Great Autos of
Yesteryear has a long tradition of an annual classic car show. Going
back to
the early years of the club, the idea was to have an annual event
showcasing our
cars to raise money for charity and give back to the community. As time
went
by, this popular event grew into "Color and Chrome" which became one
of the best annual car shows in Southern California.
Over the years
the club has raised several hundred thousand dollars for various
charities that
support the LGBTQ community and animal shelters.
From very
humble beginnings in 1988, in the parking lot of the iconic Studio One
nightclub in West Hollywood, the show was eventually held at a number
of
signature venues in and around Southern California including the
Peterson Auto
Museum, the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, the Anaheim
Convention Center,
the Queen Mary in Long Beach and even in downtown LA. Each year the
event just
got bigger.
Planning was
well underway for a very grand event for 2009 including a major studio
location
when a scheduling conflict forced the plans to be scuttled. Rather than
give
up, the setting was changed to Palm Springs, and reflecting the more
relaxed
desert lifestyle, the Casual
Concours
was born.
The Casual Concours was an
immediate hit.
The postwar American focus of the event was a natural fit for the
mid-century
architecture of Palm Springs, and the expansive golf courses created
the
opportunity for a grand display. The first two years were held at the
historic
Indian Canyons Golf Resort before moving to the Desert Princess for
2011.
2018’s tenth Casual Concours marked
two new
beginnings. We became an official fall Modernism Week Event, and we
supported a
new beneficiary: Sanctuary, a Palm Springs based transitional housing
and
foster care program designed to meet the needs of the LGBTQ community
in foster
care transitioning to adulthood. Charity has always been a major focus
of
Casual
Concours – beneficiaries in the past have included Project
Angel Food,
Aid for AIDS, The Center-Long Beach, Desert AIDS Project, Golden
Rainbow
Center, the Palm Springs Animal Shelter and Project Angel View.
While plans had
been made to return to the Desert Princess Country Club this October,
the
COVID-19 pandemic made such a large-scale public event impossible.
Determined
to continue the tradition of our annual fall event, Great Autos decided
to hold
the event on line. Thus was born the Virtual
Concours 2020.
Mike Parente,
Sandy Edelstein and Jeff Stork contributed to this report.