a great experience. It was a great date. I thought, I’m gonna take this young girl, Lori Smith, to a car show. We’ll have a good time.

I’ll drop her off that night, Sunday evening, and then that would be it. Little did I know that on Monday we would talk for a couple of hours on the phone, and Tuesday I asked her to marry me. Here we are 43 years later, looking back at the first car show that, uh, that I ever attended, which was at Pebble Beach and the Concord Elegance, Concord Pasadera, the concept of it started about four and a half, five years ago with club members at [00:03:00] Pasadera who were car enthusiasts that said, why don’t we put together a car show that would represent some of the car collections that exist by Pasadera members, invite their guests.

Club members and homeowners of the community of Pasadera to a car show. It started out with that concept, and it grew before the first event, which happened in 2019. Suddenly we had about 400 people that showed up a lot more than what was originally anticipated. Some great cars, cars from all over the west, and it became an event that not only was.

The kickoff to Car Week, but also something that benefited local charities as well. Today, four years later, going into the fourth anniversary of the Concord at Pasadera, Pasadera continues to launch Car Week this year. August 11th will be the press party at the club. August 12th. Friday will be the show.

And then Saturday and Sunday, uh, [00:04:00] Laguna Seka is our active. Track days for the race course and then Monday Car Week starts to kick off and gets very busy for that following week, and then Pebble Beach closes at that following Sunday. So when I attended with my Now wife, our first car show together. Car Week was three days.

It was Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Today it’s a nine day event. Pasero kicks off car week on Friday, the week before Pebble Beach closes car week. That following Sunday. For the listeners that think, gosh, what is Car Week in Monterey? Last year there were 23 car shows that happened during that nine day period of time.

23 car shows the most active car collector week, if you want to call it that nine day period of time in the entire world.

Crew Chief Eric: And that’s also followed up by the Monterey Historics as well at Laguna Seker where they actually run some of these vehicles on the track.

Rick Barnett: That’s correct. Some of the cars that are at our event.

We’ll leave [00:05:00] on Friday night after the club 100 dinner and the following day we will turn right around and become active all during the week at various shows and historic races, et cetera.

Crew Chief Eric: Rick, correct me if I’m wrong, if we touch on the origins of concourses and I have participated in some years prior, you know, helping out, especially with the, the Deutsche Mark Concourses here on the east coast of Porsche parades, things like that.

I noticed there was a big difference between a concourses and what people are doing now. You know, the cars and coffee and the local car shows and things like that. Concourses. Is competitive. It’s a judged event. It’s very stressful. I never realized what it was really all about and it stems all the way back to the early days of the automobile in France, where even in some respects that concur’s elegance of, of elegance there was to show off the latest in greatest bespoke models coming out of all these different manufacturers.

Does Concourse today still follow in that same [00:06:00] model? Is it still competitive? What is it like now, let’s say a hundred years later?

Rick Barnett: Well, it’s interesting when you say a hundred years, you’re almost right on the first Concor de Elegance was held at Villa Deste back in 1929 at Lake Como, Italy. The tradition of the Concord Elegance continued on at Pebble Beach.

Starting in 1950 and then continued there to the Hillsborough in 1956. So we’ve seen almost a hundred years of car collector concor events that have been happening all throughout the world. The Concord Elegance is a, an event that itself has gone through a series of evolutionary identifications. And what I mean by that is there was a period of time early on.

Where the Concord de Elegance moniker, if you will, was really focused more on the elegant cars that had been chosen by or jury or by the event [00:07:00] itself. But as time went on, we see that at Pebble Beach as an example, but truly throughout the world, cars that are honored in various classes are shown and exhibited at the Concord Elegance.

Events globally. As an example, Ling Moss arrived at one of the events with a Mercedes 300 SL race car. Well, you know, that certainly was not an Elegance car, but it was a race car and it had historic significance. And so these are the kinds of, you might say, evolutionary progress that has happened with the Concor events.

The Concor at Pasadera is unique in that it has each year, much like some of the others, a theme that we focus on. However, we reach out into the spirit of that theme that might evolve into other marks or other styles of cars. As an example, and this year would be a perfect example for [00:08:00] 2022, the Concor at Pasadera is celebrating.

The designers and the coach builders of Ferrari, we’re not talking about just Ferrari vehicles, we’re talking about designers who had an influence on the coach designs of Ferrari or the coach builders themselves. Of course, many people didn’t realize or don’t realize the fact that Ferrari for many years reached out into various coach builders, uh, GIA Zagato.

PanIN Farina. Of course, everyone would recognize that, but there were so many coach builders that contributed to the design and the style of Ferrari. It was just not PanIN Farina, which of course I think in most cases is the most notable. There were so many different designers, dozens of them that had contributions into the look and feel of Ferrari designers.

Coach builders, and so this year for 2022, the Concor at Pasadera [00:09:00] celebrates those designers and coach builders of Ferrari, and so we will see cars dating back into the fifties all the way up to 2022. The most recent Ferraris that are just coming off the line, our guests will be able to see the evolutionary styles of both the inspiration of the car itself.

The brand, the Ferrari, A dream that few people will ever realize, as well as the stylistic changes of, as an example of Bertoni, which is very angular would almost say focused in its design as compared to a PanIN Farina that was much more the or emotional, I would say, from a wavy standpoint. And so the guests are going to see in center court this year, 40 different cars.

