Mercer Raceabouts at The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance

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Edited by THead, 07 September 2012 - 15:47.

It is that unnatural colour of the grass that worries me...

We were at The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance with all of the other Mercers shown this year and also went on the tour, the most fun
part of the event. There is a post up on The Old Motor you will want to see showing all of the Mercer Raceabouts that attended.

I expect some of the "Mercer Raceabouts" are just as unnatural, if one we had in for Dating at the Veteran Car Club years ago is anything to go by!

Funny thing is where I live (bonnie Scotland) grass is just this green without any unnatural aids... So why are we not allowed to believe this grass is genuine? Unlike the cars of course which may well have been created in more recent times than their alleged age. The 'new' Mercedes 60 which has recently popped up in the UK is a case in point! Not a Mercer but mostly 'faithfully recreated' as far as one can tell. Where does it all end, one is inclined to ask...

Marticelli

All twelve of these cars shown at Pebble Beach are the genuine article with the exception on only one which was restored from many of the parts from the original car.
They were selected for this event by one of the most knowledge Mercer experts.

That's an admirable situation but you have to agree it is only relatively recently that the concours people have really started to take original unrestored machines as the gold standard. When a vehicle has been completely refinished (as 100 point concours vehicles invariably are) I challenge anyone to tell whether the metal underneath is old or new. I had an encounter with George Wingard's S74 FIAT at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2000, and he had a large bag containing all the original fasteners which had been replaced with new, one of which I was fortunately able to use to replace a missing bolt on the 1902 Werner motorcycle I was riding at this event. No doubt his Mercer has had similar treatment. Originality runs to more than just the basic components in my book. I do however accept that stressed components inside may well have to be replaced on grounds of safety, but only when absolutely necessary. In this context, I find it interesting to examine the photographs in TASO Mathieson's book about the pre first war Grand Prix races. The condition of most of these amazing cars when new was way short of concours, and that is how I like to see them personally.

Marticelli