Rodeo Drive Concours d’Elegance – June 2025

Beverly Hills Father’s Day Concours – Not as exacting in judging as Pebble Beach, but a lot of fun for free.

Text and some photos by Wallace Wyss with additional photos by Bruce Caron –

There are “concours” where strict originality applies, with serious faced judges trotting about with scoresheets ready to strike you down in points if they detect something on the car beyond the model year claimed.

The annual Beverly Hills Father’s Day Concours is not like that. Oh, there are prizes (I saw some ribbons on some cars) but cars submitted are not getting refused entry because they wear wheels made beyond the model year of the car.

You have to remember that Beverly Hills was the founding community of the show business on film and so there is a lot of Razz-ma-Taz like what movie star owned this one, or that one and what movie was that car in?

You see outrageous cars like a Lincoln four door Continental convertible painted an un-Godly pink, fun to look at but Lincoln officials would have forbidden that color from the factory. And the choice of JFK on its license plate I thought a bit of a downer (though when I see those four door verts I always think of that fateful day in Dallas…)

One car which I liked was a Bizzarrini Spyder. Now I know enough Bizzarrini history to know that it’s not one of the original three, and the displayer said it was a “cut coupe” but I neglected to ask the SN or when it was cut and by who. I know something was off somewhere in the dimensions but without one of the Stile Auto-bodied originals alongside I can’t tell where it was off. Clues appreciated.

There weren’t that many prewar cars but star of that category was a Mercedes-Benz 540K Special that belonged to a movie producer before WWII so you can’t say he was buying a “Nazi car”, though in Hitler parades 500K and 540Ks were featured.

One of the rarest cars, which I don’t think are recognized for their craftsmanship is the Spykers from Holland. They had engine turned dashes and beautiful hardtops with chrome accents. It’s too bad they couldn’t have enough success to keep going.

There were new Ferraris shown and new McLarens and one or two brand new cars, so new I couldn’t identify them, but what better place to sell a show-off car that in Beverly Hills on the street most famous for movie folk spending on the best name brands (Ralph Lauren has a shop right at the end of the concours).

There were quite a few Italian gems on both sides of the boulevard Rodeo Drive (pronounced ROH-DAY-OH for some obscure reason). Besides the Ferraris there was a long nose Iso Grifo, an Alfa Sprint Speciale, an Italian bodied Triumph, a Maserati spyder ’50s vintage, and an Iso Rivolta, the latter restored far beyond factory quality.

It is this show that breaks all the rules for what to expect. I remember in a previous show they had a chopped top Stutz Blackhawk. I mean a Stutz Blackhawk, a sort of retro car from the ’60s bodied in Italy is daring enough but to chop the top as well–that’s like chopping the top on a Rolls Silver Cloud!

I enjoyed the documentation on some of the star-owned cars, because to me if I liked the star I wouldn’t mind owning the car he or she thought a fashion statement. Now I was originally planning on eating at a deli off Rodeo but when one quoted a price of $9 for a muffin I decided I’d decamp and eat in Claremont a university town about 20 miles away, the prices were too rarified in Beverly Hills.

The event was jam packed cheek-by-jowl by 11 am remarkable considering in downtown Los Angeles, roughly 10 miles to the East, there were still military guards trying to minimize rioting and looting in an anti-Trump rally against Kings. While here in Beverly Hills they were showing cars that throughout history were treasured by royal types, and many folks brought their kids to show them dreams can indeed come on four wheels.

I didn’t see any movie stars but I am sure they were there, and, after all, Beverly Hills would just be another premium shopping district if it weren’t for the ever present lure of show business. I even enjoyed the booths run by cub scouts, and such, because they gave the event a small town feel.

So in sum, I’d say this annual event s a real spectacle worthy of a trip if you already live in SoCal. Maybe next time I’ll pack my lunch so, before leaving Beverly Hills I can dine in the reflected glory of all that chrome and razz-ma-tazz…

Let us know what you think in the Comments.

Wallace Wyss

 
 
THE AUTHOR Wallace Wyss is also a fine artist specializing in classic cars. He says he will be making a painting of the Bizzarrini Spyder as soon as he can find out more of its back story. Art Galleries who want to see his car art can reach him at mendoart7@gmail.com

 
 
 

More photos by Bruce Caron are in the slide show below.