Will range in style from something as simple perhaps as a a 73 Volvo 1800 Es, [00:10:00] which of course you wouldn’t expect that to have a Ferrari lineage, but it does. The designer of the Volvo 1800 Es, the inspiration of that car came from a very influential designer that had. His roots in working at the Ferrari company and so we will see cars of that style all the way up to GTO Ferraris that are worth in the millions of dollars.

In fact, there are gonna be two cars on exhibit, each one of them, historic Ferrari that will be worth over $50 million each. Anything from something as simple, if you want to call it that, is a Volvo Sport wagon all the way up to. A $50 million Ferrari, any of the influences and style designs that could have had an impact on Ferrari or its designers over a number of decades, those are the cars that the people will be able to enjoy and gain a little historic nature of.

However. That won’t be the only thing. [00:11:00] There is a section of the show that is called the Corvette Corral. 20 Corvettes will be chosen dating back to the C one era, 19 53, 54, all the way up to the current c eights that we’re seeing in the dealer showrooms. Each one of them unique. There’s a story behind each one of them, but they’ll be able to see 20 of those cars in the Corvette corral, the alumni collection, which will be 20 cars.

Chosen from past Concor events that the jury members have chosen as significant contributors to the overall inspiration of this year’s concor event. 20 cars that have been exhibited at past events that will now come back and resurface to show design styles or storyboards of cars that were significant.

Carry over into some influence of this year’s concor event. And then we even have a section called Fairway One, which is sort of an [00:12:00] inspirational area as people park their cars to come into the event. There’ll be 20 vehicles that are chosen that are all over the map, everything from maybe a Porsche GT three to a totally restored frame off.

72 Blazer, K five that has been lifted and very unique. They’ll see 20 cars that seemingly have no rhyme or influence, but technically they have an influence to the overall event. So never more than a hundred cars at the Concor Pasadera. But an exciting event for car enthusiasts of all types.

Crew Chief Eric: This year also marks the 75th birthday for Ferrari, so that’s quite the milestone there as well, to be celebrating that at Pasadera.

I like the fact that comparing this Concord to other ones, you know, maybe single mark, even something like Pebble or Amelia or things like that where they do follow the A A CA or. Or triple ca rules.

Rick Barnett: Yeah.

Crew Chief Eric: That say the car must only be of this, kind of this [00:13:00] bespoke ness of these years and things like that.

You’ve opened it up and that allows you to bring in people with modern classics or modern collector cars and mix it in with the vintage or more rare vehicles that are out there. So I I, I really do appreciate that.

Rick Barnett: I think it’s important that we recognize, and I wanna be clear on this, I think if we understand the future of the appreciation of the automobile.

We have to take a regard, if you will. We have to accept what’s happening at the Peterson. The Peterson has decided that as a museum, they were going to connect with Art Center, and so the Peterson and Art Center down in Southern California are. Interconnected. And what the Peterson has decided along with the art center, is that the future of the appreciation of automobiles and the art influences of automobiles need to be attractive to a younger crowd, not just the 60, 65-year-old [00:14:00] who, uh, is now decided that as a hobby, they’re going to start collecting cars or they’ll turn the hands of time back and now.

Jump in their nine 14 and remember the days when they wished they had one and they came out, what were they, $3,500 I think, or the two 40 Z In 1970, which I think was 36 95, people were jumping out of the showroom floor and running ’em up to Elkhart Lake winning races in the two 40 z. I think it’s important that we recognized the fact the people of the Peterson and Art Center have decided that the future of the appreciation of automobiles needs to have a focus.

For the young as well as for the more mature collector. It’s very important for us at the Concord Pasadera to be able to design our events each year to attract all ages. So you’ll see boys and girls that will be between the ages of 8, 10, 12 years old that are at the event. Enjoying it. In fact, last year we [00:15:00] had the first ever Hot Wheels concord during Car Week, Monterey, and we had everything from full size Hot Wheels cars that drove in to $175,000.

Hot Wheels die cast miniature. That Bruce Pascal brought in from Washington DC and everything in between. The newest 94 cent Hot Wheels car from Walmart all the way up to $175,000 Beach Bomber car from Bruce Pascal and everything be in between. Hot Wheels Cars were featured last year. We had a lot of kids that were enjoying.

That part of the show. So it’s important for us, I think, in the car collector community to recognize that in order for us to be responsible for the future of that culture, that we need to attract all ages, all styles. All types of vehicles.

Crew Chief Eric: So since you guys have relaxed the types of cars that can enter the concor, [00:16:00] has the judging also changed over the years?

Have you taken some things that you’ve learned participating in other ones and modernized them for your event?

Rick Barnett: I don’t want to contradict. I don’t know that that we’ve relaxed as far as the intent of the event. The event has a definite intent. Each year, however, as far as, you know, using the word relaxed, yes.

I, I mean, the judging is not such that the judges stick a mirror shelf underneath the car to take a look at the exhaust design and so forth to make sure that it fits within the originality of the car, et cetera, et cetera. That’s not what we’re looking for. We’re looking for interior that has been either restored, either to original or modified, and we can identify it as such.

