The most publicized events of the annual Car Week in Monterey, California, are the historic races, concours, and of course auctions. Many, though not all, of the cars at those events are far from representing the core of this website. Most are perfectly restored trailer queens, as may befit their rarity and historic value; some (especially at the auctions) are overdone restomods; and many of the cars one sees on the streets are gaudily wrapped late-model McLarens, Porsches, Lamborghinis etc. But there is more to Car Week than that. Three years ago I attended the Concours d’Lemons, and this year I went back. But a few days before, I rode down on my almost-classic one-owner 1999 Ducati Monster to check out the Little Car Show. Both events are free admission, which I think is a good fit with the spirit of Curbside Classic.
The Little Car Show was in its twelfth year. It’s intended for cars older than 25 years and either electric, or powered by engines less than 1601 cc. I think a few entries fudged a bit, and some perhaps met the rules, but hardly seemed like small cars to me. I suspect the Ford based Midget racer in the lead photo has a 3+ liter Model A engine under the hood. At just under 750 cc however, this 1930 “Baby” American Austin definitely fits the bill. And it’s parked Curbside, no less.
This Peugeot 404 Cabriolet is probably also a rule-breaker, as I would think it has the 1618cc engine fitted to most gasoline 404’s. And it’s not exactly “little” … but it was very nice.
And here’s another 404, a 1968 sedan. The seats looked so inviting!
This sticker reads “Once Again, Peugeot Winner of the Safari 1967” referring to the 404’s successes in the East African Safari rally. The top ten finishers that year were represented by only three brands: Peugeot, a few Fords (Cortina), and a single Volvo 122S. A Mercury Comet was among the DNF’s.
OK, now for some small cars. It had been a while since I’d seen an original Fiat 500. Even in this setting, it looked small. On the ride down I passed an 850 sedan, which I hoped to see at the show but it wasn’t there. On the three lane freeway, surrounded by the usual Camries, SUV’s and Ford SuperDuties the 850 looked really tiny, although it’s almost 2 feet (600 mm) longer than the 500.
There were several other Fiats. This is a 500 based roadster, the Vignale Gamine. Produced from 1967 to 1970, it might be one of the first retro cars, perhaps inspired by the American Stutz revival or Excalibur. Behind it is an 850 Spider, an X1/9, and a Honda S800.
The light green roadster, with its Italian style, is in fact a British Turner 950S. Despite the name, this example had a 1250cc BMC A Series engine rather than the standard 948cc unit.
And some Fiat 1500 Spiders as well, this one posing Curbside with a Peugeot 205 and an NSU 1200TTS.
What would a Little Car Show be without Mini’s? Mokes. Travellers, a Wolseley Hornet, a Honda-powered Mini, even a Mini with a twin cam cylinder head grafted on the A Series block.
The cylinder head is from a BMW K1100 motorcycle, complete with belt cam drive conversion at the crankshaft end. To me, a 1275 Cooper S engine is more than adequate to propel these, and the complexity of these conversions seems counter to the Mini spirit, but I appreciate the ingenuity.
This 1963 Ford Cortina caught my eye with its perfect gray paint and bodywork, and the wide Lotus-style steel wheels. But inside was the real shocker.
Bench seat, umbrella handle parking brake and column shift for the 4 speed manual transmission. It was described as an Italian market car, a Cortina Consul, not Consul Cortina as they were known in the UK; not sure if it was a mistake or if that was the naming in Italy. And belying the wide wheels, presumably not standard, it was powered by the small 1198 cc engine.
Briggs and Stratton powered? I don’t know how drivable it is, or if it’s really over 25 years old, but this was definitely the littlest car at the show.
Two Nash Metropolitans. What’s behind the convertible? Oh, just a Porsche Speedster. NOT a replica.
And a 1956 DKW. The white paper under the wiper reads “Not an Audi”.
More explanatory signage. There’s that Speedster again. It’s indicative of the variety at these shows, and the ubiquity of Porsches, that I didn’t even get a full shot of it.
