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Pebble Beach Concours Weekend: Cadillac and Saturn Hold it Down
If you are a certified car nut, and are into not just the hot
new whips, but also the handcrafted masterpieces that continue to
inspire future designs, then you know that the Pebble Beach Concours
D’Elegance is the world’s premier classic car show. The
weekend is set when you toss in a few hundred Ferraris and other fat
makes from Italy and the world in the form of the Concourso Italiano
car show, and a bit of history with the Laguna Seca Historic Races.
Automotive Rhythms was there to bring you a status report courtesy
of the good folks at General Motors, who are on their way to making
some automotive history of their own.
I arrived in luxurious Monterey California via the scenic Pacific
Coast Highway (Route 1). My intrepid co-pilot, my twelve year old
car nut daughter Eden, and I were already geeked as the procession
of Ferraris started when we where some two hours away from Monterey.
Every few seconds or so, we would enjoy another Ferrari sighting.
The Pacific Coast Highway was worth the trip alone. The beautiful
Pacific was just a few hundred feet away, washing mightily against
the majestic cliffs that line the Pacific Ocean. Mother Nature’s
best, along with the finest cars in the world, meant a good time was
guaranteed for all.
Our most gracious hosts Cadillac and Saturn were also in fine form.
No longer are they the IBM of the auto industry, building platforms
that are obsolete before they even hit the showrooms. No, GM is bringing
it. Cadillac is perhaps on the strongest roll of all of the GM brands,
under the watchful eye of super-exec Mark LaNeve. Mark helped orchestrate
the edgy, in your face styling that Escalade, SRX, CTS and XLR bring
to the table. Under his watch, Caddy sales are up 35% from about 172,000
units a year to more than 230,000. During a press preview for invited
media, Mark shared the news of his promotion within GM. He will now
be in charge of all brands, so watch out for even more exciting things
from GM. Jim Taylor replaces LaNeve, and promises to keep a match
lit under the Cadillac marquee.
Saturn has not had the same gold paved road as big brother Cadillac.
Sales are flat, thanks to unimaginative platforms such as the now
departed L-Series. I’ve never heard anyone gush over any Saturn
products in my years as an automotive writer. A recent poor showing
in a safety test by the plain Jane VUE SUV means even more bad press
for Saturn.
Have no fear. Brother Man is here! That “Brother Man”
is Ed Welburn, the African American head of design for GM. That’s
right, head of design. Numero Uno, The Man. Speaking with some of
his staff during the press preview, they all said that the shackles
are off at GM, and the design juices are flowing thanks to Ed. Positive
emotions and new ideas are now running high.
 
On successive nights, we were shown new products from Cadillac
and Saturn that rock. Most information about these products must be
held close to the vest until after the big auto shows early next year,
so stay tuned to Automotive Rhythms for more details. What we can
tell you is that a new replacement for DeVille is on the way. This
is not your Granny’s car anymore. Granny will still love it,
but so will the Hip-Hop community as well. Look for new 20s and 22s
on the DeVille replacement once customizers get their hands on it.
While I expected good things from Caddy, I was blown away by what
Saturn showed us. Look for a hot new Roadster, a sedan that will compete
well with the Europeans, and a new SUV that will finally bring Saturn’s
truck strategy into VUE, err, view. GM is flexing, and they are on
a roll.
So with good feeling about our hosts’ new products, it was
time to check out the shows. First up was the Concourso Italiano in
Monterey, where Ferraris flowed like Accords and Camrys. There were
probably 1,500 in town for the show. Ever heard of a Bizzarini? Of
course, Lamborghini would not be outdone by the Prancing Horse. The
Raging Bull was on, with Murcielagos and Gallardos everywhere. The
new whips were omnipresent, but the classics were most impressive.
Vintage Alfa Romeos, Fiats and other makes were present. There were
other non-Italian makes present as well. Viper, Rolls, BMW, Benz,
Corvette, and Porsche were all in the house. This was an awesome show.
Saturday was race day, and we motored over to the Laguna Seca Historic
Races. There, we saw cars from the early to late 1900s do their thing
on the track. We also were treated to seeing some Formula One Ferraris
racing. If you’ve never seen an F1 race, you are missing out.
Just think of rockets on a racetrack, and you get the picture. All
was good until one of the Ferraris crashed into a retaining wall.
Yes, vintage racing is competitive.
Sunday brought the mother of all shows, the 54th Concours D’Elegance
at Pebble Beach. From the original Rolls Royce Silver Ghost (now worth
$33 million), to rare marques from Europe and the States, it was all
there. No new models here, all vehicles judged were from the 1960s
and earlier. Ever heard of a Hispano-Suiza? It was on display. A Stutz
or Duesenberg? Ditto. These cars were simply incredible.
GM design guru Ed Welburn and fellow journalist Denise McCluggage
were among judges for this prestigious event. Out of several hundred
cars on display, I only saw one the made me wonder why they took time
out to enter the show. The rest were simply flawless. Check out the
hot new concepts that were shown but not judged at the event.
While walking around and admiring the beauty that is Pebble Beach,
I did an unofficial survey of what car wax folks used to keep that
incredible shine. Meguiar’s products came out number one by
a wide margin. I met Barry Meguiar while at the Concours – look
for some of his products to be featured on the site soon.
After a weekend of hot new cars from Caddy and Saturn, the car shows
and the historic races, Eden and I headed north to beautiful San Francisco.
There, we arranged a special tour of the city through a company called
“Go Car Rentals.” The premise behind “Go Car”
is simple yet extraordinarily complex – use the latest technology
to offer the best tour in San Francisco. Go Cars are bright yellow
three wheelers, utilizing a two-seat cab and GPS based technology
to offer an amazing audio tour of the city. You drive, and Go Car
does the rest. It tells you where to turn, and when to look out for
traffic. When you get to a point of interest (such as the Golden Gate
Bridge), it tells you all about it – history, current status,
etc. For example, when we passed through the Marina District, our
audio guide told us the history of how the District was built on reclaimed
land, and how that land failed during a major earthquake, causing
massive damage to the historic district. Three hours after beginning
our tour, we made a pass down famous “Lombard Street,”
a.k.a. “the world’s most crooked street.”
The advantage of Go Cars over the traditional tour bus is it gives
you and your passenger complete autonomy over where and what you want
to see, in what order you want to see it, and for how long. No more
“all aboard” from a tour bus driver! Big thanks to Nathan
Withrington and Alasdair Clements of Go Car for making such a remarkable
tour available to Automotive Rhythms. If you are in San Francisco,
this tour is a must! Go to www.gocarsf.com
for more details.
We’ve got more travel coming your way on AutomotiveRhythms.com.
If there is a destination you’d like to see profiled, let us
know about it. Enjoy the photographs.
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