The exterior that has been either original paint with original patina, or if it’s been modified to some degree. In some cases, there are some cars that will be shown that actually [00:17:00] don’t have the original. Color of that particular car. We’ll have a concept car as an example. This year we may have a very unique one-off Ferrari concept car that you really couldn’t judge against because there is no portfolio.

To review on this particular concept car, it’s a one-off from the standpoint that we have relaxed the judging. I think the judges are interested in the mechanical bay, they’re interested in the interior, they’re interested in the exterior. And if in fact, the car runs suitably and those are the things that they’re after, they’re not going to check whether or not the turn signals go left or right.

They’re not going to get into that detail, what they’re looking for. Is the overall assurance of the intent of the car, and that really is very much the judge’s profile for the event once again this year.

Crew Chief Eric: So that would also imply if you’re in a competition, it’s not just one [00:18:00] class. Everybody’s competing in, there’s multiple classes that these cars fall under.

How does that break out in a con, a Concord like yours?

Rick Barnett: Last year, the classes that existed that the awards winners participated in were domestic, beginning with 1940 and all the way up to contemporary times, dating up to 1989. So I think it was 1942 to 1989. So in domestic and international. Vintage pre-war, so 1941.

Earlier that was a particular class competition. Cars, obviously cars that had been used in races and what the providence was of those races. We wanted to know how they were raced, where they were raced. Commercial we had vans probably would come as no surprise to car collectors. The A 1961 panel van. Won last year’s commercial, but this panel van was valued at over $250,000.

So definitely a pristine 1961 Volkswagen panel [00:19:00] van. Of course, I still remember the days when those could have been bought off of a car lot for $1,200. Modern, classic. Those were cars from 1990 all the way through to current times. We even had motorcycles last year, which was interesting. We had 10 motorcycles that began in 1939, all the way up to current times, and then we had Hot Wheels.

So those were the different classes that existed for 2021. Now, today we see that things are different. And what I mean by that is to, in the 2022 event, because we’ve identified this group of cars that have had a design influence, either by a coach builder or a designer that had an influence in Ferrari, we’ve decided to identify the group of cars by decade, the fifties, the sixties, the seventies, the eighties, the nineties 2000, and then from 2010 to current.

So these are now the groups of cars that the judges will sift through the grouping of [00:20:00] cars in the fifties, the grouping of cars in the sixties, and they’ll pick a car that they feel best represents the design, the feel, the emotion of the sixties of the seventies, and that will be the car that wins that particular.

Class ultimately moving on to being into consideration for the best of show and the Pasadera Cup, and that’s how that will be rated this year. Pasadera Cup is a beautiful cup that was designed by Tiffany, absolutely gorgeous, and each year that cup is awarded to the best of show car.

Crew Chief Eric: Is there a multi-year champion yet?

Rick Barnett: Well, once a car has won the Pasadera cup, it cannot be reentered. It’s a one-off.

Crew Chief Eric: Do you yourself compete in the concor?

Rick Barnett: Well, I always have a car in there. I mean, I’d feel like it’d be, uh, sacrilege to be the chairman of the event and not have a car in, but my cars are not up for the kinds of competition that some of these cars that come in legitimately are just abso well, [00:21:00] as an example.

Just to give you a perspective, one of the cars that we’ll have coming in this year will be flown over from Paris into the United States and will be exhibited here at the Shoal. These are car collectors that are very serious about getting their cars in this year’s event. I’ve got cars in my collection that quite frankly.

As a young person, I always looked at, uh, even up to my current age, uh, now in my sixties, and they have always aspired to, I’ve got a 9 14 2 liter, I’ve got a Bentley Arage, I’ve got a variety of cars, M-G-B-G-T, those were all cars that were important to me as I was 16 years old and thinking someday I’m gonna end up with a cool car.

From that point forward, I started collecting the cars that I really like to drive. So, uh, those are the cars that I have in my collection.

Crew Chief Eric: So that’s good that you have your own cars in the show. So let me ask you this. From a concourse perspective, we ask this question a lot on the show, you know, what’s the sexiest car of all time you having been going to shows [00:22:00] like Pebble Beach since you know, the early days?

What is one of the most gorgeous cars in your opinion?

Rick Barnett: There are a lot of beautiful contemporary cars. If somebody was listening and they have a car that of a particular style or design, and they’re gonna hear me say what I’m gonna say, they go, oh, that guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. But I think we really have to go back.

To the thirties and the forties, and look at the D haze as an example, or the heno, those cars, which were a style of their own. Uh, first of all, imagine who the builder was and imagine the shops that they had, and remember that all the bodies were. Individually hammered out, you know, they didn’t come out of a machine or a press, they were individually hammered out.

And then you, you met with the client, and the client would talk about perhaps the style of the fender that they wanted in the back and. Maybe the type of light that they wanted, whether the, some of the metal inside was gold plated or chrome, some of the thirties and forties era de [00:23:00] haze, and then some of the fifties, uh, and, and early sixties, one-off Ferraris and Maseratis, those groupings of cars.

Boy, you know, it’d be tough to pick one car, but certainly those two eras for me at least, they were amazing. They’re absolutely amazing. The whole car experience for the buyer was absolutely significant. Just rolling works of art. Of course, we see that today. In fact, earlier today I was talking with, uh, someone from Ohio.

