2009 Kirkland Concours D'Elegance

It's that time of year again. Every September for the last few years I've been attending the Kirkland Concours with my father in law.

I love going to this event every year. This is the one show that I find I can't wait to see who will have what car there this year. The 2008 winner was John Shirley, who also won the Pebble Beach Concours.

The honourary host/MC of the Kirkland Concours every year is actor Edward Herman. Seems one of his hobbies is restoration of vintage cars. I can't be sure but I'm sure that the last car he was working on is a 1930's era Rolls Royce.

When the FIL and I started going there was a new catagory for vintage wooden hull boats such as Chris Craft and the likes. It was cool to see these boats, but it was getting a bit repetative. Well this year I was glad to see that the sponsors and promotors changed things up a bit. There were no wooden boat entries this year, but instead there were the vintage hydro boats. The big boys of thunder, the piston boats. Every hour two piston boats were started and run. That was a nice little treat. Those boats were just bloody loud. From 50 yards those boats create such noise that you can't hear anyone around you.
For the 2nd year in a row the local chapter of the PCA (Porsche Club of America) has had their own corral with member cars on display. I like to see the different member cars. Most are 911's as expected. A large portion are from the 1970's and 1980's. The newer Porsches on display are the Boxster and the Cayman. There are a growing number of 914's there. Last year saw one and this year brought three.

Last year there were no 944's and this year had one. I'm hoping that next year I will have my 944 in the PCA chapter corral. I'd like to see more 944's there and I would like to say that I've had a car at the Kirkland Concours show. That would be one hell of a story later on since I've only had two cars in local shows previously..........and gotten a trophy for each one. Not bad for a novice that doesnt do this on a regular basis. Those were easy catches anyhow.

This year the weather was great and there was also a new category. I cant recall the precise name but the premise is vintage cars that are original and un-restored. The conditions are it must run/drive and be street legal to do so.
This year also saw another new class: the mini cars. There were of course the Cooper/Austin mini's and there were Messerschmidts and there were two BMW Isetta's on display and a few of the small Fiat country wagons.



There were steam powered carriages on display and with those came owners dressed in period clothing. Also in attendance (although I didn't find them as I'm fairly new to their group) were members of the Seattle Steamrats, our local steampunk group. They were there to cheer on the steam cars on display.
One of the biggest sponsors of this show is Phil Smart Mercedes. This is the larges local Mercedes dealerships in western Washington. There was a whole row of Mercedes 300 SL Gullwings on display.

There were the usual displays as well: Woodie Row and the Museum pieces brought by the LeMay Museum. The Tucker Torpedo was the hit from them on this day.
I did see a few repeats from previous shows. They are still great to look at though.

The end of the road for the Bronze Bitch

Well as those of you know I had contemplated selling my beloved BMW 325is for sometime and moving into a Porsche.

After much debate in my mind to justify such a move the decision was made to go ahead and do it.

The big selling points were the mileage of the two cars: the BMW had almost 250k on the clock and the Porsche has only 180k despite being an older car. Reliability was a major factor as well.

While I have taken many "Sunday" drives in the BMW, I haven't taken it on any trips since it seems that I was always getting the car into order to make it more reliable. The Porsche on the other hand was driven across the state, into Oregon and up into British Columbia by my father in law in the 4 years that he's owned it.

Seems I need something capable of such reliability in the next month. Seems that my wife's company will be moving up their move to a new location and we won't be able to carpool after November. Additionally I would like to be able road trip with the Porsche...........I'll be joining the PCA and want to participate in drives and other local events.

The interior of the Porsche is in better shape as well. Good carpeting, good condition of the leather on the seats, no cracks in the dash and all the little bits works. The E30 was in good shape except for a wear in the leather on the drivers seat and the shift boot being worn. There were some interior bits that needed replacing, but nothing major.

The body is another consideration as well. The Porsche has bad paint on one fender, but otherwise needs no bodywork. The E30 however did have some minor dings and and dimples in the body and one fender had a small dent that with the proper tools can be hammed out and massaged back into shape. Fortunately I have a friend that has been an automotive painter for 20 years and will paint for free if I supply the paint.

I love the E30, but I really wasn't all the sad to see it go. I was concerned that it would go to someone that wouldn't take care of it, and that was something I had control over. After all I didn't need to sell it someone that I thought would treat it badly. Fortunately it has gone to a good home. After all it is a car. An object. Something that like all other material possessions will come and go in our lives. Will it make a difference that I had it? Probably not. Did I have fun with it? You bet. Maybe not to the full extent that the car was designed, but I had fun with it.