A 1968 Meyers Manx. I so wanted one of these when I was a pre-teen. I still remember riding behind one on my bicycle in town when it threw a belt off the exposed VW engine.
Well, there were many more cars at the Little Car Show, but I’ll wrap up this day’s sights with something slightly larger, and not at the show but parked nearby. A 1939 Ford, For Sale no less.
What, no MGB’s ot Triumphs? Some nice cars though!
There was at least one B, several A’s including two Twin Cams, and a few Spitfires. I thought I already had too many photos but here you go. A Spitfire under the hood, such great access!
And here’s a Twin Cam A.
With BMW owning Mini, the K1100 conversion seems interestingly appropriate although the radiator location seems a little unorthodox. Presumably it all works well enough, I think I’d be taking the 1 home instead of facing 101 and the Morgan Hill traffic if that’s still a thing.
Looks like a great show, and likely the surrounding streets were filled with interesting stuff as well, often some of the best car-spotting during the Monterey events is the parking areas.
Yeah, that Morgan Hill/101 area traffic is still a thing, and it’s even worse now even on the weekends!
It was a total nightmare back when 101 was only two lanes each direction from SJ to MH. We had employees at the tv station that lived down there and further south, even in Hollister, and their commutes were absolutely atrocious.
I’m reluctant to even go back to visit in the Bay Area. I’m so spoiled for lack of traffic.
The real nightmare was when the freeway ended at the then-southern end of San Jose and didn’t start again until Morgan Hill. It was two lanes but with no center divider, traffic lights etc. locally known as “Blood Alley”. I moved to south San Jose in 1983 and the new freeway was still under construction. It opened in 1984. Traffic was pretty bad on Hwy 1 which was my route in both directions. The plus side to that was the automotive sightings while sitting in traffic. Everything from a pre-war Packard to a Morris Minor van, the Fiat 850 I mentioned in the post, multiple Pantera’s and probably a hundred modern McLarens, Ferrari’s, Lamborghini’s etc plus several Rivians and at least one Lucid. Plus an immaculate white vinyl roof over white paint, and whitewall tires FWD Riviera and two Honda CX650 Turbo motorcycles.
That’s the standard location for a mini radiator, and looks very much like a standard radiator. There are louvres in the wheel well, and the engine fan pulls the airflow through the rad.
The location of the distributor is interesting. Not sure how that works.
I think my Elan should of been there. Wish I was.
That’s a trip about the BMW motorcycle head fitting on the BMC A block. I wonder who first thought of that?
Those 404s tug at my heart strings. That tan interior was just like our wagon. But I did put on the nicer earlier steering wheel without the padded hub and with the full horn circle. Much nicer.
Here’s some info on this vehicle. I looked into it a bit and it seems quite popular. The superior breathing plus fuel injection deliver far more low end power and some folks who do this mod suggest re-gearing taller to reduce highway rpm, since the power band can handle that. The engine needs to retain the in-block cam to drive certain accessories. But the BMW parts are cheap and the adapters are pretty simple; there are actually several manufacturers of kits for around 500 GBP and the used BMW parts are around $450 US.
Edit: photo of sign on the Mini didn’t load, but it’s 1310cc, 10.2:1 compression, from Specialist Components in the UK.
That Mini with the motorcycle head is a regular at a monthly cars & coffee in San Jose, so all in all, it seems to work relatively well.
This was a fun tour! That Cortina is something I don’t think I have seen one of in the last 50 years.
My experience is just a bit more recent; I actually rode several times in a friend’s Mk1 Cortina 47 or 48 years ago. It was the Lotus version though 😀
I saw a MK1 Cortina at a show recently looking very Lotus like white with green stripe 2 door but a quik look under the back revealed a standard type diff and suspension, people these days have forgotten the underpowered 1200 Cortinas and very few here survived without a 1500 or 1600 implant.
Those seats in the green 68 Peugeot are inviting! Its my 404 🙂