I had a personal experience with this person. Uh, a few years ago we were in San Diego at an event. He said, gosh, I really wanna buy a Corvette. Never had a Corvette before. I really wanna buy a Corvette, and I want you to tell me what I should buy. And I said, well, here’s what’s gonna happen. I said, the zoa, which I, you know, we didn’t know what the name was gonna be at the time.

2017, I believe it was 17 or 18, said the Zuora’s gonna come out and most likely by design. It will not [00:24:00] have a manual transmission. And so my recommendation is that you get a very cool C seven with a seven speed, and if I were going to pick one, I would pick a collector’s edition C seven. Here’s the color and here’s the style that I would pick, which was a gun metal metallic that was just absolutely cool on that particular car.

And it had a two-tone, blue and black. Leather interior, just magnificent and a seven speed. So I said that if I were gonna design. A Corvette to keep. That would be the car that I would get. The Zuora’s gonna come out, it’s not gonna have a manual transmission, I don’t believe, based on the design. And so I would grab that.

Well, lo and behold, he said, well, let’s go buy one. I said, well, you’re not gonna buy one. You know you’re not. Where are we gonna get, go to Chicago? You know, we’re in San Diego. It was a Saturday afternoon. I said, well, you know, I’ll call around and talk to a Chevy dealer and find out if they can locate one.

Lo and behold, I called my hometown. They [00:25:00] said, you won’t believe it. Your car is in Carlsbad, California. Well, we were in San Diego, Carlsbad’s like, what is it? 30 minute Drive? I don’t know. So we jumped in an Uber and drove up to Carlsbad. We walk into the showroom and that car is sitting in there. Bottom line is the car was bought and shipped to Ohio, and here we are.

I, I was talking to him earlier today. He’s got this seven speed collector’s edition C seven. I don’t think there’ll ever be another manual transmission Corvette. And he’s got one that is truly unique. There again, you know, you say to yourself, well, it’s a C seven. What’s so special about it? Well, you know what?

I know I’m getting off on a tangent here, but I gotta tell you, the wonderful thing about car collecting is that a person can have a 66 Barracuda and another person can have a Willy’s, and another person can have a 3 0 8 GTS Ferrari, and another person can have a 76 El Dorado convertible, and you bring all those people together.

At a car show and you start [00:26:00] them talking about cars, and they’re all on the same level playing field. They love cars, they love the stories behind them. It doesn’t matter that one car’s worth 80,000 and another car’s worth 20,000. They’re all on a level playing field and they’re part of a collector community.

It is just special.

Crew Chief Eric: You bring up a very good point, and I wanted to ask you, what are some of the more notable moments at Pasadera? What are some of the cars that really stuck out that you were like, wow, this showed up? I mean, obviously you’re behind the scenes, you know they’re coming just like you were talking about the car coming in from Paris.

Yeah. But what are some of those? Awe inspiring moments like this car has been at our event.

Rick Barnett: I’ll give you one story that I think everybody will marvel at. I won’t give you the the individual’s name, but let’s we’ll call him Jim. And Jim. A number of years ago was at a Ferrari dealership and he walks into the Ferrari dealership.

On the floor is a early sixties, [00:27:00] GTO and a luso, they’re both on the floor and the GTO was priced at $8,000 more than the Luso. And he decided, gosh, I just can’t justify that additional $8,000. So he bought the luso instead of the GTO. And of course, you know, we know today the GTO is worth of fortune and the luso is worth a fair amount of money, but.

We’re talking about a car that’s in the three to $5 million range if it’s perfect, versus a car that’s in the 50 to $80 million range. At the time, there was only an $8,000 difference. Now let’s move on. Jim drives the car every day, loves the car. It’s a daily driver for him, and absolutely loves the car.

And one day he’s driving down the freeway. There’s a truck on the left side, and I think all of us have seen at one time or another, trucks that have lug nuts that stick way out. We’ve seen these chrome wheels on these beautiful semis that, I [00:28:00] mean, you can tell the big driver is a car collector himself on his semi.

You know, they’re beautiful colors and beautiful chrome wheels and lug nuts that are sticking out almost like a gladiator. Boer spikes. Exactly. Yeah. So these lug nuts are sticking out. He’s passing the truck on the right side. In this luso, the truck veers over and the lug nuts grab a hold of the luso from the rear of the car, absolutely trash the car from the rear of the car all the way to the front fender, like a gladiator kind of a thing where it just rips the car apart.

Now the car flips ends up. In a ditch, flattens the roof. The guy’s in the car breaks a clavicle, breaks his ribs. I think his hip as well. The car is totally trashed. It’s in the ditch. I mean, a total, you know, the ambulance comes and they bring him to the hospital and the car gets hauled away and uh, you know, is it a junker or whatever?

He won’t see that it gets [00:29:00] thrown away and whatever parted out. He gets out of the hospital. I mean, this is now a couple of years later where he is still in rehab and the car is now sitting in its destroyed condition, but the man cannot give up his car. He can’t give it up. And so ultimately, as he survives and he becomes financially able, he brings the car into a restoration shop.

And over nearly a decade, the car goes through a total. Frame up, ground up restoration from its very core and every part and every nut and bolt is restored on this car, and this was last year. Ultimately, the car ends up in Monterey for some final work by a craftsman, and that’s the only way I can call ’em months into the project.