I look at the Porsche from this perspective as well............I have always wanted one. Who hasn't really? Well I'm taking this as the sign that this is the time for me to own one. Sure it's not the one that I want, but it's a sign non the less. My ideal is a mid 1980's 911, but for now the 944 will be a good introductory. I've driven Porsches before with my time as a car dealership employee years ago, but ownership will be a new thing and I look forward to it.

The Bronze Bitch leaves for good
This is not the actual Porsche I've bought, but this is the colour and the same style wheels and black leather interior.

Vintage Races-Pacific Raceways

So back into the swing of writing. Far from professionally, but writing none the less.

One of my many car show adventures this year was the Vintage Races at Pacific Raceways (the old SIR for those of us old enough to remember it by such name) and this was really quite something to see as far as races go.

I went down there with my father in law and he wants to take the free parking so this means we walk a bit. It's summer and the weather is good so walking is good.

Next is the entry. WE walk down the road and right past the entrance and straight into pit row. There is no fee for us that day. Seems the year before he couldn't believe how much it costs to get in and his friend Bob Morton of his was racing and tells him "next year just walk into the pits like you belong" so that's exactly what we did.

My father in law is a big Ferrari fiend. Not sure why. Ok so they are fast and they have pretty impressive uber sports car line up. Really though, how many people do you know that own one? Really? I know absolutely zero and so does my father in law.

Back to the story. He's immediately drawn to a rather large tour style motourhome and full awning with a few cars under it and several people gathered around table. He's drawn to the 1957 Ferrari 250TR. I have to admit that is a nice car. I think I was born in the wrong decade. I'm not much for sports cars made past the 1960's. They just lost something in the 1970's and beyond.

Back to the story...........the 1957 Ferrari 250TR.........this one is owned by Jon A. Shirley . Jon Shirley took best of class and best of show at the 2008 Pebble Beach with his 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta. This same car also took best of show and a first in class at the Kirkaland Concourse in 2008 as well.

There were a lot of vintage cars of different classes and makes: Corvette, Mustang, Camaro, Ferrari, Jaguar, Lotus, Talbot Lago, Porsche, BMW, Lola, Elva, Triumph, Alfa, MG, Fiat, Austin Healey and the list just keeps going.

There were many car clubs in attendance that day as well. Among them were the BMWCCA, and the PCA.

Some of my shots from the day:

Porsche 356C BMW 2002

John Shirley's Ferrari

Rover TC A unique cooler fan set up in a Porsche SpyderThe "original" clubmanthe very rare Piper

My lack of writing lately and October

Well the end of the summer has finally come. I feel as if I haven't got anything to show for it. I did quite a bit, but have yet to post anything about my good weather adventures.

Flog me now and throw me in the brig.

So now that the weather is taking a turn for the worse here in the Pacific Northwest this should provide me with ample time to post about all the things I've seen and done over the past few month.

You've read briefly of the E30 Picnic. You've read of my tough choice to sell my prized little bronze kraut kruiser and head back to the roots of German automotive engineering and lust.

While I consider my next several post I also look toward the coming October. HALLOWEEN! Yes it is my Christmas. The one day that I truly get excited for.

It's not about the dressing up. I do like the idea of puting on a costume, but I don't like to actually do it. I have a few. So this year I'm going to dress up in something that I got last year and didn't get a chance to actually wear as a costume (although I did wear it on a regular basis IRL). I have my official Kevin Smith merchandise Mooby's Fun-Ployee shirt and name tag. This year I will be going out as Randall Graves from Clerks/Clerks II fame.

The thing that really excites me about Halloween is the decorating. I don't get trick or treaters at my home, but I do like to decorate. Apparantly I'm pretty good at it too. Last year a Jehovah's Witness knocked on my door to preach to me about the evils of Halloween and that I would go to hell for celebrating the devil's day. Whatever.

Poor little parishoner is so misguided about Halloween and it's origins. Either way I didn't have the time nor wanted to take the time to explain to him. I just decided that he should know that per the posted signs at each drive to my condo there was no soliciting allowed.

I'm hoping to top last year. Last year was pretty good though. I promise I will keep everyone posted about my Halloween decorating and get to posting my other stuff as well.

cheers all.