The car is working its way through, hoping that it will be ready in time for. To be able to be [00:30:00] displayed somewhere during car week, understand how long it’s taken the car to bring it to this point, so I get in contact with a project manager of the car. The project manager tells me that maybe, maybe, maybe the car could be shown at our event, and millions of dollars have been spent to restore this car to its original condition.

Friday morning, one 30 at night, the project manager completes the car and goes through road testing and everything at about one o’clock in the afternoon on Friday, that day of our event. At one o’clock, the car arrives at our event. For exhibit and no one has seen this car, not even the owner who is in Southern California and has not physically been able to come up to the show.

Not even the owner has seen the car through its restoration process and now in its final form. But the project manager brings the car in with his [00:31:00] son and the car arrives at Center Court. At one o’clock in the afternoon in time for the show to open at two and for the guest to be able to see this car that has essentially been mothballed for almost a decade and gone through restoration.

And I’m on the phone with the owner, and the owner is choking up in emotion as I described to him what the car looks like and where the car is and how many people are looking at the car, and how enjoyable it is to have the car at the event. Now that is quite a story.

Crew Chief Eric: What a special car, what a special journey that went through.

Yeah. I mean the tragedy and rebirth. Yeah. So that also begs the question, do you guys have special guests or special judges that have shown up at Pasadera?

Rick Barnett: Sure. Yeah. If you go onto pasadera.com, you’ll see two of the judges. There’s one who’s asked to be anonymous. But if you go on to pasadera.com. You’ll see the listing of judges and also the jury members [00:32:00] that will be part of the overall vetting of the cars, and ultimately in the judges column, those judges that will be responsible for the overall awards.

Crew Chief Eric: So is this the year Jay Leno shows up unannounced?

Rick Barnett: You know, we’d love to have Jay here. I met him at an event, told him that I’d love to have him arrived. Obviously his schedule’s busy and so we’d love to have him show up, but he’s not on the. Special unannounced guest list. So that’s Seinfeld.

Crew Chief Eric: Seinfeld does that right now.

Rick Barnett: We’ll just have to hope.

Crew Chief Eric: So there’s something else very special about the Pasadera event, and that’s the event posters themselves. I hear that there’s a ton of work that goes into that. Who’s the artist? How is the art laid out? I mean, I’ve the one over your shoulder. For the listeners that aren’t seeing this in the behind the scenes, it exemplifies the Ford versus Ferrari 66 67 era of Lamont’s.

Tell us where the poster came from and the significance of it for the events.

Rick Barnett: Well, the poster inspiration came from my appearing [00:33:00] with my now wife in 1979, and I have a copy of the 1979 Concor poster over my desk. I’m looking at it right now. When we decided that I would be involved with a concor here at Pasadera as a Christmas gift, she got me a copy of the poster, which I did not get.

You know, I remember. At Pebble, when Lori and I arrived there for our first date, I parked about three blocks from the entrance to the lodge, and I think our entry fee was $35, and I think the poster was either 25 or $35 for the poster. Obviously, times have changed. It’s difficult to park your car, park your car miles away, and then bus into the Concord these days.

The poster back then, I didn’t buy. My wife decided a few years ago as a Christmas gift, she would get me the 1979 poster, which at the time was either 25 or $35. I think she paid $375 for the poster. It’s

Crew Chief Eric: inflation. That’s what all it’s, yeah. Which

Rick Barnett: I was thrilled to get. [00:34:00] So, you know, we decided that the poster would be an important part of the event.

Ken Ebert, who’s a friend of mine that has done many posters for the Concord. Has really been an inspiration to me artistically throughout the years. Me coming from now the Art exhibition community, which was my vocation in 2019. The first poster was created by, uh, Michael Henderson, and it was really the entree to what would become a very important part of the show.

2020 Simon Bull, the celebrated English artist, did the first poster for the Concor at Pasadera, and it was Ford versus Ferrari. That was the first poster and it became an instant collectible piece. There are still a few that are available, but they got gobbled up quick limited edition, both in the artist proof edition where the artist signed the pieces, as well as in the open edition, there were only 500 that were created in an open edition, 100 artist proofs.

So the Ford versus Ferrari. You can see the, the battle that’s [00:35:00] going on between the two cars, the Gulf, and then uh, five 12 in the background in each. Situation. The poster shows the center Court of Pasadera. As if it was a racetrack, and so it obviously been very well received. Then if we go to 2021, it became interesting in that we wanted to celebrate the back-to-back victory of Porsche at Lamont in 70 71, once again by Simon Bowl, who was chosen to be the artist that year.

Was entitled Decade of Champions. And if you see that poster, and again, it’s on pasadera.com, you see the, the Dunlop Tire in the backdrop with the Pasadera Tower underneath the Dunlop Tire. And then of course, the Lamont track, where we see the nine seventeens, the five 12 of four gt. And then in the background, the fifth car, we see the number.

49, 14 6. That is battling the other four credible [00:36:00] behemoths in the front. This poster, which has had a tremendous amount of collectability by the art collectors, uh, was just a super poster that was last year’s poster. Now, this year we called on James Caldwell, the son of Celebrated architect, James Caldwell.

This is James Caldwell ii. James has been the artist of the Concorso Italiano each year for a number of years. We asked James to commemorate the 65th anniversary of Laguna Seka, moving from the forest race out of Pebble Beach over to its first race at Laguna Seka. In 1957, and of course the Ferrari winning, the race being battled by the 300 SL in the background.

So if you look at that particular poster, once again, you see the courtyard of Pasadera and you see the two Ferraris that are in the center courtyard and in the backdrop. We see the corkscrew of, uh, the track and the battle that’s going on back in 1957. [00:37:00] So this is a great poster. The originals have been pre-sold.

They’re very expensive, and the collectors that have bought these originals have something that has become very significant in the tens of thousands of dollars, say exactly how much, but a lot of money that the originals have sold for. So we intend to continue that tradition each year, next year with the 70th anniversary of Corvette.

Crew Chief Eric: So what I appreciate about these, you don’t see it often though, especially with being associated with a concord. Normally you’ll see, like you said, pictures of a DHE or a Packard, or a Albo or something. Just very extravagant, very elegant. So far, all of your posters are grounded in motor sports, classic motor sports, iconic moments in time.

That really speaks to me as a motor sports enthusiast, and obviously as a vehicle enthusiast as well. So I wonder, is that going to continue? Is that going to be. The tradition, or is it always gonna be those moments in racing history, or will it maybe eventually migrate into something else?

Rick Barnett: Well, you know, who knows?

I [00:38:00] can only say, well, I mean, honestly, I don’t know. This will be my last year as the point person for the event. Next year there’ll be a new guard that will take on the overall operation of the event as it continues to grow and flourish. I can only say that there has been. A tremendous amount of appeal of capturing a moment in time, giving significance to it as the challenge of racing excellence.

That’s what Pasadera has really been about. You’re right. I think that when we look at Pebble and we are going to see, uh, in most cases a stationary car that is not focused on a, a moment in time of racing competition, but in each of the Pasero posters, we’re seeing a war. That’s really what it is. We’re seeing a war going on between automobiles, drivers and manufacturers, and we’ve captured that in each of the three posters that have had a lot of significance.

Will we see that in the future? Probably. But I don’t wanna [00:39:00] put a a, a definite on that.

Crew Chief Eric: So there’s one more important factor about the concor, which is the beneficiaries of the concor. We highlighted a few of those at the beginning in the intro, but would you like to expand upon that and tell us what they are, why they’re important, how things are distributed?

Rick Barnett: If we take a look at who the beneficiaries are, they’ve been chosen each year by someone or something that we have believed. Have been significant to the contribution and culture of the Peninsula. You know, if we look at both our sponsors, who the sponsors are, and who the beneficiaries are of the event this year, once again, we’ve chosen the Bridge Restoration Ministry, which is an addiction recovery program for men and women.

Celebrating its 15th year. Very successful program here on the Central Coast that actually has reached out to over 15 states across the United States. Hundreds of graduates that have come through the program and have had their lives changed [00:40:00] free of addiction, have drugs and alcohol. So a great program.

Casa. Which is uh, the Court appointed special advocate program that works very closely with children in need. CASA is just a wonderful program. And then finally, the Laguna SE Raceway Foundation, which is really designed to find ways of improving not only the style and design of the race course and its original intention, but also the safety of the course for its participants and its guests.

And then of course, we look at the sponsors. We have local sponsors, attorneys, JRG. Monterey Touring vehicles and Adobe Winery and Veloce Valuations. Porsche Group that is active with us every single year, there are under premier sponsors. These are the people that contribute to the event. People like RPM as an example that put money into the event.

So the event can happen without them, the event would not exist. It is the confluence of intent from the sponsors [00:41:00] as well as the beneficiaries that create such a cultural impact on the peninsula, and people from all over the world are now attending the Concor PA era. And seeing what a difference a little car show can make to many people throughout the world.

Crew Chief Eric: I think a lot of us are getting excited about this little car show you keep talking about. Yeah. For people that are interested in coming to Pasadera as a visitor for the first time. Yeah. What are some of the expectations? Food, music vendors. Can anyone attend? How do they buy a ticket? Obviously, you’ve already pre-registered for people that wanna enter their cars.

Yeah. But what about if there’s somebody that wants to enter a car for next season?

Rick Barnett: Well, next season’s registration time will be announced after this year’s event. I would just say go to pasadera concord.com and you’ll be able to see continuing updates on that. As far as what to expect at the event, the entry fee is very reasonable.

$195. What a person gets to experience is. Absolute amazing wines by [00:42:00] Adobe that they will get to experience a welcome glass of champagne when they walk through the front gate. And then of course, food that is absolutely second to none. Created by award-winning chefs that will not disappoint anyone who attends the event.

The food is excellent. The comradery is exceptional. Automobiles of many makes and models and styles can be enjoyed by every level of collector, and even if you’re not a car enthusiast, you can come to an event like this and appreciate just the overall experience of the kickoff of Car Week on the Monterey Peninsula, which has been going on since 1950.

I would say that young and old are going to attend this event. And walk away with a memorable experience.

Crew Chief Eric: How does someone get into concourses for the first time? How does somebody get into Pasadera? How do they become a concourses enthusiast like you did so many years ago, and then compete with their cars and things like that?

Would you care to give some [00:43:00] advice to somebody that’s listening to this going, you know, I’m really tired of going to cars and coffee, or, I’m tired of going to my local events. I wanna step it up. I wanna take home a nice award from Tiffany. How do they cross that threshold?

Rick Barnett: Well, if they’re an exhibitor. I would tell ’em not to be bashful.

If they are someone who enjoys automobiles and they have something special, I would encourage them not to be bashful. Get on passera concord.com. Take a look at the different opportunities to register and get your car on there. What’s the worst that can happen? The worst that can happen is that the jury says no, but you’ve had an opportunity to actually submit a registration.

To the event and be considered. So I would encourage everyone who’s uh, listening to this podcast, don’t be bashful, get online, go to pass eric.com, go to tickets and registration and register your car. Let’s see what the jury thinks. Who would’ve thought that the jury would have picked a Volvo 1800 Es to be in center court this year?

And yet, when you take a look at. The [00:44:00] design history of that car and who the designer was and the influence that they had in conjunction with their time at Ferrari. It became an obvious pick. There’s an example of, you know, a wolf in sheep’s clothing from a standpoint of an exhibitor this year. As far as a guest and attending, you know, there’s only so many tickets that are accepted into the show.

I would encourage you as a guest to go to passera concord.com, get on ticket and register. If you’re accepted, then you get to attend an event that many people, and I don’t want to sound egotistical on this, but many people have said that have attended the pass at Eric Concord. It will be. The event that they enjoy most during Car Week because there is a casual elegance about the event because it happens as a launch to Car week.

The busyness and the frenzy of car week doesn’t exist on that Friday. When you attend the Pasadera Concor, it is a relaxed, [00:45:00] enjoyable experience, not rushed. You get to see the purpose, the reason for the event. With the cultural influence, the contributions to the community, the appreciation of the different styles and car, uh, models of cars, there is a relaxed, enjoyable atmosphere of the event.

And again, people walk away from the concor at Pasadera can go online and look at the comments that come from the people they look forward to next year. And so the tickets are selling very briskly. And I would say that if you can get a ticket and be part of the event, either as a guest or an exhibitor.

Don’t be bashful. Get online and register.

Crew Chief Eric: Car care goes hand in hand with concourses and car shows. What’s in your bucket when you go to take care of your vehicles or prep them? Maybe some advice, some tips and tricks you’ve learned over the years for getting your car concor ready.

Rick Barnett: Last year, Don from Garage Style Magazine introduced zeal to the event.

It was interesting because there was. [00:46:00] Some leftover and I ended up using it on my own cars. And I’ve gotta say that the other products that I’ve had in my bucket have stayed in my bucket and I’ve used up the product that Don provided us and I’ve bought more of it. That really has become my staple in my garage.

I mean, I have eight cars and I can tell you that every one of them has had that product on their paint job or on their Chrome, or on their interior Xmal product has really been excellent.

Crew Chief Eric: I appreciate you bringing that up because we actually had the founder of Zy Imal on our show, Chuck Bennett a while back, and he explained the history of the product, its evolution, where it’s going in the future.

So if you missed that episode and you’re hearing about Zy Imal now for the first time, or you’re reading about it on Garage Tile Magazine, be sure to hop over. To our previous episode, you can learn all about Zy Imal that way. Let’s talk about the future just a little bit. You mentioned earlier that you’re on your way out as the president of the Pasadera concourses, but knowing what you know outside of [00:47:00] Corvette, what does the next couple of years look like for the Concor?

Anything on the horizon that we should be aware of?

Rick Barnett: I can tell you that the event has continued to grow, and I say grow, I mean in a very responsible manner. Tiffany continues to be involved. The quality of wines, beverages, food continues to grow in quality and experience. I will tell you there is one thing that will change next year, and it’s a spinoff from this year to kick off Car season.

Monterey Motor Sports authored the first tour, the Costa Copper Blossom Trail tour that took off from the lodge at Pebble Beach and worked its way around the old race course at Pebble around Laguna Seka on up the Central Valley through the Almond Blossom Groves. To the little town of Hilmar where we had lunch and then moved on to the town of Copper Olis, about an hour outside of Yosemite where the group gathered in preparation for a concor for this year at 2022.

It was an [00:48:00] exceptional event. Exceptional event. And so next year, while I won’t be chairing the Concor at Pasadera, next year, we will be hosting the second annual coast to Copper Blossom Trail tour in March. It’s limited to 60 cars and we had a focus on Ferrari. This year, next year, the focus will be on Corvette and it will coincide with the theme of the Concord PA era.

You can go on to monterey motorsports.com and find out what’s happening for. Next year’s tour event, and that will be something that will essentially usher in car season each year as a precursor to the Concord Pass era. You know, beyond that, I can only tell you that the enthusiasm for the event is at an all time high.

We’re excited about how Concord Pass era will continue to evolve and attract exhibitors and guests to its event.

Crew Chief Eric: That said, Rick, as we close out any shout outs, promotions, or anything else you’d like to share that we didn’t cover thus far?

Rick Barnett: [00:49:00] I will tell you this, that, you know, I mentioned the sponsors that have been a big part of this year’s event.

I’d like to provide special recognition to both the Pacific region and the Monterey Ferrari clubs that have been involved in this year’s event. They have had a broad reach. In reaching out to special cars that will be featured at this year’s event. Also veloce valuations and more imports that will be bringing to the event both PanIN Farina and Zagato cars that will be on exhibit and on display.

They are the purveyor. Some exceptional fine quality automobiles, and of course our Porsche dealer, who is the classic partner dealer for Porsche, has an influence to the car collector community that’s been very substantial. So we’re excited about all of our sponsors and what they bring to the event. The posters.

I would tell all of your listeners if they are still available [00:50:00] dating back to 2020, I would grab a hold of them because for just a few dollars you can collect. A piece of art that is absolutely significant in the car collector world.

Crew Chief Eric: The fourth annual concourses at Pasadera Honors Ferrari’s 75th anniversary and presents the coach builders of Ferrari like PanIN, Farina, GIA Bertone, SK Zagato, and others designers of Al Alpha, Romeo Lancia, and Aston Martin to name a few.

These masterpieces will be exhibited by decade starting from the 1950s, the August 11th press party honors Ferrari’s wins and class victories at LeMans since 1949 and its Formula One championships through 2022. To learn more about the concourses at Pasadera, be sure to visit www.pasaderaconcourses.com and you can follow them on social at concourses pasadera on Facebook, and at pasadera concourses on Instagram.

So Rick, I can’t thank you enough for coming on the show and [00:51:00] sharing your part of the vehicle enthusiast world with our audience teaching us about the world of concourses and the newest, hottest concourses on the block, the concourses at Pasadera. So thank you for everything you’ve done, and we look forward to the coming seasons and continuation of this great event.

Rick Barnett: It’s been a real joy to be on this program with you, and I really appreciate the time we’ve spent.

Crew Chief Eric: The following episode is brought to us in part by Garage Style Magazine. Since 2007, garage Style Magazine has been the definitive source for car collectors continually delivering information about Automobilia PETA events and more. To learn more about the annual publication and its new website, be sure to follow them on social media at Garage Style Magazine or log onto www.garagestylemagazine.com because after all, what doesn’t belong in your garage.

Crew Chief Brad: If you like what you’ve heard and want to learn more about GTM, be sure to check us [00:52:00] out on www.gt motorsports.org. You can also find us on Instagram at Grand Tour Motorsports. Also, if you want to get involved or have suggestions for future shows, you can call or text us at (202) 630-1770 or send us an email at Crew chief@gtmotorsports.org.

We’d love to hear from you.

Crew Chief Eric: Hey everybody, crew Chief Eric here. We really hope you enjoyed this episode of Break Fix, and we wanted to remind you that GTM remains a no annual fees organization, and our goal is to continue to bring you quality episodes like this one at no charge. As a loyal listener, please consider subscribing to our Patreon for bonus and behind the scenes content, extra goodies and GTM swag.

For as little as $2 and 50 cents a month, you can keep our developers, writers, editors, casters, and other volunteers fed on their strict diet of fig Newton’s, gummy bears, and monster. Consider signing up for Patreon today at [00:53:00] www.patreon.com/gt motorsports. And remember, without fans, supporters, and members like you, none of this would be possible.

Skip ahead if you must… Here’s the highlights from this episode you might be most interested in and their corresponding time stamps.

00:00 Concourses at Pasadera Overview
01:26 Interview with Rick Barnett; Rick’s First Car Show Experience
02:43 Founding of Concourses at Pasadera
04:12 Car Week in Monterey
05:38 Evolution of Concours d’Elegance
07:36 Themes and Highlights of Concours at Pasadera
15:54 Judging Criteria and Classes
20:46 Rick’s Personal Car Collection
26:20 Notable Moments at Pasadera
31:38 Special Guests and Judges at Pasadera
32:32 The Significance of Event Posters
39:01 Beneficiaries and Sponsors of the Event
41:15 Attending and Participating in Pasadera
45:36 Car Care Tips for Enthusiasts
46:50 Future of the Pasadera Concours
48:53 Final Thoughts and Acknowledgements

There’s more to this story…

We geek out with Rick Barnett from the Concours at Pasadera about the how the Porsche 914-6 GT took on the infamous Porsche 917 during the 1970 LeMans 24 hours.

Some stories are just too good for the main episode… Check out this Behind the Scenes Pit Stop Minisode! Available exclusively on our Patreon.

Bonus content available as a #PITSTOP mini-sode.

Consider becoming a GTM Patreon Supporter and get behind the scenes content and schwag! 

Details on the 4th Annual Pasadera Concours

If you’re planning on attending the festivities at Monterey this year leading up to Pebble
Beach Sunday, we hope you’ll partake in the exquisitely intimate Pasadera Concours
d’Elegance. Held in the courtyard of the Pasadera golf course community in Monterey,
the Concours benefits a number of charities while celebrating a lovely grouping of cars
ranging from exotics to classics to modern and more. Learn more here The Concours at
Pasadera – The Concours at Pasadera (pasaderaconcours.com) about the first event of Monterey Car Week.

On Friday, August 12^th in Monterey, California, the Pasadera Concours will commence honoring Ferrari’s 75^th Anniversary, the 65^th Anniversary of Laguna Seca, and the Coachbuilders of Ferrari. With awards designed by Tiffany and Co., the event will be awash with vehicles designed by Pininfarina, Zagato, Ghia, Bertone, and so on as well as the Corvette Corral. Exceptional food, music, and intimate surroundings make the Pasadera Concours a truly spectacular event, well worth attending. Learn more here.

To learn more about the Concours at Pasadera be sure to visit www.pasaderaconcours.com and you can follow them on @concourspasadera on Facebook and @pasaderaconcours on Instagram.